Looking Back/Looking Ahead: "In the Open Air: The Woodstock School of Landscape Painting and Its Impact''

By Bruce Weber

It was quite a busy 2025. I curated three exhibitions exploring different aspects of the historic Woodstock art colony: Making Her Mark: 50 Women ArtIsts of the Historic Woodstock Art Colony at the Historical Society of Woodstock, which is touring to the Schmucker Art Gallery at Gettsyburg College, opening January 28, 2026 (I'll be giving a gallery talk that day); In the Open Air: The Woodstock School of Landscape Painting and Its Impact, which which was on exhibition this past autumn at the Woodstock School of Art; and The Art and Artistry of the Plowshare, 1916-1920 at the Woodstock Library (which shall be on view for several months). All the exhibitions were accompanied by publications. The Plowshare booklet is currently on sale for $15 at the entrance desk of the Woodstock Library, and reveals new information pertaining to the artistic, social, historical and political development of Woodstock.

This coming year I am organizing two exhibitions in Woodstock. Opening in July and running through late September is Going Upstate: The Avery Family in Woodstock at the Kleinert/James Center for the Arts, which includes art by Milton Avery, Sally Michel Avery, March Avery, Philip Cavanaugh, Sean Cavanaugh, and Delilah Cavanaugh, and celebrates the legacy of the Avery family in Woodstock.

Opening in September and runnng through early November is the exhibition Rosella Hartman and the Animaliers of Woodstock at the Historical Society of Woodstock. This exhibition will focus on the life and artistic career of Rosella Hartman, who was active in the Woodstock art colony for over seventy years, and who is best remebered for her series of lithographs of deer and other animals, many of whom roamed her property on Speare Road. The exhibition will touch on all aspects of Hartman's art , including paintings. drawings and prints, and also features animal scultures by Woodstockers Paul Fiene, Hunt Diedertich, Grace Mott Johnson, and Carl Walters.

In the coming year a variety of pieces will appear on this website relating to the historic Woodstock art colony. Please join Learning Woodstock Art Colony if you have not done so. It’s free.

This month I am posting a selection of photographs relating to the installation of

In the Open Air.

For those who had the opportunity to see the exhibiton, and purchase the catalog (now in its second edition), the images will serve as refresher. If you didn't have the chance to see the showI hope you enjoy this visual treat.

John F. Carlson (1875-1947)

Untitled Landscape (Trees and Bridge), 1906

Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild

Birge Harrison (1854-1929)

October Sunset, c. 1910

Collection of William Lanford

Birge Harrison (1854-1929)

The Environs of Kingston, New York, c. 1910

Collection of William Lanford

Anita M. Smith (1893-1968)

Birge Harrison’s House, Chestnut Hill Road, Woodstock, c. 1925

Collection of Weston and Julia Blelock

John F. Carlson (1875-1947)

Morning on the Stream, c. 1915-1920

Private Collection

Alfred Hutty (1877-1954)

Summer Elms, 1908

Collection of Sam Freed

Marion Bullard (1878-1950)

Big Tree, n.d.

Woodstock Artists Association and Museum

Willard Allen (1860-1933)

Echo Lake, c. 1915

Collection of Ira Brandes

Frank Swift Chase (1996-1958)

Changing Season, c. 1920

Collection of Sam Freed

Frank Swift Chase (1896-1958)

Autumnal Landscape, c. 1910-1915

Collection of William Lanford

Walter Goltz (1875-1956)

Winter Snow, 1908

Collection of Matthew Leaycraft

and Steven Cambrom

Walter Goltz (1875-1956)

Winter View of (Old Library) from Route 212 with Figure in Foreground, 1910

Woodstock Library District

Evelyn Jacus Chase (1886-1971)

Wood Interior, c. 1915

Collection of Sam Freed

Harry Leith-Ross (1886-1973)

Snowfall, 1923

Collection of Elizabeth Mow

Allen Dean Cochran (1888-1961)

Shagbarks, c. 1920s

Historical Society of Woodstock

Allen Dean Cochran (1888-1961)

Grey Days, c. 1910

Collection of Richard and Deborah Heppner

Allen Dean Cochran (1888-1961)

Summer Sunshine, c. 1920s

Collection of Richard and Deborah Heppner

Cecil Chichester (1891-1963)

Landscape, 1912

Collection of Paul Washington

Cecil Chichester (1891-1963)

Apple Blossoms, c. 1910-1915

Collection of William Lanford

Margaret Goddard Carlson (1882-1964)

Early Winter, c. 1910-1915

Private Collection

Florence Ballin Cramer (1883-1962)

Woodstock Library, 1909

Woodstock Artists Association and Museum

Florence Ballin Cramer (1883-1962)

Woodstock Library, 1909

Woodstock Artists Association and Museum

Margaret Goddard Carlson (1882-1964(

Spring Wind, c. 1920

Collection of Dina Carlson

Zulma Steele (1881-1979)

Overlook Mountain, 1914

Historical Society of Woodstock

Henry Mattson (1887-1971)

Rolling Hill and Mountains, c. 1918

Collection of Sam Freed

Eugene Speicher (1883-1962)

Passing Storm, c. 1920

Woodstock Artists Association and Museum

Robert Henri (1865-1929)

Summer Storm, 1921

Francis Lehman Loeb Art Center, 

Vassar College

(Reproduction)

George Bellows (18882-1925)

The Picnic (Cooper Lake), c. 1924

Baltimore Museum of Art, Permanent

Loan from the Peabody Art Collection

(Reproduction)

Leon Kroll (1884-1974)

In the Hills, 1920-1921

The Chrysler Museum of Art

(Reproduction)

Andrew Dasburg (1887-1979)

Reclining Nude, c. 1915

Woodstock Artists Association and Museum

Harvey Emrich (1884-1972)

Summer Haven, Woodstock, New York

(The Artist’s Wife), c. 1919

Woodstock Artists Association and Museum

Konrad Cramer (1888-1963)

Figure, c. 1919

Woodstock Artists Association and Museum

Charles Rosen (1878-1950)

Rondout Bridge (Railroad Bridge),  by 1922

Collection of Sam Freed

Andrew Dasburg (1887-1979)

Hudson River, c. 1923-1927

Francis Lehman Loeb Center,

Vassar College

(Reproduction)

Konrad Cramer (1888-1963)

Barns and Corner Porch, 1922

Woodstock Artists Association and Museum

Earle B. Winslow (1884-1969)

Tannery Brook, 1928

Woodstock Artists Association and Museum

Hayley Lever (1876-1958)

Summer Landscape and Stream, n.d.

Woodstock Artists Association and Museum

John W. Taylor (1897-1983)

Shore Birds, c. 1960

Collection of Daniel and Jennie Gelfand

Arnold Blanch (1896-1968)

Big Green Landscape, 1959

Woodstock Artists Association and Museum

Robert Angeloch (1922-2011)

June, 1975

Woodstock School of Art

Robert Angeloch (1922-2011)

Harbor Fog, 1972

Collection of Paula Nelson

and John Kleinhans