Spanierman Gallery is pleased to announce the opening on December 14, 2006 of Long Island Landscapes, on view in our lower gallery. Featuring scenic vistas of the region from Sands Point to Greenport and East Hampton, the twenty works on view span seven decades and capture the verdant landscapes, refreshing seacoasts, and quiet villages that appealed to artists working in a variety of stylistic modes. Among the artists included are Edward Moran, Percy Moran, Bruce Crane, Walter Granville Smith, Henry Prellwitz, Edith Mitchill Prellwitz, Arthur B. Davies, and Whitney Myron Hubbard.

While there is a rich tradition of portrait and genre painting on Long Island dating back to the eighteenth century, the region was first discovered by landscape painters in the 1870s. The spread of industrialization spawning a deep yearning for the rural past, American artists turned away from the painting of grandiose landscapes set in remote wilderness areas and sought the inspiration of more intimate places, marked by human presence. Summer Sunset (ca.1880s) by Edward Moran captures the bucolic character of East End villages. From roughly the same period, Dunes by the Sea, by Percy Moran, and On the Shore (ca. 1895) by Walter Granville Smith depict the windswept beaches that still inspire present-day painters.

Whitney Myron Hubbard captures the brilliant hues of sunset in the waters off Greenport. Delightful vignettes by Josephine E. Irving (active 1891-1899) of autumnal vistas in Glen Cove, Oyster Bay, and Sands Point evoke a particular sense of place, as does Hamilton King’s elegantly spare landscape of Accobonac Beach (1934) in East Hampton.

Works rendered by Edith and Henry Prellwitz, who painted in Peconic from 1899 through the 1920s, further reveal the ways that Long Island was not only welcoming to artists, but drew out their highest levels of achievement in landscape painting. Henry Prellwitz, particularly admired for his winter scenes painted near his North Fork home, rendered Richmond Creek in Winter (Peconic, NY) (ca. 1915-16) with an impressionistic palette. By comparison, Edith Mitchill Prellwitz employed more somber hues in Beach Scene, Long Island, New York (ca. 1920s), portraying the hilly terrain of the North Fork community where the artist-couple resided.

The continuity of Long Island’s agrarian traditions, its verdant landscapes, refreshing seacoasts, and quiet villages provided a compelling blend for artists working in a variety of stylistic modes. These timeless images continue to delight the viewer today.

Plan to stop by Spanierman Gallery, LLC, at East Hampton to enjoy wonderful works of art, perfect for holiday gift-giving.

Also on view in our main gallery: Art for the New Collector V.