The Neal Milligan Museum of Art
GETTING TO KNOW US
At the Neal Milligan Museum of Art our permanent collection will help you experience the first inherently American art movement—landscape art. This genre first became popular through the works of the Hudson River School in the early 19th century. And continued until the end of the 1890s. This group consisted primarily of New York City-based landscape painters who pursued idealized naturalism with the goal of capturing on canvas, the beauty of America. During that time, the industrial revolution, the push westward and the growth of cities was quickly changing the American landscape. But these artists worked to show and encourage the public to value and preserve America’s natural beauty. Their paintings elevated landscape to an academic level previously unknown for that genre in the United States.
This art genre is best known for its romanticized landscapes of rural America, especially upstate New York—primarily the Catskill Mountains and the Hudson River Valley—New England, Pennsylvania and for epic paintings that celebrated the glorious beauty of America’s virgin wilderness territories in the West. Due to their works of art, the American public became aware of the incredible beauty of America and many of the places they painted became tourist destinations and were preserved for future generations as state parks and what today makes up the National Park System.
Thomas Doughty was America’s first professional landscape artist with Thomas Cole and Asher B Durand following quickly behind. These men, especially Thomas Cole, are credited with being the founders of the Hudson River School. This premier American art movement influenced a wider circle of followers and became the initial platform upon which future American art movements would be built. The NMOA showcases their work and shares the vision they had of America’s glorious beauty.
The permanent collection contains works by the leading artists of the Hudson River School (Thomas Cole, Thomas Doughty, Sanford Robinson Gifford, Louis Remy Mignot, Albert Bierstadt, Thomas Moran, Fredrick Edwin Church, John Frederick Kennsett, Jasper Cropssey, Alfred Thomas Bricher, Inness, etc.).
The collection also contains still-life paintings and portraits by the leading American artists of the 19th century. The art of still-life painting has enchanted artists and audiences for centuries. For example the ancient Greek still-life painter Zeuxis reportedly depicted grapes so real that birds pecked at them. Although not always accorded a high status in the history of art, still-life has long been a vehicle for artists to explore formal possibilities and to demonstrate technical skill in rendering the texture, sheen and color of inanimate objects. As such, the genre of still-life is often a fertile arena for symbolic associations, oral contemplation, and scientific study.
At the Neal Milligan Museum of Art our permanent collection will help you experience the first inherently American art movement—landscape art. This genre first became popular through the works of the Hudson River School in the early 19th century. And continued until the end of the 1890s. This group consisted primarily of New York City-based landscape painters who pursued idealized naturalism with the goal of capturing on canvas, the beauty of America. During that time, the industrial revolution, the push westward and the growth of cities was quickly changing the American landscape. But these artists worked to show and encourage the public to value and preserve America’s natural beauty. Their paintings elevated landscape to an academic level previously unknown for that genre in the United States.
This art genre is best known for its romanticized landscapes of rural America, especially upstate New York—primarily the Catskill Mountains and the Hudson River Valley—New England, Pennsylvania and for epic paintings that celebrated the glorious beauty of America’s virgin wilderness territories in the West. Due to their works of art, the American public became aware of the incredible beauty of America and many of the places they painted became tourist destinations and were preserved for future generations as state parks and what today makes up the National Park System.
Thomas Doughty was America’s first professional landscape artist with Thomas Cole and Asher B Durand following quickly behind. These men, especially Thomas Cole, are credited with being the founders of the Hudson River School. This premier American art movement influenced a wider circle of followers and became the initial platform upon which future American art movements would be built. The NMOA showcases their work and shares the vision they had of America’s glorious beauty.
The permanent collection contains works by the leading artists of the Hudson River School (Thomas Cole, Thomas Doughty, Sanford Robinson Gifford, Louis Remy Mignot, Albert Bierstadt, Thomas Moran, Fredrick Edwin Church, John Frederick Kennsett, Jasper Cropssey, Alfred Thomas Bricher, Inness, etc.).
The collection also contains still-life paintings and portraits by the leading American artists of the 19th century. The art of still-life painting has enchanted artists and audiences for centuries. For example the ancient Greek still-life painter Zeuxis reportedly depicted grapes so real that birds pecked at them. Although not always accorded a high status in the history of art, still-life has long been a vehicle for artists to explore formal possibilities and to demonstrate technical skill in rendering the texture, sheen and color of inanimate objects. As such, the genre of still-life is often a fertile arena for symbolic associations, oral contemplation, and scientific study.
THE MISSION
We have a very important mission here at NMMOA: to educate and enlighten the minds of our visitors through the medium of art. We believe through educating the community we will pass on the joy we carry for our work and encourage curiosity and a thirst for knowledge. However, we realize our work will never be complete because there will always be something new to learn! Therefore, the museum will always be seeking new and creative ways to help its audience learn through the medium of art.
