Springwood – The Franklin Delano Roosevelt residence in Hyde Park, NY

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This is the first in a series of posts on Springwood, the Franklin Delano Roosevelt mansion in Hyde Park, NY.

In a previous post I mentioned that my brother-in-law was staying with us and that we had been looking for places to take him. We had already taken him to Boscobel and decided that we’d try Springwood. Unfortunately, when the day came to go it had started to rain. We debated whether or not we would still go but lacking a better alternative we decided to go ahead with our plans – particularly since my brother-in-law is a big fan of FDR. I’d been to the house before and had seen the interior, but hadn’t really seen the grounds. So my wife and brother-in-law did the house tour I decided to take the dog for walk around the grounds (luckily the rain had more or less abated at that time).

FDR was born at Springwood, frequently visited it during his life and is buried there. He once said: “All that is within me cries out to go back to my home on the Hudson River”. He also designed and built the first US Presidential Library there. It’s still there and is part of the tour. In fact my wife and brother-in-law spent more time there than on the tour. They only left because I got tired of sitting around in the visitor’s center (it had started to rain again by that point) and requested that they do so.

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The stables.

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Another view of the stables.

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Eleanor and Franklin’s grave site. Their dog, Fala is also buried here – right by the column in the background.

Boscobel – Sculptures of Hudson River School Artists

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This is the fourth of a series of posts on Boscobel, a lovely Federal style mansion in Garrison, NY the other three being: Boscobel – Objects; Boscobel – Interiors; and Boscobel – Rose Garden.

This one covers a new exhibit on the grounds: a series of sculptures of Hudson River School Artists by Greg Wyatt whose web site provides the following biography:

Greg Wyatt received his Bachelor of Arts degree in art history at Columbia College in 1971 and studied classical sculpture for three years at the National Academy of Design’s School of Fine Arts under sculptor Evangelos Frudakis, N.A. He earned his Masters of Arts degree at Columbia University, Teachers College in ceramic arts in 1974; in 1976 he was an Ed. D. candidate having completed his doctoral coursework in art education.

Greg Wyatt is a native of Grand View-on-Hudson, New York located south of Nyack, home of Edward Hopper. Mr. Wyatt was nurtured in the artistic tradition of his native Hudson River Valley at an early age by his father, Professor William Stanley Wyatt, painter and fine arts professor at Columbia University and the City College of the City University of New York.

Cast bronze is his medium of artistic expression. Dr. Anthony Janson, editor of W.H. Janson’s History of Art, has stated that Greg Wyatt’s work is based on the philosophy of “spiritual realism.” His mature style merges realistic images inspired by his readings of the Great Books content with creative masses of form, space and energy. His lyricism evokes poetry while his work process is attentive to craftsmanship and the fine details of cast bronze.

The Boscobel site describes the exhibit as follows:

Boscobel is installing a permanent sculpture garden honoring the 19th-century Hudson River School of Painting. Not a singular institution but a movement, this 19th-century endeavor was developed by artists inspired by the natural beauty of the Hudson River and the nearby Catskill and Adirondack Mountains. In time, the painters ventured well beyond this region, studying in Europe and traveling to America’s far west and the Canadian Rockies.

Upon completion, the Hudson River School Artists Garden will feature ten of the movement’s leading painters. These include: Thomas Cole, Frederic Church, Jasper Cropsey, Asher B. Durand, Albert Bierstadt, Sanford Gifford, Thomas Moran, Worthington Whittredge, George Inness and John Frederick Kensett.

Greg Wyatt, the sculptor of the garden’s bronze portraits, has a studio in Hastings-on-Hudson, appropriately located in the Hudson Valley region.

The project will be completed in the fall of 2017.

So far four of the projected ten sculptures have been completed (see below).

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Thomas Cole.

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Jasper F. Cropsey.

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Asher B. Durand.

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Frederick E. Church.

Boscobel – Rose Garden

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This is the third of a series of posts on Boscobel, a lovely Federal style mansion in Garrison, NY the other two being: Boscobel – Objects; and Boscobel – Interiors.

It’s also one of the few exterior shots I took this time around – even if it was taken through a window on the upper floor of the building.

The Boscobel website describes the rose garden as follows”

Designed in the 1960s by renowned landscape architects Innocenti and Webel, the Rose Garden is a classically-inspired English style garden with a fountain at its center, hedgerow along its edge and vistas of the Hudson River in the distance. In warmer months, 150 varieties of roses represented in over 600 bushes create a vibrant, colorful and wonderfully-fragrant impression.

Boscobel – Objects

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This is the second in a series of posts on Boscobel. The first (Boscobel – Interiors) contained a few pictures of some of the interiors. This one provides some pictures of a few of the many objects inside the house.

Above is a miniature of what the tour guide referred to as “George and his wife”. You might be excused in thinking that this meant George Washington and his wife, Martha. However, the miniature is actually of King George III and his wife Queen Charlotte. While this might seem surprising it really isn’t when you consider that the owner, States Dyckman was a committed loyalist (for more information see The Boscobel Story, 1: The Short, Troubled Life of States Morris Dyckman).

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My wife tells me that this is an oil lamp. I do recall the tour guide mentioning it, but I can’t remember what he said it was.

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Longcase Clock. This type of clock is often referred to as a “Grandfather’s Clock”. However, the term “Grandfather’s Clock” didn’t come into common usage until 1876 and the creation of the song “My Grandfather’s Clock” by Henry Clay Work (who also wrote “Marching Through Georgia“). The term “Longcase Clock” has been in use since 1670 and so is arguably the better term to use.

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Kitchen Utensils. These were in what looked like it would have been the house’s kitchen. Apparently it wasn’t. The exhibition space next door is in what once was the kitchen. This room was instead used for the preparation of food.

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Wooden Box. Again I believe the tour guide explained what this is, but I was too busy taking pictures of it to listen. I just loved the shape, the holes and the veneer of the wood. I have no idea what purpose it served.