March 7, 2026 through May 10, 2026

Adam Miller’s work draws on myth, religion, and classical figuration to examine the development of human consciousness. Through rigorous draftsmanship and symbolic narrative, his figures trace humanity’s shift from instinct and belief toward reason, power, and self-awareness.

These drawings and paintings serve as studies for the monumental cycle Comedia Humana, which explores the psychological and cultural forces that shape civilization.

Adam Miller

The Philosopher, 2019

Made possible by the support of the New York State Council On the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

May 24, 2025 through December 30, 2025

Canajoharie citizen John Bayne Young (1922-2009) was a
life-long photographer. His lens captured the everchanging landscape of his hometown of Canajoharie, NY. He photographed a wide range of subject matter that interested him, environmental and mechanical disasters, historic places, friends and townspeople at work and play, and even aerial images of the surrounding area. Something of local celebrity, people who knew him recount seeing him snapping photos of any new development taking place in town. This exhibit presents the many places and faces, old and new, the tragedies and the ordinary, and other local history and life in Canajoharie, as seen through Young’s lens.

John Bayne Young (1922-2009)
Abeling Garage and Esso Gasoline Station, n.d.
Photograph
Arkell Museum Collection, Gift of the family of John Bayne Young, 2008

Made possible by the support of the New York State Council On the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

March 1, 2025 through December 30, 2025

…the Erie Canal exerted no mean effect upon the Nation. Its influence spread beyond and strove to efface our local boundaries and to make of the loose confederation of States and territories one united people.

The Erie Canal Centennial Celebration, 1928

Completed in 1825, the Erie Canal was a triumph of early engineering that carried an unprecedented volume of traffic 363 miles from Albany to Buffalo, influencing settlement, agricultural and industrial choices and patterns in New York State and beyond.

Throngs of people traveled the Canal out of curiosity and pleasure, reaching previously inaccessible places, and documenting their experiences and impressions in letters, journals, and travelogues. Artists and writers found ready subjects at every bend, from quiet landscapes to bustling canal towns.

This exhibition recognizes the bicentennial anniversary of the completion of the Canal, shares recollections of early travelers, and celebrates the continued importance of the Erie Canal and Mohawk River.

This exhibition is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

S. Georges (active mid-1800s)
Erie Canal, 1856
Oil on canvas
Gift of Bartlett Arkell, 1940

October 5, 2024 through May 11, 2025

I don’t remember making a decision to be an artist.
I just was one.

Beth Van Hoesen, 1987

Beth Van Hoesen distinguished herself as a major figure in twentieth-century printmaking. Born in Boise, ID, Van Hoesen studied art at Stanford University, making California her home and creating art in the Bay Area for the rest of her life. The artist focused on capturing the essence of animals, flowers, people, and everyday objects in a realistic manner. She worked from life, carefully studying the animals and people that because her subjects. This intense focus distinctly captures each subject's individuality, and gives her work a supremely personal touch.

Van Hoesen began her career during an era when Abstract Expressionism, a 1940s-1960s movement that featured primarily male artists presenting hyper-masculinized public images, reigned supreme. Van Hoesen would have struggled to gain notoriety as a female artist during that time, especially given her choice of media, style, and subject matter.

…there are times that – in the process of an idea –
that you may do something that’s quite special.
It isn’t what you have in mind, but for some reason,
you’ve captured a line or a personality.

Beth Van Hoesen, Artist Interview, 1984

This dynamic exhibit features a selection of Beth Van Hoesen prints from the Arkell Museum collection.

This exhibition is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

Beth Van Hoesen (1926-2010)
Oka, 1991
Aquatint, drypoint, and etching with roulette
Printed in black and light brown inks; handcolored with watercolor
Gift of the E. Mark Adams and Beth Van Hoesen Adams Trust, 2011

May 25th - September 22, 2024

Visual artist Mary Michael Shelley uses low relief wood-carved texture and acrylic paint to give life, movement, and interest to her work.

Developed by the Arkell Museum, this dynamic exhibit focuses on New York State themes including agriculture, landscapes, lake views, and diners. Hand Digging the Erie Canal, a new piece created specifically for this exhibit, is a special feature. We are thrilled to announce that this work is now part of our permanent collection. A benefactor who wishes to remain anonymous donated funding specifically to purchase this piece. Come see it and more work by Mary Michael Shelley in this exhibit. Hand Digging the Erie Canal will also be on display next year when we celebrate the 200th anniversary of the completion of the Erie Canal.

