FC200 - Olana NY State Historic Site | Hudson River School Painter Frederic Edwin Church
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Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy Albany Institute of History & Art Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College Amon Carter Museum of American Art Art Institute of Chicago Brigham Young University Museum of Art Brooklyn Museum The Butler Institute of American Art Carnegie Museum of Art The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art Cincinnati Art Museum The Cleveland Museum of Art Colby College Museum of Art Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art Currier Museum of Art Dallas Museum of Art Delaware Art Museum Detroit Institute of Arts de Young Museum, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco Fenimore Art Museum Florence Griswold Museum The Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College Fruitlands Museum Harvard Art Museums The Heckscher Museum of Art Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University High Museum of Art Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields Los Angeles County Museum of Art Lyman Allyn Art Museum Mattatuck Museum Mead Art Museum, Amherst College The Metropolitan Museum of Art Middlebury College Museum of Art Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis Milwaukee Art Museum Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts Munson Museum of Art Museo de Arte de Ponce Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Houston National Gallery of Art Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art The Newark Museum of Art New Britain Museum of American Art New Hampshire Historical Society The New York Historical Parthenon Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts Philadelphia Museum of Art Portland Museum of Art Princeton University Art Museum Reading Public Museum Reynolda House Museum of American Art Santa Barbara Museum of Art Seattle Art Museum Smith College Museum of Art Smithsonian American Art Museum Springfield Museums Tacoma Art Museum Thomas Cole National Historic Site University of Michigan Museum of Art Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art The Walters Art Museum Washington County Museum of Fine Arts White House Historical Association Woodmere Art Museum Yale University Art Gallery Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza Honolulu Museum of Art National Galleries of Scotland
Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy Albany Institute of History & Art Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College Amon Carter Museum of American Art Art Institute of Chicago Brigham Young University Museum of Art Brooklyn Museum The Butler Institute of American Art Carnegie Museum of Art The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art Cincinnati Art Museum The Cleveland Museum of Art Colby College Museum of Art Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art Currier Museum of Art Dallas Museum of Art Delaware Art Museum Detroit Institute of Arts de Young Museum, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco Fenimore Art Museum Florence Griswold Museum The Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College Fruitlands Museum Harvard Art Museums The Heckscher Museum of Art Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University High Museum of Art Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields Los Angeles County Museum of Art Lyman Allyn Art Museum Mattatuck Museum Mead Art Museum, Amherst College The Metropolitan Museum of Art Middlebury College Museum of Art Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis Milwaukee Art Museum Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts Munson Museum of Art Museo de Arte de Ponce Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Houston National Gallery of Art Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art The Newark Museum of Art New Britain Museum of American Art New Hampshire Historical Society The New York Historical Parthenon Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts Philadelphia Museum of Art Portland Museum of Art Princeton University Art Museum Reading Public Museum Reynolda House Museum of American Art Santa Barbara Museum of Art Seattle Art Museum Smith College Museum of Art Smithsonian American Art Museum Springfield Museums Tacoma Art Museum Thomas Cole National Historic Site University of Michigan Museum of Art Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art The Walters Art Museum Washington County Museum of Fine Arts White House Historical Association Woodmere Art Museum Yale University Art Gallery Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza Honolulu Museum of Art National Galleries of Scotland
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2026 MARKS THE 200TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BIRTH OF FREDERIC CHURCH,
AMERICA’S GREATEST LANDSCAPE ARTIST
, AND THE OLANA PARTNERSHIP IS LAUNCHING
FREDERIC CHURCH 200
TO CELEBRATE AND EXTEND HIS LEGACY.
Church’s huge and immersive paintings of the natural world captivated a global audience, bringing him critical and financial success and international recognition for American art. His creative energy exploded beyond the canvas at Olana, his 250-acre designed landscape, home, and studio in the Hudson Valley. Church stood apart from his contemporaries by looking beyond European models to seek inspiration in contemporary scientific and environmental thinking. Each painting was an adventure, taking him to South America to paint volcanoes and rain forests, to Labrador and Newfoundland to capture icebergs, and to the Middle East to depict the geology and landmarks of the ancient world.
Today, Church’s paintings can be seen in more than 70 public art museums across the United States and in Europe, and Olana, a New York State Historic Site and National Historic Landmark, stands as the greatest testament to his vision.
Church’s legacy also includes the leading role he played in the great artistic and cultural endeavors of his time. He was a founding trustee of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, a parks commissioner of New York’s Central Park, and championed the creation of the first state park in the United States at Niagara Falls. Through his art, Church was also actively involved in the politics of his day, especially as an advocate for the Union cause during the Civil War.
