Newington-Cropsey Foundation facts for kids
NCF Gallery of Art
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| Formation | 1977 |
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| Headquarters | 25 Cropsey Lane, Hastings on Hudson, NY |
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Chairman
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Barbara Newington |
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Key people
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Adelia Rasines, Executive Director |
The Newington-Cropsey Foundation (NCF) is a private, non-profit group in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. Its main goal is to protect and share the artworks of Jasper Cropsey. He was a famous painter from the Hudson River School art movement. The NCF also supports art that shows things as they look in real life, like realistic paintings and sculptures.
Barbara and John Newington started the NCF in 1977. They wanted to collect and promote works by Barbara's great-grandfather, Jasper Cropsey. They also wanted to support other art that wasn't abstract.
The NCF offers free tours of its special places. These include Ever Rest, which was Jasper Cropsey's last home and art studio. They also have the Gallery of Art Building, a museum just for Cropsey's art. Both places are right next to each other in Hastings-on-Hudson.
Contents
What the Foundation Does
The foundation wants to keep alive the artistic and moral ideas of Jasper Cropsey and the Hudson River School. They also hope to bring back some of the "stability, security, and beauty" of the 1800s. The NCF also supports art that looks realistic, like paintings and sculptures that show real-life objects.
This non-profit group is privately owned. Barbara Newington is the current chairman. She is Cropsey's great-granddaughter. The NCF gives money to realistic artists and offers classes for sculptors who create classical works. They also publish American Arts Quarterly, a magazine about non-abstract art.
The NCF has a large collection of Cropsey's paintings. They own about 100 oil paintings and 30 watercolor paintings. Many people see the NCF as the top expert on Cropsey's art.
The Foundation's Story
How the NCF Started
After Jasper Cropsey passed away in 1900, his wife Maria lived in Ever Rest until 1906. Their granddaughter, Isabel, then inherited the house. She started buying back some of Cropsey's paintings. Isabel and her husband, William Steinschneider, lived there and raised their daughter Barbara in the home.
Isabel died in 1958, and William in 1970. Barbara, who later married John Newington, inherited Ever Rest. Barbara and John Newington actively bought Cropsey's paintings until the 1980s. They created the Newington-Cropsey Foundation in 1977. They were worried about the direction modern art and culture were taking.
Around 1977, the foundation traded land with the village of Hastings. The NCF received a 6-acre piece of land. This land used to be a town dump. The NCF planned to fix up the area and build steps to connect it to Ever Rest. They wanted the property to look "like a Cropsey painting."
In 1979, the NCF lent some of its art for an exhibit called "An Unprejudiced Eye." This show featured Cropsey's works at the Hudson River Museum. It celebrated Hastings village's connection to Cropsey and its 100th anniversary.
In the late 1980s, the NCF started building a beautiful 19th-century art complex. It included three buildings, a pond, and a garden. The first building, the New Studio, opened in 1990. It showed paintings by another Hudson River School artist, Worthington Whittredge.
The village's historical society was interested in the building site. They thought there might be old remains in the ravine. The NCF agreed to pay for an archaeological study. This study was led by an expert in early industry.
The Gallery of Art officially opened on October 16, 1994.
The Garden of Great Ideas
In May 1997, the foundation worked with Vanderbilt University to create a sculpture garden. It was called the "Garden of Great Ideas." Six young artists from the NCF's Academy of Art created bronze sculptures for it.
The NCF wanted to place many sculptures on college campuses. They hoped this would connect learning with art. By 1997, the NCF had already given Vanderbilt a sculpture called Bill of Rights Eagle. This piece was made by Greg Wyatt, the NCF Academy of Art Director. The NCF planned to donate 15 to 20 more bronze sculptures. The last sculpture, also by Wyatt, was named Tree of Knowledge. It was placed in front of the Jean and Alexander Heard Library.
Some professors at Vanderbilt had concerns about the art program. They felt the university's art community was not asked for their opinion. One professor thought the art was not modern enough. Another felt the sculptures did not show enough variety.
