Frederic Church's Olana Architecture and Landscape as Art

Named for a fortress treasure-house in ancient Persia, Olana was the home of Frederic Edwin Church (1826-1900), one of America's most important artists, a student of Thomas Cole, and a major figure in the Hudson River School of landscape painting. Built high on a hill between 1870 and 1891, Olana holds lordly sway over sweeping vistas of the Catskill Mountains and Hudson River. Today, Olana is a New York State Historic Site visited annually by over 150,000 people, making it one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Hudson Valley and upstate New York. Called by Church “the Center of the World, Olana's Persian-style house and 250 acres of romantically-designed grounds are a personal vision of harmony between man and the American landscape—a “perfect Eden of picturesque beauty,” as one 1891 visitor described it. This book tells Olana's remarkable story.Includes 74 photographs, with 31 paintings, sketches, and house interior shots in full color.