Artist Mary Michael Shelley has lived in rural upstate New York for more than 50 years and is a frequent demonstrator at the Ithaca Farmers’ Market. Significant public collections that own work by Shelley include the Smithsonian and the National Museum of Women and the Arts (Washington, DC), the American Museum in Britain (Bath, England), the Museum of American Folk Art (NYC), the High Museum (Atlanta, GA), Women’s Rights National Historic Park (Seneca Fall, NY), and the Fenimore Art Museum (Cooperstown, NY).

This exhibition is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

Mary Michael Shelley
Hand Digging the Erie Canal, 2024
Carved pine, acrylic paint, and gold leaf
Museum Purchase with Donated Funds, 2024

March 2, 2024 through May 12, 2024

The Arkell Museum was recently gifted a transformative collection of Winslow Homer wood engravings. Winslow Homer Wood Engravings: The Shirley W. Brand Collection is the first time a selection of these extraordinary wood engravings will be on view here at the Arkell Museum. We are so grateful to the family of Shirley W. Brand for this incredible gift.

Winslow Homer began his career as an art illustrator in the late 1850s, creating images for popular publications including Ballou’s Pictorial and Harper’s Weekly. He served as a wartime correspondent for Harper’s Weekly, capturing important battle, camp, and community scenes during the Civil War. Homer also excelled at depicting scenes from everyday life: farm fields, city streets, windy beach bluffs, factory workers, fishing parties.

This exhibition features some of Homer’s most famous and recognizable images such as The Dinner Horn and The Noon Recess as well as images that may be lesser known but are equally stunning and engaging. Image themes presented in this first sampling include Agriculture, Work, Entertainment, the Civil War, and Social Commentary.

This exhibition is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

Winslow Homer (1836-1910)
The Morning Bell
Wood engraving on paper
Harper’s Weekly; December 13, 1873
Arkell Museum Collection
Gift of the family of Shirley W. Brand, 2020

May 26, 2023 through December 30, 2023

This exciting exhibition features newly framed photographs and color advertisements, and showcases favorite materials rarely seen in person.

Exhibition themes include the vitality of Canajoharie, NY, and the impact of the Beech-Nut Packing Company on the community and people across the nation.

Did you know that Amelia Earhart was a Beech-Nut sponsor?
This exhibit includes the "cover" that she carried across
the Pacific and the studio photograph taken by noted NYC photographer Ben Pinchot, both inscribed and autographed by Earhart.

Did you watch Batman on TV in the 1960s?
Burgess Meredith, The Penguin, was also a celebrity sponsor for Beech-Nut as his 1930s radio character "Red Davis". This exhibit includes a studio photograph taken by Ben Pinchot, inscribed and signed by Meredith.

Do you like early vehicles or parades?
What about advertisements promoting peanut butter soup?
(no kidding - peanut butter soup!)
All of these and more are featured in this exhibit!

"The play is “My Sister Eileen” and as I understand it there is a girl in it who wears a Beech-Nut sampling girl costume…"
Bartlett Arkell to Frank Barbour, January 13, 1941

Shirley Booth as a Sample Girl in My Sister Eileen, ca. 1940
Lucas & Monroe Studio Photograph, NYC
Collection of the Arkell Museum

Funding from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature supported all framing, and exhibit design and installation.

March 3, 2023 through December 30, 2024

You told me earlier in the year that some day you wanted a fine Inness…

Robert Macbeth to Bartlett Arkell, March 8, 1917

The Macbeth Gallery had a profound impact on the development of American art. It was the first gallery in New York City to focus on work by American artists, and held many ground-breaking exhibits. Today, the gallery is recognized for raising an interest in and creating a market for American art during its sixty-plus years as an influential firm (1892-1953). Our founder Bartlett Arkell made many important purchases at the Macbeth Gallery, and worked closely with gallery directors to build our extraordinary collection. This exhibit is a tribute to his vision for the future, and the early work of the Macbeth Gallery.

This exhibition features three Winslow Homer watercolors, two Gilbert Stuart portraits, and oil paintings of the Erie Canal. Also included are works by John Singer Sargent, George Bellows, Jon Corbino, Paul Sample, George Luks, and many more. On display through December 29, 2024.