In 2026, to celebrate Frederic Church’s lasting impact on American art, museums across the United States will present exhibitions and programs related to his work
, including a groundbreaking exhibition at Olana which highlights Church’s role as a global artist. Four new books will be published throughout the year, spanning Church’s life and artistic achievements, including the first holistic biography by acclaimed author Victoria Johnson. Additional events will be announced, and on April 22, the annual Frederic Church Awards will be presented at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
SEE WHAT'S ON
EVENTS & ACTIVATIONS
Frederic Church's 200th Birthday Party
May 2, 2026
Did you know 2026 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Frederic Church? To celebrate, The Olana Partnership is hosting a free community day filled with the artist’s favorite things! Come celebrate at Olana State Historic Site from 1:00-5:00pm on Saturday, May 2nd and enjoy free access to Olana’s historic house, fun giveaways, art making workshops, musical performances, and special birthday treats!
The day will conclude with a presentation by Pulitzer Prize nominated author Victoria Johnson whose biography of Frederic Church, Glorious Country, hits shelves in May. This book talk will be hosted in the Frederic Church Center for Art & Landscape from 5-6pm and will highlight how the Church brought the world to America, and America to the world. Books will be for sale and a book signing with the author will follow. FREE; no registration required. Seating will be provided first-come first served and space is limited.
1:00 - 6:00pm
Olana State Historic Site
Glorious Country Author Talk
May 2, 2026
5:00pm
Olana State Historic Site
WAMC Roundtable Broadcast Live from Olana
May 4, 2026
On Monday, May 4, WAMC’s The Roundtable, hosted by Joe Donahue, will broadcast from Frederic Church’s Olana. The National Historic Landmark and New York State Historic Site is located in Hudson, New York. It is the home and masterwork of Frederic Church, who is considered by many to be the greatest American landscape artist. May 4 marks the 200th Anniversary of Frederic Church's birth, and The Roundtable will explore the creation, creativity, landscape, preservation, and importance of the home and gardens in history and in the Hudson Valley.
8:15am - 12:00pm
Olana State Historic Site
Book Launch: Glorious Country: How the Artist Frederic Church Brought the World to America and America to the World
May 5, 2026
GLORIOUS COUNTRY is the first-ever holistic biography of Frederic Church. Written for a broad reading audience in an engaging narrative style, it weaves together the private life, political convictions, global adventures, and extraordinary talents of the man who put American art on the map of the world.
Frederic Edwin Church at 200: Celebrating "The Icebergs"
May 8, 2026
Join Sue Canterbury, The Pauline Gill Sullivan Curator of American Art, for a tour highlighting Frederic Edwin Church's seminal work The Icebergs, one of the jewels of the DMA's American art collection. This is one of several events celebrating Church's bicentennial.
12:00 - 12:30pm
Dallas Museum of Art
Glorious Country Author Talk
May 14, 2026
6:00pm
Woodmere Art Museum
Betsy Kornhauser at the American Art Fair, New York “Frederic Church as a Global Artist“
May 19, 2026
The life and work of Frederic Church (1826–1900) was indelibly shaped by global travel. Early trips took him to South America, across the northeastern United States, to Jamaica, and to the Arctic. Later he visited Europe and the Middle East, and in his final decades he made fifteen winter sojourns in Mexico. Over a forty-year period, he created one of the most intact artist homes in the world—Olana—designing the architecture and landscape and filling it with global collections that reflect the many worlds through which he traveled. As we celebrate the Bicentennial of his birth in 2026, this is a moment to reassess this formidable artist for today’s audiences.
2:00pm
American Art Fair
“In Nature’s Studio: Two Centuries of American Landscape Painting”
May 22 - Sep 7, 2026
This exhibition highlights American landscape art from the 19th to 20th centuries, featuring 65 works from the Reading Public Museum’s collection. Explore the evolution from the Hudson River School to Impressionism, Tonalism, and Modernism, with paintings by artists like Frederic Church, Childe Hassam, George Inness, and Andrew Wyeth. The exhibition features "Frederic Church's Syria: Ruins by the Sea," 1873-74 as well as a version of "Cotopaxi," painted by both Church and De Witt Boutelle.
Fenimore Art Museum
Reception & Book Signing
June (Date TBD)
Cooley Gallery
Premiere Screening: Language in Landscape: The Art of Frederic Church
June 4, 2026
Celebrate the 200th birthday of artist Frederic Church with the premiere screening of WMHT Public Media’s new documentary Language in Landscape: The Art of Frederic Church. Through rare archival materials and exclusive interviews with leading experts, discover Church’s most iconic paintings, and see how his legacy continues to shape our current understanding of art, nature, and landscape. Explore Olana, Church’s greatest masterwork and a living work of art where ongoing efforts are restoring Church’s original intent and design.
