Description

John Quidor: New York Stories will present the first exhibition in 40 years of work by this singular painter associated with the antebellum phenomenon of American Romanticism. Known for an eccentric style informed by late-18th-century British caricature, Quidor derived his subject matter primarily from the writings of his contemporary Washington Irving, and the latter’s Knickerbocker History of New York in particular. Featuring 22 of the artist’s 32 extant works, including his only surviving decorative fire engine panel, the exhibition will explore how Quidor employed Irving’s tales of ghosts and gold in Dutch New York to critique Jacksonian greed, urban growth, and the tensions associated with waves of arriving immigrants. Additional objects from the collection of the New-York Historical Society, to which Irving dedicated his Knickerbocker History, will offer a rich period context.