Hadley's Falls (No. 5 of The Hudson River Portfolio)
When the artist William Guy Wall and writer John Agg visited this site, north of Glens Falls on the Hudson, it not easy to access. The text accompanying the image tells us that, "a moment's view of these Falls...as they suddenly burst upon the sight of the traveller...is sufficient compensation for all the difficulties he may have encountered. Instead of one unbroken sheet of water, falling perpendicularly...the whole body of the river seems to have forced a passage through the intercepting barrier of cliffs which obstructed its course; with ungovernable fury and deafening clamour, over a gradual but rugged declivity, composed of the massive and tenacious fragments which its impetuosity has thrown down." The image comes from the Hudson River Portfolio, a monument of American printmaking produced through the collaboration of artists, a writer, and publishers. In the summer of 1820, the Irish-born Wall toured and sketched along the Hudson, then painted a series of large watercolors. Prints of equal scale were proposed—to be issued to subscribers in sets of four—and John Rubens Smith hired to work the plates. Almost immediately, Smith was replaced by the skilled London-trained aquatint engraver John Hill, who finished the first four plates, and produced sixteen more by 1825. Over the next decade, the popularity of the Portfolio stimulated new appreciation for American landscape, and prepared the way for the Hudson River School.
Artwork Details
- Title: Hadley's Falls (No. 5 of The Hudson River Portfolio)
- Series/Portfolio: The Hudson River Portfolio
- Etcher: Begun by John Rubens Smith (American, London 1775–1849 New York)
- Etcher: Finished by John Hill (American (born England), London 1770–1850 Clarksville, New York)
- Artist: after William Guy Wall (Irish, Dublin 1792–after 1864 Ireland (active America))
- Publisher: Henry J. Megarey (American, 1818–1845 New York)
- Publisher: W. B. Gilley (New York, NY)
- Publisher: John Mill (Charleston, South Carolina)
- Printer: William and Charles Rollinson (American, active ca. 1808–33)
- Date: 1821–22
- Medium: Aquatint printed in color with hand-coloring; second state of three (Koke)
- Dimensions: Image: 14 1/16 x 20 3/16 in. (35.7 x 51.3 cm)
Sheet: 19 x 24 1/2 in. (48.3 x 62.2 cm) - Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: The Edward W. C. Arnold Collection of New York Prints, Maps and Pictures, Bequest of Edward W. C. Arnold, 1954
- Object Number: 54.90.1274(5)
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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Multiple artists/makers
1821–25
John Rubens Smith
James G. Clark & J. R. Savage
1845
John Rubens Smith
John Rubens Smith
1816
John Rubens Smith
ca. 1815
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