Thomas Cole painting and the Seward House Museum

[Linda Anderson]

From auburnpub.com:

"The great-great grandson of former Secretary of State William H. Seward has filed a petition seeking to prevent the Fred L. Emerson Foundation from selling a valuable painting that was removed from the Seward House Museum in Auburn.

"The petition filed by Ray Messenger, who was appointed by Cayuga County Surrogate's Court Judge Thomas Leone to serve as an administrator of the Seward estate, asks the court for a permanent injunction against the Emerson Foundation to prevent the sale of Thomas Cole's "Portage Falls on the Genesee." Messenger also seeks an order forcing the foundation to return the painting, which is valued at $18 million, to the Seward House Museum and another order that would require the foundation to continue its support of the museum.

"One of the exhibits filed with the petition is a letter from Jason Lilien, head of the state attorney general's charities bureau, to Emerson Foundation president Anthony Franceschelli. In the letter, Lilien says they have "serious concerns" about plans to sell the painting.

"Our office has carefully reviewed [William H. Seward III's will] and believes a sale of the painting would be inconsistent with its terms," Lilien wrote."

http://auburnpub.com/news/local/seward-d...167d1.html

[HerbS]

Linda,I was at the Seward House 3-weeks ago.They were given a copy of the painting to hang on the wall.They were very upset by that jesture!

[Craig Hipkins]

Thomas Cole is one of my favorite painters. If anyone is interested here is an article I wrote on Cole's Voyage of Life series a while back.
http://crhipkins.blogspot.com/2012/04/vo...-life.html

Craig

[Linda Anderson]

Herb, my husband and I visited the Seward House Museum for the very first time last Tuesday. There are so many wonderful things there that I hope I can return soon. Of course, the bloody sheet from Powell's attack and the carriage that Seward and Fanny were riding in when Seward was injured in the carriage accident were fascinating to see but I also loved Fanny's toy collection and the wonderful painting of Fanny and her older brother Will that hangs in the nursery. Not to mention the gilded chairs and the long dining room table with its silver-plated epergne (centerpiece) that Seward brought from the Old Clubhouse. And the Underground Railroad in the kitchen and the portraits of dignitaries from all over the world, Seward's study where he died and a wreath of pressed flowers from Lincoln's funeral.

The Cole painting is 84" by 60." I wish I could have seen the original.

Craig, that's a wonderful article! Thanks for sharing. It's interesting that you keep the prints in your drawer.

[HerbS]

Linda,Now that I am a member of The Seward House Museum and I only live 45minutes away.Every time I go there I see something new and exciting.How about his Silver?

[Gene C]

Craig & Linda, thanks for your post. I was totaly unfamiliar with art of Thomas Cole. Thanks for sharing it with us. As someone who can't even draw a staight line, I appreciate this kind of "real" art and talent. Craig, I especially like the Voyage of Life Series.

Here is an interesting web site with several of his paintings
http://www.explorethomascole.org/

[Craig Hipkins]

Linda and Gene, Here is another one of my favorite Cole paintings. It is called the Titan's Goblet. It is said to be allegorical relating to the Holy Graal.

Craig

[L Verge]

I must admit to not really enjoying art appreciation courses when I was in college. However, Thomas Cole is one artist that I did appreciate along with others in the Hudson River School. There is something very serene in his landscapes, and I was reminded of it years ago when Surratt House sponsored a three-day trip to historic sites along the Hudson River Valley - many of which are still in rather pristine settings.

I don't like to guess at what a painting is trying to say. To me, Mr. Cole spelled it out for me in soft colors and beautiful scenes that almost speak of what our earth must have been like at the Creation.

[Linda Anderson]

Thanks Craig and Gene.

Here's a fascinating article on Cole and "Portage Falls on the Genesee."

"'All American landscape painting, as we really know it, comes through him,' said Marlene Hamann-Whitmore, who - as director of education at the Memorial Art Galley of the University of Rochester - has written about Cole's visit to the Genesee River gorge, bordered by Livingston and Wyoming counties."

The companion painting, "Portage Falls," is on display at the Rhode Island School of Design's Museum of Art.

http://www.syracuse.com/kirst/index.ssf/...t_436.html

[HerbS]

Linda,Having grown up in Rochester,NY there is nothing better than walking the Genesee through Letchworth State Park in the Fall.The river starts as a "jump over"creek in Pa.and ends at Lake Ontario.The majestic "High Falls" are in downtown Rochester.Dare devil Sam Patch jumped over Niagara Falls and lived.Then he tried to jump Rochester's "High Falls" and died.

[Linda Anderson]

Herb, Letchworth State Park is known as "the Grand Canyon of the East!"

"Construction of the Genesee Valley Canal threatened to change an unspoiled landscape; Ruggles wanted to commemorate that fragile beauty, and he also wanted a grand gift for Seward, then governor of New York.

The visit prompted Cole to do a small oil sketch, now displayed at Rochester's Memorial Art Gallery. At Cole's Catskills studio, he completed the two paintings: "Portage Falls," the gift for Seward, and "Genesee Scenery," now on display in Rhode Island. As for the vista that captured Cole's imagination, it became part of the tract that philanthropist William Letchworth feared would be consumed by mills and factories.

He donated the land to the state. Much of what inspired Cole still exists as part of Letchworth State Park, or 'The Grand Canyon of the East.'"

[Linda Anderson]

"The state Appellate Division, Fourth Department, will hear oral arguments on the Emerson Foundation's appeal of Cayuga County Surrogate's Court Judge Thomas Leone's decision naming Ray Messenger, a descendant of William Seward, as an administrator of the Seward estate.

"The oral arguments, scheduled for April 2014, will be another step in the legal battle over the removal of Thomas Cole's "Portage Falls on the Genesee" from the Seward House Museum in Auburn."

http://auburnpub.com/news/local/updated-...eb27a.html

[Linda Anderson]

Seward House painting dispute: Appellate court overturns ruling naming Seward descendant as administrator of estate

http://auburnpub.com/news/local/seward-h...42471.html

Here is a website devoted to returning the painting to the Seward House Museum.

"We are a group of concerned citizens who appreciate the life work of William Henry Seward. Our primary objective is to preserve Seward's legacy. Since 1951 his home in Auburn NY has been a museum. Recently a key item from the Seward collection, a painting by Thomas Cole, has been removed from the museum to be sold. We are working to have the painting returned to Seward House, its rightful home."

http://www.sewardlegacypreservation.com/

[HerbS]

As a Seward House Member,I agree with you Linda 100%.-Herb

[Linda Anderson]

The Spring 2022 Seward House Museum newsletter notes that Portage Falls on the Genesee is "featured prominently in the Huntington's Art Galleries."

"The Huntington has acquired Thomas Cole's Portage Falls on the Genesee, a painting formerly on display in the small Seward House Museum in Auburn, NY."

http://lacmaonfire.blogspot.com/2021/10/...-buys.html

https://www.huntington.org/news/ahmanson...artnership

A May 3, 2018 article in the Syracuse News states that, "The 80-by-64-inch painting has been appraised at being worth between $18 million and $20 million."

https://www.syracuse.com/news/2018/05/se..._sold.html