The screening will be followed by a conversation with Sean Sawyer, President of The Olana Partnership; Elizabeth Kornhauser, Senior Curator for the Frederic Church Bicentennial Committee and Curator Emerita at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; and Victoria Johnson, author of the new Frederic Church biography, Glorious Country: How Frederic Church Brought the World to America and America to the World (2026), moderated by director Catherine Rafferty.
LANGUAGE IN LANDSCAPE: THE ART OF FREDERIC CHURCH (2026, 30 min)
Directed by Catherine Rafferty
Produced by The Olana Partnership & WMHT
5:30pm
Hudson Hall
Premiere Screening: Language in Landscape: The Art of Frederic Church
June 4, 2026
Celebrate the 200th birthday of artist Frederic Church with the premiere screening of WMHT Public Media’s new documentary Language in Landscape: The Art of Frederic Church. Through rare archival materials and exclusive interviews with leading experts, discover Church’s most iconic paintings, and see how his legacy continues to shape our current understanding of art, nature, and landscape. Explore Olana, Church’s greatest masterwork and a living work of art where ongoing efforts are restoring Church’s original intent and design.
5:30pm
The Olana Partnership
Broadcast Premiere: Language in Landscape: The Art of Frederic Church
June 10, 2026
Celebrate the 200th birthday of artist Frederic Church with the premiere screening of WMHT Public Media’s new documentary Language in Landscape: The Art of Frederic Church. Through rare archival materials and exclusive interviews with leading experts, discover Church’s most iconic paintings, and see how his legacy continues to shape our current understanding of art, nature, and landscape. Explore Olana, Church’s greatest masterwork and a living work of art where ongoing efforts are restoring Church’s original intent and design
LANGUAGE IN LANDSCAPE: THE ART OF FREDERIC CHURCH (2026, 30 min)
Directed by Catherine Rafferty
Produced by The Olana Partnership & WMHT
7:30pm
WMHT Albany, NY
Frederic Church at 200: America’s Global Artist
June 19, 2026
2026 marks the bicentenary of famed American landscape artist Frederic Church, whose Niagara Falls from the American Side (1867) at the National Galleries of Scotland is the only major work by the artist in a European public collection. This talk will review the significant new publications and exhibitions taking place this year as part of the Frederic Church 200 initiative and the impact they have on our understanding of Church and his legacy. Particular attention will be given to Glorious Country: How the Artist Frederic Church Brought the World to America and America to the World, the first ever biography of Church by Victoria Johnson, and the reappraisal offered by a new generation of scholars in Frederic Church: Global Artist, the catalogue accompanying the exhibition taking place at Olana, Church’s home and studio in the Hudson River Valley. The talk will also explore the ongoing restoration of Olana’s historic architecture and 250-acre landscape, all designed by Church, which is the subject of Olana: Frederic Church’s Vision of Art & Landscape to be published in September.
12:00pm
Betsy Kornhauser Lecture: National Galleries of Scotland
PANORAMA Summer Art + Nature Program, Week 2: Church’s Global Travels
July 20 – 24, 2026
Explore Olana through the lens of Church’s global travels, learning more about the range of cultures, countries, and artwork that inspired the artist. Learn more about the places Church and his family traveled in South America, the Middle East, and Central America through artmaking prompts, fun games, and by looking closely at Olana’s collection of art and objects. Make your own artist maps and unique scrapbooks to document fun discoveries throughout the week. Connect with new friends and the special Hudson Valley landscape during outdoor games and on sketching hikes. This week will include a special historic house visit focused on Olana’s global collections.
9:00am - 3:00pm
Olana State Historic Site
Glorious Country Author Talk
August 1, 2026
Beatrix Farrand Society
Glorious Country Author Talk
September 3, 2026
5:00pm
The Mount, Lenox, MA
Glorious Country Author Talk
September 13, 2026
2:00pm
Albany Institute of History & Art
Glorious Country Author Talk
October 15, 2026
Park Avenue Armory
Church 200 Fall Trivia Night
November 7, 2026
Test your knowledge of all things Olana during this special fall trivia night celebrating Frederic Church’s 200th birthday year! Join The Olana Partnership staff for a rousing game of trivia. Work in teams or test your luck solo. Winners and runners up will receive a special Olana prize pack. For ages 18 and up; refreshments available for purchase. Must be 21+ to drink. FREE; in the Frederic Church Center for Art & Landscape.