George Inness (1825-1894)
The Rainbow, ca. 1878
Oil on canvas
Arkell Museum Collection, Gift of Bartlett Arkell
Purchased by Bartlett Arkell from the Macbeth Gallery, 1934

September 3, 2022 through December 30, 2022

Featuring rarely seen large works on paper from the Arkell Museum's permanent collection including work by Winslow Homer, Edward Hopper, NC and Andrew Wyeth, and more,

Winslow Homer (1836-1910)
Homecoming, 1883 (detail)
Watercolor over graphite on wove paper
Gift of Bartlett Arkell (by bequest), 1946

September 3, 2022 through May 14, 2023

Featuring some of our favorite and most interesting frames protecting and showcasing work by John Singer Sargent, George Inness, Edward Gay, Maurice Prendergast, and more.

John Singer Sargent (1856-1925)
Head of an Italian Woman, ca. 1881
Tabernacle-style frame, maker unknown
Oil on canvas
Gift of Bartlett Arkell, 1929

May 28, 2022 through August 20, 2023

This exhibition celebrates the art of salt glazed stoneware from New York and Vermont, and sheds light on where these utilitarian objects were produced and by whom. Each stoneware piece delights with fanciful patterns, objects, animals, and even people!

The pieces from this exhibition are from the Fenimore Art Museum and The Farmers' Museum collection, and comprise choice pieces from their extensive stoneware collection.

Image credit:
J. & E. Norton Pottery
Bennington, VT
“Flower Basket” Three-Gallon Jug, ca. 1850 - 1859
Collection of the Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, NY
Gift of Preston Bassett

March 5, 2022 through August 21, 2022

This exhibition features visitor favorites, rarely exhibited pieces, and stellar examples from the permanent collection. The installation inspires creative thinking, and asks viewers to consider the faces, postures, attire, and location of the varied portraits to experience close looking and even self-reflection. Artists featured include Mary Cassatt, John Singer Sargent, Gilbert Stuart, Robert Henri, George Bellows, Frank Duveneck, and many more.

Abbott Thayer (1849-1921)
Girl Arranging Her Hair, ca. 1918-1920
Oil on canvas
Gift of Bartlett Arkell, 1930

March 5, 2022 through August 21, 2022

This exhibition examines the history, cultural importance, and legacy of New York State granges. Baugnet's images of grange exteriors and interiors feature strong lines and evocative displays of light and shadow. The large-scale back and white photographs offer a stunning homage to the beauty and simplicity of these buildings.

Baugnet became fascinated by New York State grange buildings decades ago after following signs advertising a chicken dinner. Since then, he has spent much of his career photographing grange buildings across the state. Baugnet specializes in documenting historic architecture and the built environment. His grange photographs are visually compelling and serve as important records of rural communities.

Andrew Baugnet (b. 1964)
Butternut Valley Grange No. 1533
Gilbertsville, Otsego County, NY
Archival pigment print from 4”x5” negative
Photographed 2012; printed 2019

March 5, 2022 through May 16, 2022

From around 1890 to 1930, fountain and garden statuary flourished in the United States, providing important new design and marketing opportunities for American sculptors. The joyful and sometimes frivolous figures created by American garden sculptors of the era were intended to enhance the garden experience by accenting, not dominating, specific garden spaces. This exhibit includes both indoor and outdoor figures collected by Bartlett Arkell and gifted by him to the Museum, and explores our own Memorial Garden through vintage images.

Edward Francis McCartan (1879-1947)
Diana and the Dog, 1923
Sand cast copper alloy (bronze)
Gift of Bartlett Arkell, 1925

May 28, 2021 through December 30, 2021

Between 1890 and 1900 itinerant folk artist Fritz G. Vogt roamed the turnpikes and dirt roads of five New York Counties west of Albany [Montgomery, Schoharie, Otsego, Fulton, and Herkimer]. By the time of his death on January 1, 1900, Vogt had created more than 200 distinctive architectural portraits featuring farms, homes, and businesses. Suggesting a draftsman’s training, Vogt’s linear drawings include an extraordinary amount of detail while imbuing the subject with a romanticized sense of optimism and pride of place…The result is a window into the artist’s personal perspective and his patron’s motivations, as well as a striking representation of the region’s architecture, commerce, and social history.
Drawn Home: Fritz Vogt’s Rural America, 2002

Organized by the Arkell Museum, Fritz Vogt Drawings: A Sense of Place, includes work from the collections of the Arkell Museum, Fenimore Art Museum, The Farmers' Museum, and a private collector.

