An artist’s view of Panther Gorge

Anne Diggory painted this scene from Mount Marcy in 2001.

I recently wrote a blog for Adirondack Almanack about an art exhibit featuring the work of Anne Diggory, who often paints Adirondack landscapes. When asked which of her Adirondack paintings was her favorite, she replied that it was a scene of Panther Gorge as seen from Mount Marcy.

I thought people would like to see the painting, so I posted it above.

Diggory painted two studies of the scene in 2001—one a watercolor, the other acrylic—while visiting her daughter Ariel, who was then a summit steward.

“The watercolor set the composition and the smaller one (along with photographs) set the color,” she told me in an e-mail. “I had really liked how the sky felt like a roof, with Dix just about touching it.”

Note the boulder in the foreground. At the time, Diggory was painting a lot of boulders for her Sisyphus Series. Sisyphus was the Greek king condemned to push a huge boulder up a hill; each time he got near the top, it rolled back down, and he had to begin again. It doesn’t sound like a fun way to spend eternity, but Diggory has a different take. “There is the idea that Sisyphus actually enjoyed going up and down: just think what he could see each time,” she said.

The painting, called Boulder at the Top, is not part of the current exhibit at the Blue Mountain Gallery in Manhattan. The exhibit, titled “Turbulence,” will run through Saturday, January 28. The gallery is located at 530 West 25 Street in Manhattan.

You can view more of Diggory’s work on her website.

View exhibits work of seven photographers

View from Hurricane Mountain. Photo by Johnathan Esper.

Quick, think of an Adirondack photographer. What name jumps to mind? Is it Nancie Battaglia? Carl Heilman II? Mark Bowie? Nathan Farb? Perhaps the up-and-coming Johnathan Esper?

If you’re a fan of any or all of these pros, you should love the Adirondack View Finders exhibit at View, the new arts center in Old Forge.

View will be exhibiting the work of all five—and two other photographers, Clark Lubbs and Lesley Dixon—through March 3.

The Explorer frequently runs photographs by Nancie, Carl, and Mark, and we once ran a spread of Johnathan’s photos, including the one above. We could say a thousand words in praise of their work, but we’ll let their pictures do the talking.

Click their names to see the work of Carl Heilman, Mark Bowie, Johnathan Esper, Lesley Dixon and Nathan Farb. (Nancie and Clark do not have websites.)

View is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday; and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $10 (no charge for children twelve).

Mark Bowie recently published a book of nighttime photography.

Finch, Pruyn in art

The history of Finch, Pruyn & Co. and its paper mill in Glens Falls is intertwined with the history of the Adirondack Park. Two years ago, the company sold all its lands, more than 160,000 acres, to the Nature Conservancy and its mill to Atlas Holdings. Much of the land is expected to added to the state Forest Preserve.

The Hyde Collection of Glens Falls will soon be exhibiting a piece of Finch, Pruyn’s history. The museum just announced that it received an oil painting by Douglass Crockwell titled Paper Workers, Finch Pruyn & Co. The artist, who died in 1968, was the first director of the Hyde Collection and an illustrator for such magazines as Saturday Evening Post, Life, Look, and Esquire.

“This painting is a remarkable example of his endeavor as a fine artist–long before he became the famous illustrator of the 1940s and ’50s,” said Erin B. Coe, the Hyde’s chief curator. Done during the Depression, the oil painting shows two men at work, closely watched by a supervisor.

The painting was donated to the museum by Mr. and Mrs. Samuel P. Hoopes of Bolton Landing. It will be sent to the Williamstown Art Conservation Center for cleaning and other treatment and before it’s put on display.

It’s uncertain when the painting will be returned to the museum,but Coe’s best guess is that it will be eight months to a year.

Art and nature

A Coming Storm in the Adirondacks. Painting by Homer Ransford Watson.

Anybody have another guess?