[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 166 (Wednesday, November 2, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1981]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




HONORING WORTHINGTON WHITTREDGE AND THE HUDSON RIVER SCHOOL OF PAINTING

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                        HON. DAVID N. CICILLINE

                            of rhode island

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 2, 2011

  Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to draw my colleagues' 
attention to a recent change nearby at the Capitol Visitors Center. Two 
paintings by Albert Bierstadt, ``Discovery of the Hudson River'' and 
``Entrance into Monterey,'' are now on public display in the CVC. These 
paintings capture the beauty of the American landscape, and, as part of 
the Hudson River School of Painting, symbolize an important time period 
in our country's history that impacted culture, recreation, and 
conservation in the United States.
  The Hudson River School was comprised of painters who created 
detailed landscapes of the American wilderness. One of these men, 
Worthington Whittredge, is connected to my district. His work 
``Sakonnet Point, Rhode Island'' captures the calm and color of our 
country's smallest state. His paintings of my district's coastline 
reflect his studies with other American artists and European 
influences. This vibrant landscape is very emblematic of many of the 
School's ideals.
  Whittredge, like many Hudson River School painters, garnered acclaim 
and traveled widely both abroad and throughout the United States. 
However, his works of the American West are not of mountainous scenes, 
but of the plains. One of these works, ``Crossing the River Platte,'' 
resides in the White House Art Collection and has been displayed in the 
Roosevelt Room.
  As part of the first indigenous American schools of painting, the 
School's painters used small brush strokes to create highly detailed 
paintings that accurately portrayed the landscapes around them. This 
technique contributed to one of the School's most important legacies.
  Another way the Hudson River School influenced American history and 
culture is through the creation of several National Parks. Many of 
Whittredge's contemporaries, like Bierstadt, helped support 
environmental conservation. Primarily through the artists' travels to 
the American West, and also to other parts of the United States, we can 
still see the dramatic landscapes they captured on canvas of 
Yellowstone, Yosemite, Zion, and Acadia National Parks, among others. 
These landscapes were also later used to help our predecessors create 
the National Park Service in 1916.
  Another legacy of the Hudson River School of Painting is the 
Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Many of the School's 
painters, like Whittredge, spent considerable time traveling in the 
grand capitals of Europe and were inspired by the cultural and artistic 
scenes. Together with local businessmen, lawyers, and educators, they 
formed the Met in 1870. Several of the School's painters served as 
trustees or as members of the executive committee. Today, many of their 
works, including some by Whittredge, hang in the Met.
  Mr. Speaker, it is clear that Worthington Whittredge and the Hudson 
River School of Painting made significant contributions to American 
art, culture, and conservation that have spanned three centuries.

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