In the first half of the 19th century, a group of like-minded painters, poets and writers working in New York developed a distinctive vision of the American landscape that came to be known as the Hudson River School. Employing Thomas Cole's work, landscape scenes from the Hudson River to Yosemite Valley, as well as scenes from the Arctic and South America, Elizabeth Mankin Kornhauser, Alice Pratt Brown Curator of American Paintings and Sculpture at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, will talk about how these powerful landscape interpretations shaped our national and cultural identity and how they demonstrated an early awareness of the value of preserving natural sites for future generations.

One of the foremost experts in American art, Kornhauser oversees the American paintings collection and participated in its 2012 reinstallation at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She co-curated the Met's Thomas Hart Benton's America Today Mural Rediscovered, Sargent: Portraits of Artists and Friends and George Caleb Bingham and the River. Earlier in her career, she served as Deputy Director, Chief Curator and Krieble Curator of American Paintings at the Wadsworth Atheneum.

Elizabeth Kornhauser received a PhD from Boston University in American Studies and an MA from the Cooperstown Graduate Programs in American Folk Culture. The recipient of numerous grants and awards related to the study of American art, she serves as a member of the Advisory Board of the Thomas Cole Historic Site and has taught undergraduate and graduate courses at Trinity College in Hartford.

The program is underwritten by Wells Fargo Advisors Wealth and Investment Management; Sally Reagan, Financial Advisor; and Marie Williams, Vice President, Investments. It is the first of a series created in memory of the late David R.A. Wierdsma, and its purpose to explore the infinitely beautiful possibilities that unfold when art and history meet nature.

Thursday, March 3, 2016. Doors open at 6:30 pm for light refreshments; lecture begins at 7:00 pm with Q&A session to follow. Members: $15; nonmembers $20. The program is free of charge to teachers, student and Patron Level members. Greenwich Historical Society, Vanderbilt Education Center, 39 Strickland Road, Cos Cob, CT. Reservations required. Visit www.greenwichhistory.org or call for 203-869-6899, Ext. 10.