Hidden in the Trees

This article examines a Hudson River School painting by Sanford Robinson Gifford titled "Hook Mountain, Near Nyack, on the Hudson" from 1866. The work depicts a westward view from southern Croton Point and contains a subtle historical detail.

Within the painting's foreground trees, carefully hidden from immediate view, sits the rooftop and cupola of an Italianate villa. This residence belonged to Richard T. Underhill, who constructed the mansion in 1846 and named it "Interwasser."

The author provides a detailed close-up examination revealing the architectural features of the Underhill home positioned at Croton Point's southern tip. The image originates from the Yale University Art Gallery.

The article references a related earlier post discussing Underhill's vineyards, depicted in an 1867 Harper's Weekly wood engraving offering a similar elevated perspective. The author encourages readers to explore the Hudson River School Art Trail, an initiative designed to help visitors "hike in the footsteps of Hudson River School artists" and experience locations that influenced these significant American landscape paintings from the nineteenth century.