Works on View

Cowles Hall in 1855 Painting

Cowles Hall in 1855
Unknown Artist, Oil on Canvas, 1855
On loan from Elmira College Collections

Cowles Hall in 1855 Unknown Artist Oil on Canvas, 1855 In 1852, Elmira College began as The Auburn Female University in Cayuga County. A year later it moved to its present location in Elmira where Cowles Hall, the College’s oldest building, was constructed in 1855. The college became coeducational in 1969.

About the Artist: No Information about the artist exists.


From Ithaca Falls to Cayuga Lake, Winter 1987 Painting

From Ithaca Falls to Cayuga Lake, Winter 1987 
Muli Tang, Oil on Canvas, 1987
On loan from the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art. Cornell University

Ithaca Falls is 105 feet tall and 175 feet wide at its base. It is considered the most powerful and impressive falls in the region. By 1817 it was providing power to six mills. The ruins of some of these mills can still be seen near the top of the falls.

About the Artist: Muli Tang (born 1947) is a Chinese artist and poet who served as Artist in Residence at Cornell University from 1985 – 1989. He was the first artist permitted by the Government of the Peoples Republic of China to study in the West on a long-term basis.


Ithaca Painting

Ithaca
John F. Kensett, Oil on Canvas, 1870 
On loan from the History Center in Tompkins County

Ithaca, located on the southern end of Cayuga Lake became a city in 1888 and is home to both Cornell University and Ithaca College.

About the Artist: John F. Kensett (1816-1872) was an important member of the Hudson River School painters. After spending time working as an engraver in Albany, Kensett made his first trip to Europe, determined to become a painter. In 1848, Kensett established a studio in New York City where he lived and worked as a successful painter.


A Winter’s Day Henry Wolcott Boss

A Winter’s Day 
Henry Wolcott Boss, Oil on Canvas, 1887
On loan from Roberson Museum & Science Center

A Winter’s Day captures the sun’s glow, low on the horizon, as it moves across the sky on a crisp winter’s day in upstate New York. As a Hudson River School painter, Boss used the luminism technique to depict the many hues of the sun as they pass through a village and the edge of the woods.

About the Artist: Henry Wolcott Boss (1820-1916) was a Hudson River School-style artist based in Binghamton, New York. Boss’s works depict a range of themes including rural and agricultural landscapes, individual portraits, and specific locations such as Binghamton, Lake Champlain, Lake George and Niagara Falls.