Schumer Reveals: Long Lost Art Treasure Painted By Thomas Cole, The Father Of The Hudson River School, Has Been Miraculously Discovered; Senator Urges Feds To Fund Historic Restoration Project To Uncover Previously Unknown Murals At Artist's Home In Catskill In Greene County

Press Release

Standing at the Thomas Cole Historic Site, US Senator Charles E. Schumer today urged the Chairman for the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and Acting Director for the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to provide critical grant funding for the home of the great American landscape artist and founder of the Hudson River School, Thomas Cole. The historic site, located in the Village of Catskill in Greene County, recently discovered that Cole had painted decorative friezes in two of the rooms of his home around 1836, which are believed to have been covered by common wall paint around 1900. The paintings were unknown and lost to history until recently, when efforts to restore the rooms and their original color revealed the hidden treasures. Schumer said that, since the discovery, the site has found strong evidence that the paintings are, in fact, by the American master, and as such are bona fide American art treasures.

The Thomas Cole Historic site has applied for a National Endowment for the Humanities grant for $460,000 and an Institute of Museum and Library Services grant for $150,000 to uncover and restore these priceless works. Schumer revealed that he has reached out to NEH Chairman William "Bro" Adams and IMLS Acting Director Maura Marx to strongly support the expeditious approval of this crucial funding to uncover these gems.

"This is an absolutely amazing discovery for Upstate New York and all of us who love the Hudson River School painters. Without the initial federal grant last year, who knows how long these beautiful murals would have remained undiscovered. This is just further evidence that additional federal funds are desperately needed to preserve these works of art in a timely manner," said Schumer. "That's why I'm urging these two federal entities to work together and swiftly approve the funding needed so Cole's murals can once again be revealed. We need to do all we can to ensure these treasures can be enjoyed by all who visit the site for generations to come."

Schumer explained that the Thomas Cole Historic Site, located in the Village of Catskill in Greene County, is the site of the preserved home of American painter, poet, and essayist Thomas Cole. Cole is most famous for his landscape paintings of the Hudson River Valley that inspired the Hudson River School, which encompassed a movement of landscape artists and enthusiasts influenced by romanticism that sought to depict the beautiful Hudson River Valley and its surrounding areas, including the Catskill, Adirondack, and White Mountains. According to the Thomas Cole Historic Site, Cole became known for his vision of wild and untouched scenery.

Schumer said that the Thomas Cole Historic Site was awarded an NEH Planning Grant in 2014 for the purpose of designing a new visitor experience to the site, including creating a new interactive narrative, restoring the original interiors, and making the site more representative of Cole's upbringing and career. However, during the federally funded restorations, internationally renowned paint finishes expert Matthew Mosca discovered decorative paintings in Cole's home in the in the East and West Parlours, presumably from the 1830s. These decorative friezes in two of the rooms in his home had been covered by common wall paint around 1900. Schumer said the Thomas Cole Historic Site immediately began a request for NEH and IMLS grants to begin restorations that would allow historians and art experts to fully uncover the paintings and preserve them for future viewing while maintaining the structural integrity of the house.

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