Residence of Mr. and Mrs. William Garlock
Town of Canajoharie, NY
October 6, 1894
Graphite on paper
Collection of the Arkell Museum
Anonymous Gift, 1998
Photograph by Richard Walker

August 29, 2020 through December 29, 2021

This exhibition features images and materials from the Arkell Museum's Judge magazine collection.

Judge magazine debuted in 1881; William J. Arkell purchased the floundering periodical in 1885 specifically to attack the Democratic presidential campaign. Judge quickly rose in popularity with the addition of famed cartoonists including Eugene Zimmerman, and began to rival competing publications such as Puck. This exhibition focuses on the history of the magazine, the role it played in American political life, and its connection to Canajoharie, NY.

This exhibition has an accompanying YouTube video for learners and educators. This video was designed and created by ​Robyn L. Cochrane, Master's Candidate, Cooperstown Graduate Program, Class of 2021.
Video can be viewed at: https://youtu.be/41M6Lc00bjM

Eugene “Zim” Zimmerman (1862-1933)
Willet F. Cook, 1904
Watercolor on paper
Museum Purchase, 2006

July 9, 2020 through May 23, 2021

This exhibition features a selection of masterworks from the Arkell Museum's permanent collection.

Artist include N.C. Wyeth, Grandma Moses, James Whistler, George Inness, Gilbert Stuart, Robert Henri, Walter Launt Palmer, Charles H. Davis, and William Glackens.
This exhibition will be on view until Sunday, May 23.

Charles H. Davis
On The West Wind, ca 1915
Oil On Canvas
Gift of Bartlett Arkell, 1929

July 9, 2020 through December 30, 2020

This new exhibition features the Arkell Museum's permanent collection of Winslow Homer watercolors and woodcuts.

Homer began his career as an illustrator for Harpers during the Civil War. After the war Homer continued producing material for the publication including a number of illustrations that accompanied children's stories and poems. This exhibition examines Winslow Homer's skill as an illustrator and early work with print publications, shedding new light on how this influenced his later work.

Winslow Homer
Sponge Fishing, Bahamas, 1885
Watercolor and Graphite on Paper
Gift of Bartlett Arkell, 1940

August 10, 2019 through December 29, 2019

The work of New York State artist/printmaker Deborah Geurtze reflects a deeply rooted connection to the landscape
of New York State. This exhibit will include new and retrospective paintings, color etchings, and monotypes highlighting the Mohawk Valley and Erie Canal.

Of Hudson River Dutch ancestry, Geurtze is descended from a long line of draftsmen, engravers, and painters who immigrated to Albany in the mid-19th century. Her interest in printing was sparked while a teenager working for her uncle at the Fort Plain Standard – Canajoharie Courier.

I made offset plates for the Standard/Courier on Saturdays...when it was quiet and Uncle Bill (Clarke) could tutor me. That was where my interest in printing was piqued, but I had no idea how lush fine art printing was until I walked into the print shop in Potsdam...

Deborah Geurtze, 2019

This exhibition centers on the waterways, land forms, and people of the area where the southern reaches of the Adirondacks meet the northern reaches of the Catskills, and where rivers and streams tumble over and through the limestone and shale of the Mohawk Valley, celebrating the path of the Erie Canal.

The Noses (Mohawk River, East of Canajoharie), 2019
oil on linen

Fall 2018

The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. That was the moment in 1918 that the ceasefire between the Allied Forces and Germany went into effect, ending four years of fighting. One hundred years later, we reflect on the sacrifices made by soldiers and civilians. This case exhibit, located on the lower level, features archival materials from our collection. It is freely accessible to the public, and can be viewed any time the Canajoharie Library is open; Tuesdays - Fridays from 10:00 - 5:00, Wednesdays until 7:30, and Saturday and Sunday from 12:00 - 5:00.

