Auction features Hudson Valley artists

UPDATE: Save the Date! The Fine Art Auction at Locust Grove has been rescheduled for Sunday, April 26, 2009.

Four studies that had been made for the historic Poughkeepsie Post Office mural are among the works that will be sold during Locust Grove’s first-ever Invitational Fine Art Auction. Originally cheduled for early next month (see update), the auction will also include work by contemporary painters, graphic artists, sculptors and photographers of the Hudson Valley. Visit www.LGNY.org or call 845-454-4500 ext. 17 for more information.

“As we move toward the Quadricentennial celebration in 2009, there is no better way to celebrate our valley than through the vision of its artists,” Locust Grove Executive Director Kenneth F. Snodgrass said in a press release. During 2009, the region will mark the 400th anniversary of European exploration of the Hudson River and Lake Champlain.

“Locust Grove and fine art are a natural pairing,” Snodgrass said. Locust Grove in Poughkeepsie was the 19th century country estate of Samuel Morse, who founded the American Academy of Design and was a celebrated artist before gaining even more fame for patenting the telegraph and inventing Morse code. The Young family, subsequent owners and founders of the museum, collected art in Europe as well as from the Hudson River School and this collection can be seen in the mansion today.

Locust Grove will team with gallery owner James Cox, a regional art expert and the force behind the annual fine art auction at the Woodstock Artists Association and Museum (WAAM), to present the auction, online catalog, pre-sale exhibition and preview gala. A portion of every auction sale will benefit Locust Grove, supporting free public access to its gardens and hiking trails, educational programs for school children and preservation of the 40-room Italianate mansion.

The mural studies that will be sold were created by Charles Rosen, who was chosen to participate in a New Deal program administered by the US Treasury Department. Rosen died in 1950, and the studies were only recently discovered by his estate. There is an interesting article here on the Poughkeepsie Journal Web site about the Poughkeepsie Post Office and its historic mural. And if you're interested in learning more about the upcoming Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial, be sure to drop by Hudson Happenings -- the Web site created by the Poughkeepsie Journal to share info about the Quad and the planned opening of the Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge linear park project, Walkway over the Hudson.