4:00 - 5:00pm
Olana State Historic Site
SEE MORE
EXHIBITIONS & PUBLICATIONS
SHOW ALL
EXHIBITIONS
PUBLICATIONS
Helen Munson Williams and The Utica Art Association
The Finer Part of Our Nature
On view through fall 2026
Colby College Museum of Art
Some American Stories
September 26,2024 - Ongoing
Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center
Splitting the Horizon: Frederic Church Between Border and Bridge
February 21 - August 30 2026
Composing Olana: A Journey on Foot Through Frederic Church’s Greatest Work of Art
Annik LaFarge
March 3, 2026
Museum of Fine Arts Washington County
Kindred Spirits: Artists in the Tenth Street Studio Building
March 7, 2026 – January 3, 2027
Detroit Institute of Arts
Guests of Honor: Frederic Church’s Cotopaxi
Mar 27 - Oct 25, 2026
Fine Art Museum of San Francisco
Frederic Edwin Church's Rainy Season in the Tropics in Context
March 30th - Ongoing
Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, NY
Church, Cole and the Bull’s Head Tavern Sign
April 1 - May 10, 2026
Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT
Framing American Democracy: Radical Roots
April 23 - Sept 27,2026
Thomas Cole National Historic Site
Thomas Cole: An American Visionary
Opens April 25, 2026
Frederic Church: Global Artist
Edited by Tim Barringer, Elizabeth Kornhauser, and Jennifer Raab
April 28, 2026
National Gallery of Art
Niagara Falls: Mist and Majesty
May 2 - Sept 20, 2026
Glorious Country: How the Artist Frederic Church Brought the World to America and America to the World
Victoria Johnson
May 5, 2026
Olana State Historic Site
Frederic Church: Global Artist
May 17 - Oct 25, 2026
Middlebury College Museum of Art
Frederic Church in Vermont
May 22 - Aug 9, 2026
Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, NY
In Nature’s Studio: Two Centuries of American Landscape Painting
May 23 - Sep 7, 2026
Albany Institute of History and Art
Your Friend, Frederic E. Church
June 6 - October 12, 2026
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Orientalism: Between Fact and Fantasy
June 11, 2026-Feb 28, 2027
Oklahoma City Museum of Art
The Sense of Beauty: Six Centuries of Painting from Museo de Arte de Ponce (Puerto Rico)
June 20 - Sept 20, 2026
Woodmere Museum
Arc of Promise
June 20- End of December 2026
Thomas Cole National Historic Site
Circles of Influence: Thomas Cole and the American Landscape Movement
June 20–Dec 13, 2026
Olana: Frederic Church's Vision of Art & Landscape
Barry Bergdoll, Sean E. Sawyer, Thomas Woltz, with photography by Peter Aaron
September 2026
NEWS & PRESS
Honoring Frederic Church: Beyond the Hudson River School
His many achievements have been obscured, some believe, by his reputation as a provincial landscape painter.
Frederic Church’s ‘Cotopaxi’ in spotlight at Detroit Institute of Arts
The Detroit Institute of Arts presents
Guests of Honor: Frederic Church’s Cotopaxi
, a special exhibition celebrating the 200th anniversary of the renowned American landscape painter’s birth.
Olana State Historic Site Is an Artistic Gem in Hudson
The coming birthday of painter Frederic Church is the perfect moment to expand what you think you know about his masterpiece overlooking the Hudson River—and the artist himself.
Launching a Year of Celebration
This year—2026—marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Frederic Church. To celebrate, The Olana Partnership is launching a special initiative, Frederic Church 200, to extend this important artist’s legacy.
Frederic Church at 200: A Hudson Valley Artist Goes Global
A yearlong bicentennial celebration centered at Olana reframes Frederic Church as a globally minded artist whose work still shapes how we see landscape.
The Olana Partnership Announces Plans for Frederic Church 200
Yearlong Celebration of Exhibitions, Programs, and Publications Honoring America’s Greatest Landscape Artist and His Global Vision kicks off Spring 2026
Frederic Church at 200: Historic Artist who Built Olana Goes Global
A yearlong bicentennial celebration centered at Olana reframes Frederic Church as a globally minded artist whose work still shapes how we see landscape.
VIEW MORE
SEE THE WORLD
More than seventy museums and public institutions worldwide hold works by Frederic Church in their collections. In 2026, many of these institutions will mark the bicentennial of Church’s birth with exhibitions, installations, and programs highlighting Church and his legacy.
Click on the pins below to discover paintings and activations.
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5720 State Route 9G, Hudson, NY 12534
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518-751-0344
The Olana Partnership
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The Olana Partnership is the 501(c)(3) not-for-profit cooperative partner of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation at Olana State Historic Site
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