November 3, 2018 through August 4th, 2019

"Its advertising, of all descriptions, is noted for its beauty and artistic quality..." — Mohawk Valley Regional Press, 1937

The beautiful Mohawk Valley and idyllic Canajoharie were important marketing images for the Beech-Nut Packing Company. The landscape Beech-Nut Plant on the Mohawk River appeared in Company advertising by the 1920s and was featured on the very first lithographed metal Beech-Nut Christmas Box in 1924. The painting Slopes on the Mohawk by Edward Gay appeared on the box cover and served as the frontispiece image in The Beech-Nut Book of Menus and Recipes (which featured “Bessie Beech-Nut” on the cover). This new exhibit looks at the interwoven marketing of the Mohawk Valley, early Beech-Nut products, and the art collection built by Bartlett Arkell, and includes paintings by Cushman Parker, framed archival photographs and advertisements, and the Beech-Nut Christmas Boxes.

Brought to you in part by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

American School

"Beech-Nut Plant on the Mohawk River," ca. 1920

Oil on canvas (detail

June 23, 2018 through December 29, 2019

Museum founder Bartlett Arkell was a noted art lover with a keen interest in the Mohawk Valley. In 1925, he presented a Library to the people of Canajoharie and lent twelve paintings from his private collection to adorn the walls. This first cultural gift to the Village was built from the stone of an 1840 Erie Canal grain store and now serves as our reading room. Arkell opened an attached Art Gallery in 1927 with a permanent collection “replete with beautiful notes for landscapists and suggestive and vital themes for historical painters.” For Arkell, this region’s past and present were equally important. He continued to acquire artwork with a focus on American art, history, and artists representing New York and its early Dutch heritage. This exhibition celebrates his vision of the Mohawk Valley, a place where landscape, history, and people are forever entwined.

Edward Gay (1837-1928)

"Mother Earth," 1892

Gift of Bartlett Arkell

Spring 2018

Bartlett Arkell, first president of the Beech-Nut Packing Company, used the appeal of animals in Beech-Nut advertising and on Beech-Nut labels and packages. This special installation features advertisements, photos, and products showcasing Beech-Nut's use of animals in their marketing.

This display was designed and installed by Amanda Berman, Arkell Museum Intern and Cooperstown (Museum) Graduate Program, Class of 2018.

March 10, 2018 through June 10, 2018

From luminous watercolors to stunning prints, the work of Mark Adams and Beth Van Hoesen captures the essence of everyday objects and animals in a realistic manner. Van Hoesen and Adams met at the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco in 1952. She was from Boise, Idaho; he was born and raised locally in Fort Plain, New York. Adams relates in a 1984 interview that he “came to California to see what it was like, met Beth and got married.”

Both studied painting, Van Hoesen at Stanford University and Adams at Syracuse University, and both later embraced diverse media. Van Hoesen distinguished herself as a major figure in 20th century printmaking. Adams created monumental tapestry and stained glass before turning to watercolor as his primary medium. During their early careers, Abstract Expressionism dominated American painting yet Van Hoesen and Adams focused on capturing the art found in everyday life with extraordinary images of objects, animals, and people they knew.

Beth Van Hoesen (1926-2010)

"Maharani," 1988, aquatint, etching, and drypoint on paper

Gift of the E. Mark Adams and Beth Van Hoesen Adams Trust, 2011

March 10, 2018 - October 21, 2018

Explore works featuring exotic, domestic, wild and working animals from the Museum's permanent collection, including both rarely exhibited watercolors and oil paintings. Works span the 19th and 20th centuries and include works by George Inness, Henry E. Schnakenberg, and Robert Brackman.

Howard Hill (1823-1888)

"Two Grouse," 1866

Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Anthony London, 2003

Spring 2017- Spring 2018

Canajoharie native Lieutenant Eugene Paul Vickary was a Navigator for the U.S. Army Air Force. His plane was shot down on October 1, 1943, and Vickary was taken prisoner of war. He was held in Stalag Luft III in Żagań from October 11, 1943 until January 27, 1945. He was then transferred to Stalag VII-A in Moosberg, and held there until the camp was liberated by American soldiers on April 29, 1945. "War Log" features his journal from his time as a captive, as well as a select number of his personal artifacts from his time serving our country.

This exhibition has been extended into 2018

June 24, 2017 through September 3, 2017

Paintings from the Arkell Museum marking the Bicentennial Anniversary of the Erie Canal.

"Grocery Store on the Erie Canal," by David Maitland Armstrong, 1881

June 24 - September 3
Portraits of Suffragists by Christine Heller recognizing the Centennial Anniversary of New York State women achieving the Right to Vote.

