The Albany Boat

At the period when this picture was painted, Gifford Beal was spending his summers in Newburgh, New York, where his parents lived. He knew the central Hudson River area well, and frequently used it for his settings. The trip to Albany on the Hudson River was an overnight journey from New York City, but many people traveled only as far as Newburgh, returning to the city on the boat plying in the opposite direction. Here, the passengers have probably just disembarked from the big steamboat that lies in the river below the parklike promenade, directly across from the town of Beacon. Gifford Beal, who had studied with William Merritt Chase, captured the movements and gestures of such scenes of recreation and entertainment with breezy and casual aptness.