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William Morris Hunt (American, 1824-1879), Niagara Falls, 1878, oil on canvas, Williams College Museum of Art; Gift of the Estate of J. Malcolm Forbes 61.7.

Williams College
Museum of Art
15 Lawrence Hall Drive
413-597-2429
Williamstown
A Strong Impression: William Morris Hunt’s Niagara
October 17, 2009-January 31, 2010

A Strong Impression: William Morris Hunt’s Niagara examines both the artistic and cultural context in which Hunt’s painting, Niagara Falls (1878), was produced through oil sketches, drawings, photographs, films, rare books, and souvenirs. This exhibition, and three others, including, Alec Soth: NIAGARA, William Morris Hunt and the French Tradition, and Media Field: Niagara, contrast historical and contemporary views of Niagara Falls and put the Falls into a broader context.

A Strong Impression: William Morris Hunt’s Niagara features Hunt’s monumental painting, Niagara Falls (1878), which was one of the largest easel paintings that Hunt ever produced. The painting has been in WCMA’s collection since 1961. Although Hunt was best known for his portrait painting in Boston, he saw this commission to paint the Falls for the New York State Capitol Assembly Chamber as a way to establish himself in the practice of landscape, and particularly, in the tradition of Frederic Edwin Church. Church was a well-known American landscape painter and Hunt was so taken with Church’s famous 1857 depiction of Niagara Falls, that he chose the same vantage point for his own painting.

A Strong Impression reunites nine of Hunt’s studies in oil, pastel, and charcoal that show Niagara Falls from various perspectives while closely examining the Falls within Hunt’s body of work. Using Frederic Edwin Church’s oil sketch of the Falls from the Olana State Historic Site, additional artwork, rare books, maps, photographs, and souvenirs, this exhibition traces the evolution of Niagara Falls as an inspirational icon to an emblem of environmental activism. The museum recently acquired a pastel by Hunt depicting the rapids near the Falls, which will go on view for the first time in this exhibition.

“It is exciting to put WCMA’s painting of Hunt’s Niagara Falls into a more detailed context. This exhibition has even more significance because it is the first time Hunt’s monumental painting has been shown with other studies Hunt did for Niagara Falls outside the artist’s studio,” explains exhibition curator Kathryn Price.

Additionally, this is the first time in 50 years that Hunt’s Niagara Falls will be reunited with its outer frame. Originally, this painting traveled with two frames — a large outer frame and a liner frame — as was customary in the 19th-century. Both frames have recently been treated at the Williamstown Art Conservation Center and are now displayed at WCMA together, allowing the painting to be viewed in its entirety.

William Morris Hunt (American, 1824-1879), Niagara, 1879, Casein on canvas, 158.11 x 253.36 cm, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Partial gift of William Morris Hunt II, 2000.1215, © 2009 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Alec Soth (American, b. 1969), Fall #26, 2005, Chromogenic print, © Alec Soth, Courtesy Gagosian Gallery.

Alec Soth (American, b. 1969), Nicholas, 2005, Chromogenic print, © Alec Soth, Courtesy Gagosian Gallery.

Alec Soth (American, b. 1969), Terrace Court, 2005, Chromogenic print, © Alec Soth. Courtesy Gagosian Gallery.

Williams College
Museum of Art
15 Lawrence Hall Drive
413-597-2429
Williamstown
Alec Soth:
NIAGARA
October 10, 2009-
January 10, 2010

Alec Soth: NIAGARA and A Strong Impression contrast historical and contemporary views of Niagara Falls as sublime landscape, tourist destination, and romantic cliché. A Strong Impression examines both the artistic and cultural context in which William Morris Hunt’s Niagara Falls (1878) was produced through paintings, drawings, photographs, films, rare books, and souvenirs. Alec Soth: NIAGARA presents 22 photographs by contemporary photographer Alec Soth. From 2004 to 2005, Soth photographed sobering contemporary views of life on both the American and Canadian sides of Niagara Falls. Oscar Wilde wrote, “The sight of the stupendous waterfall must be one of the earliest, if not the keenest, disappointments in American married life.”

Soth captures this passion and disappointment in NIAGARA by focusing on the motifs of romance that have long been associated with the Falls — young couples, run-down motels, and pawn shop wedding rings. Using a large-format camera, Soth creates lushly detailed photographs that often belie the bittersweet subject matter of romance associated with the Falls — the “aftermath of passion,” as Soth describes it. However, Soth admits that he was not documenting Niagara Falls: “There is so much I left out,” he says. “Niagara has millions of happy vacationing families and I didn’t photograph a single one.”

“We are thrilled to be showing the work of Alec Soth for the first time in context with artists from the 19th century like William Morris Hunt and Frederic Edwin Church, who also depicted Niagara Falls. Hunt and Church painted the Falls in part because of its beauty and majesty, but also because the Falls symbolized the grandeur of American life. In contrast, Soth is interested in exploring the clichés and associations that have become part of the image of the Falls,” explains exhibition curator Kathryn Price.

Alec Soth (b. 1969) is a photographer born and based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is the recipient of several major fellowships from the Bush, McKnight and Jerome Foundations and was awarded the 2003 Santa Fe Prize for Photography. His work is represented in major public and private collections, including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. Soth's photographs have been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions, including the 2004 Whitney and São Paulo Biennials. His first monograph, Sleeping by the Mississippi, was published by Steidl in 2004 to critical acclaim. Since then Soth has published NIAGARA (2006), Fashion Magazine (2007), Dog Days, Bogotá (2007) and The Last Days of W (2008). Soth is represented by Gagosian Gallery in New York, Weinstein Gallery in Minneapolis, and is a member of Magnum Photos.