"Elizabeth Cady Stanton," Christine Heller

March 4, 2017 – June 11, 2017
Appealing to art connoisseurs and animal lovers alike, this collection of 46 small bronze sculptures from the 19th and 20th centuries encompasses all manifestations of the animalier movement. The exhibition moves from the romantic wild beasts of the inventor of the genre, Antoine-Louis Barye, to the horses and domestic animals that were favored by some of his most important followers, Jules Mene and Rosa Bonheur. It also includes important examples of animal art by 20th-century American artists Herbert Haseltine and Charles Russell, as well as by emerging contemporary artists.

This exhibition comes to the Arkell from The Georgia Museum of Art.

Elephant of Senegal

Antoine-Louis Barye

March 4, 2017 - June 11, 2017

Summer resident of Canada Lake and renowned illustrator Paul Bransom was known as the "Dean of Animal Artists" for his detailed and sensitive renderings of the animal kingdom. The exhibition of more than twenty pieces by Bransom from the Arkell Collection is accompanied by a view of the artist's lake by his friend Charles Sarka and a portrait of the artist attributed to Bill Scott. Those familiar with the Adirondacks will recognize the flora and fauna of their beloved mountains, and those who have not had the chance to visit will begin planning a trip.

Otter in Stream (detail)

Paul Bransom

ca. 1960

November 5, 2016 - December 30, 2016
Political cartoons from the 19th century both reflected and influenced the sentiments of voters. Judge magazine was purchased by William J. Arkell on December 4, 1885 with the plan of using the publication to promote Republican causes and politicians. Before signing this purchase agreement Arkell recruited Bernhard Gillam and Eugene Zimmerman away from the more Democratic-leaning Puck magazine.

Exhibition sponsored by the Beech-Nut Nutrition Company
June 12 - October 16, 2016

Featuring colorful paintings of the American circus by artists from the 1920s and 1930s alongside circus-themed marketing materials used by the Beech-Nut Packaging Company.

The Circus coming to town was a highly anticipated event in small towns across America during the early decades of the 20th century. Leading American artists painted the spectacle of the parade as the circus arrived and the excitement under the big top. Images of circus cars, animals and acrobats were also used to market food products during the 1930s. The Beech-Nut Packaging Company was one of the companies to use the excitement and nostalgia of the circus to sell its products. This culminated in the creation of Beech-Nut miniature circuses that traveled across the country by bus, and a circus themed pavilion at the New York World’s Fair in 1939.

Artists in the exhibition include Norman Rockwell, Jon Corbino, Everett Shinn, Ogden Pleissner and more.

Organized by the National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature in Abilene, Texas
October 22, 2016 - December 30, 2016

The exhibition features the amazing work of pop-up book creators Robert Sabuda and Matthew Reinhart. The exhibition contains over 70 original works from 14 of their books including the classic stories of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, The Jungle Book and Cinderella. There are also works created for Encyclopedias on Dinosaurs, Sharks and Fairies.

This exhibition is supported by Fenimore Asset Management Fund.
Meet the artist Matthew Reinhart on November 12th.

Matthew Reinhart, Oversized Pop-Up from The Jungle Book, 2006, Courtesy of the artist.

March 1, 2016 - October 30 , 2016
Edward Buyck (1888-1960) was commissioned to paint two historic views of Canajoharie as part of the Sesquicentennial celebration and pageant of Clinton’s Brigade that brought boats overland from the Mohawk River at Canajoharie to Otsego Lake. Canajoharie’s 150th anniversary celebration of Revolutionary War events opened with a two mile long parade that included floats carrying log cabins, stage couches, a wagon and other regional historic treasures from the American Revolution. Militia hauling boats in a reenactment of Clinton’s Brigade at Canajoharie also marched along with the parade that attracted a crowd of 15,800 people on June 15, 1929.

The exhibition features both of the the paintings created by Buyck for the Sesquicentennial celebration along with 18th century paintings of Americans by Gilbert Stuart and Benjamin West.

Exhibitions are supported in part by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

Edward Buyck (1888-1960) Canajoharie About 1780, 1929

March 1, 2016 - May 29, 2016
This exhibition, organized by the Syracuse University Art Galleries, explores Rembrandt's influence on the printmakers of his day.

