Humanizing Landscapes: Geography, Culture and the Magoon Collection 1739–1860

Humanizing Landscapes features British and American works from the art collection that Matthew Vassar acquired in 1864 from the Reverend Elias Magoon, a founding trustee of the College. The exhibition looks through the interpretive lenses of cultural geography and art history to examine how nineteenth-century artists constructed the meaning of cultural sites and natural features ranging from Stonehenge and Loch Lomond to the Hudson River Valley. Through compositional choices, through attention to light and local detail, and through the creative use of established conventions for the representation of changing locales, artists vividly testified to the values attached to various sites during the Victorian era. The catalogue features essays by David Lowenthal, Karen Lucic, and Harvey Flad. The publication features 55 color plates and 20 black and white plates.