The Tree of Learning sculpture caused the most discussion. Some professors thought it looked like a "boring and unchallenging" dead tree. A university leader, Judson Newbern, agreed it looked dead. He asked Wyatt to add leaves and buds to the sculpture.
More Recent History
Joseph Petrovics, a sculptor, was a Studio Instructor at the Newington-Cropsey Foundation Academy of Art starting in 1993. He created the National Iwo Jima Memorial and the FDNY memorial wall.
From 1994 to about 2005, the NCF hosted the Hudson Valley Art Association's Annual Exhibition. Barbara Newington and the foundation had long supported this art group.
In 2006, the NCF spent $500,000 to make a Christian film called Lost Letters of Faith. It was a story about King Abgar of Edessa. They also worked on another film project, Cradle of Genius. This film was about divine inspiration and composers like Brahms, Puccini, and Richard Strauss.
From 2015 to 2017, Greg Wyatt placed a series of busts at the Boscobel House and Gardens. This place in Garrison, New York, now has a permanent sculpture garden. It features ten bronze busts of important Hudson River School artists. The NCF donated these sculptures by Wyatt. Boscobel was chosen because it is in the Hudson Highlands. This area was a favorite subject for Hudson River School painters.
Ever Rest and the Gallery of Art are part of the Hudson River School Art Trail. This trail is a project of the Thomas Cole National Historic Site.
Ever Rest: Cropsey's Home
Ever Rest is the cottage and last home of Jasper Cropsey. It is a 4.5-acre site managed by the foundation. The home is located at 49 Washington Avenue in Hastings. You can take free tours by making an appointment.
This bright yellow cottage is built in the Carpenter Gothic style. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Cropsey lived here from 1885 until he died in 1900. The home displays about 40 to 50 of Cropsey's artworks. This includes many of his watercolor paintings.
Gallery of Art: The Museum
The Gallery of Art building is in a ravine about 60 feet below Ever Rest. It looks out over the nearby Hudson River and the Palisades. There is a small group of buildings here. This includes a place to store Cropsey's old papers.
The main office building also houses the office for American Arts Quarterly. This magazine focuses on Hudson River Realistic painting. The upper floor has a library with about 4,000 books about 19th-century painting.
The museum is dedicated to the paintings and sculptures of Cropsey and other 19th-century artists. It holds about 75 of Cropsey's paintings. Many show scenes from England and Rome, where Cropsey traveled. You can take free tours by making an appointment.
The yellow museum building was built in 1994. It was designed to look like an old building from the past. It aims to bring back the beauty and stability of the 1800s. The building uses many ideas from classical architecture. For example, sunlight is directed onto the rotunda's floor.
Outside the Gallery
The outside of the building has fancy wrought iron doors and a canopy. It also has arches and turrets. The parkland around the gallery includes a duck pond with duck houses.
Inside the Gallery
The main round room, called the rotunda, was inspired by the Pantheon in Rome. Its floor design was copied from the Piazza del Campidoglio in Rome. The rotunda also has carved pictures showing scenes from Hudson River history. Around the rotunda walls, there is a quote from Cropsey:
Ambition may be praiseworthy when its aim is that of excellence and the fountain from which it draws nourishment that of almighty wisdom.
The main gallery is an eight-sided Victorian room. It has maroon wallpaper above dark oak wood panels. The ceiling is made of timber. A large oak staircase leads to the second floor. This room displays Cropsey paintings from floor to ceiling. The lights are kept dim, which makes the paintings seem to glow. The room was designed to look like old Hudson River houses, such as Ever Rest and Lyndhurst.
The building also has sculptures and religious statues. This includes a copy of an old lintel with a message from King Abgar of Edessa to Jesus Christ. The building has a research library about Hudson River School art and painters. The NCF wants this to be the most complete resource for artists of the school in Westchester County. There is also a gallery space for temporary art shows by modern realistic artists.