Rembrandt is generally considered one of the most important figures in western art history. This ranking has been remarkably stable in the three hundred years since his death and is due, in part, to his virtuoso style, the wide range of subject matter that he included in his work, and his prolific output. Typically it is his painting that garners the most attention with the public, but his etchings demonstrate the same genius, diversity of subjects, and vitality that he generated with his brush. This exhibition brings together the printed work of Rembrandt and sixteen of his contemporaries. It has been arranged in thematic groups, landscapes, genre, portraits, and religious subjects, so that visitors may discover the similarities and differences as well as the technical achievements of these talented individuals.

This exhibition is supported in part by funds from Montgomery County.

Rembrandt Van Rijn (1606-1669)

The Pancake Woman, 1635 etching

September 26, 2015 - January 3, 2016

This exhibition, drawn from the permanent collection, features the work of 19th and early 20th century American painters admired for their winter landscapes. Artists in this exhibition include Winslow Homer, Andrew Wyeth, Walter Launt Palmer, Edward W. Redfield, Anna Mary Robertson Moses (Grandma Moses) and other artists famous for their distinctive views of winter.

Walter Launt Palmer (1854-1932)

Morning Light, 1926

September 26, 2015- January 3, 2016
(Exhibition developed by the National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature, Abilene, Texas)

The exhibition includes pencil sketches, crayon drawings, lithographs, and paintings in oil and acrylic created by William Joyce for his books, television shows and films.

William Joyce has world-wide recognition as an author, illustrator filmmaker and pioneer in the animation industry. Books published by Simon & Schuster include The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, The Guardians of Childhood book series: The Man in the Moon, The Sandman: Story of Sanderson Mansnoozie, Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King, E. Aster Bunnymund and the Warrior Eggs at the Earth’s Core! and Toothania: Queen of the Tooth Fairy Armies. His latest books are Billy's Booger,The Mischievians and Sandman and the War of Dreams.

Joyce co-founded Moonbot Studios a transmedia storytelling company specializing in books, apps, film and video games. Named by Newsweek magazine as “One of the 100 people to watch in the new millennium”, William has been involved in the world of digital animation from its full-scale inception at Pixar Animation. His projects have been produced by nearly every major film studio including Disney, Twentieth Century Fox and DreamWorks Animation. His feature films include Epic, Rise of the Guardians, Robots and Meet the Robinsons. His television series include George Shrinks and Rolie Polie Olie for which he won three Emmy Awards. In 2012, he won an Academy Award for The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, an animated short film about the curative powers of story.

(detail The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, 2012

© William Joyce

June 26-September 20, 2015
This exhibition was organized by The Burchfield Penney Art Center at the Buffalo State College, Buffalo, NY

Charles Burchifeld is best known today for his fantastic watercolor landscapes, but from November 1921 to August 1929, he worked at the M. H. Birge & Sons Company, eventually becoming one of their best wallpaper designers. His designs were so highly regarded that they printed his name in the selvage. He based many of his early designs on watercolors he had produced in Salem, Ohio. Later designs were either company determined variations on traditional themes, or imaginative designs based on his special view of nature. This exhibition highlights works from the collection including color variations of wallpapers produced with rollers, original painted designs for wallpapers and coordinating fabrics known as cretonnes. The exhibition also features panels from the complex, block-printed scenic wallpaper, Country Life and the Hunt (c. 1922-1924) that had been removed from its original installation in a home in New England, donated by Gail and John Greenberger in 1999, and restored by paper conservator Patricia D. Hamm, with assistance of Eileen Saracino, James D. Hamm, and Tracy Dulniak.

Charles E. Burchfield, Bluebird and Cottonwoods, 1917, watercolor, Burchfield Penney Art Center

September 2, 2014 - January 4, 2015

Bartlett Arkell purchased and donated 20 Winslow Homer works to the Canajoharie Art Gallery. These watercolors and oil paintings, along with other Homer works Arkell acquired for his personal collection will be reunited for this exhibition that opens at the Fenimore Art Museum and then returns for a big celebration at the Arkell Museum in the fall 2014. These works span Homer's career from his first works in oil, to his first watercolors up to his fantastic marine painting at Prout's Neck, Maine "Watching the Breakers--A High Sea."

Winslow Homer (1836-1910)

Moonlight, 1874

watercolor