YONKERS, NY.- The Hudson River Museum is thrilled to announce a generous gift of five exquisite nineteenth and early-twentieth century paintings to the HRM’s collection, donated by Shelley and Felice Bergman. The works of art, ranging from large-scale landscapes to intimate still-life and genre paintings, are by esteemed painters Jasper Francis Cropsey, Levi Wells Prentice, Ernest Lawson, and John George Brown. This gift is an important addition to the Museum’s extensive collection of American art from the nineteenth century to today. This recent gift brings the total number of paintings donated by the Bergmans to twelve, including major nineteenth-century paintings by Fitz Henry Lane and Severin Roesen.

“I’m thrilled Shelley and Felice Bergman have entrusted us with these works, which further solidifies our position as an anchor in American art in New York State,” states Masha Turchinsky, the HRM’s Anita K. Hersh Director and CEO. “Above all, the Hudson River Museum is honored by the confidence reflected in this gift and by the Bergman family’s commitment to public access, scholarship, and cultural legacy. Their generosity ensures these remarkable paintings will be preserved, studied, and deeply enjoyed by the broadest possible public for generations to come."

Shelley Bergman states, “These artworks have brought us much joy in our lives and we are so pleased to be able to share these exquisite paintings with the public. Art is meant to be seen and experienced, and the Hudson River Museum does this exceptionally well. We could not be more pleased with how our previous gifts have been incorporated into exhibitions, collection galleries, and innovative learning experiences for all.”

Bergman’s gift includes three outstanding landscape paintings: Autumn on the Susquehanna, 1861, by Jasper Francis Cropsey; Raquette Lake, New York by Levi Wells Prentice; and George Washington Headquarters: the Morris Jumel Mansion by American Impressionist Ernest Lawson. The Cropsey and Prentice artworks are currently on view in Collection Spotlight: The Hudson River School.

Jasper F. Cropsey (American, 1823–1900), who is considered one of the foremost painters of the second-generation Hudson River School, painted the Susquehanna River approximately thirty times. This scene was completed while he was living in London, where he longed for the landscapes of home—especially the brilliant autumn foliage that captivated his English audience. After living abroad and in New York City, Cropsey moved to Hastings-on-Hudson in 1885, just a few miles north of the Hudson River Museum. The gift enriches the Museum’s holdings by Cropsey, which currently include two oil paintings and two watercolor paintings.

Levi Wells Prentice (1851–1935), a self-taught artist influenced by the Hudson River School painters, was raised on a farm in the Adirondacks and often painted the upstate scenery of his youth, including many views of Raquette Lake. Here, in a classic Hudson River School composition, autumn trees frame the still lake surface and a distant mountain peak. In the 1880s, Prentice moved to Brooklyn and became known for the meticulously detailed still-life paintings that anchor his reputation today.

American Impressionist Ernest Lawson (American, b. Canada, 1873– 1939) was influenced early on by time spent at the Cos Cob Art Colony in Connecticut, which was an important center of American Impressionism. His picturesque view of George Washington Headquarters: the Morris Jumel Mansion, 1900-1910, painted while he lived in Washington Heights, demonstrates his style that blended painterly brushwork with realism to document the remaining countryside in the years just before Manhattan spread north to erase these last open areas. As we commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, this painting will be displayed alongside other works celebrating the founding of the United States of America.

The Bergman gift also includes a still-life painting by Levi Wells Prentice, Peaches in a Basket Bushels of Peaches, and a watercolor by famed genre painter John George Brown (American, born England, 1831–1913), entitled Crossing the Brook, 1877. The painting depicts a young girl on stepping stones, allowing Brown to show his virtuosity in watercolor by painting her reflection in the shallow stream. Both paintings strengthen the Museum’s holdings in still-life and scenes depicting people engaged in everyday activities.