The St. Johnsbury Athenaeum (often written ''St. Johnsbury Athenæum'') is a combined library and art gallery, in

St. Johnsbury, Vermont St. Johnsbury (known locally as "St. J") is the shire town (county seat) of Caledonia County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,364. St. Johnsbury is situated on the Passumpsic River and is located approximate ...

. The building in which it is housed is architecturally and historically significant because of its construction. The Athenaeum is also noted for the American landscape paintings and books in its collection and its having been funded by

Horace Fairbanks Horace Fairbanks (March 21, 1820 – March 17, 1888) was an American politician and the 36th governor of Vermont from 1876 to 1878. Biography Fairbanks was born in Barnet, Vermont, on March 21, 1820, the third of nine children of Erastus Fairba ...

, manufacturer of the world's first platform scale. The art collection contains a number of

Hudson River School The Hudson River School was a mid-19th-century American art movement embodied by a group of landscape painters whose aesthetic vision was influenced by Romanticism. Early on, the paintings typically depicted the Hudson River Valley and the sur ...

paintings. This building retains a strong

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

(

French Second Empire The Second French Empire, officially the French Empire, was the government of France from 1852 to 1870. It was established on 2 December 1852 by Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, president of France under the French Second Republic, who proclaimed hi ...

) flavor of the 19th century.

History

When the library opened, the collection consisted of 8,000 books selected by bibliographer William F. Poole.

Art Gallery

In 1873, Fairbanks added a small art gallery. This is now one of the few art galleries in the United States that features late 19th century Victorian-style design which highlights intricate paint/stencil schemes, detailed moldings, creative natural lighting, and unique painting installations. The walls and floor are black walnut. The art gallery is lighted naturally from an arched skylight in the ceiling. Cases on two sides of the room contain art books in tooled leather bindings. Gilt-framed paintings are displayed. One hundred works of art are on display. Besides originals by American artists, there are also copies of European masterpieces. The major part of the collection is by American and European artists from the late eighteenth century to the middle nineteenth century.

painters include Asher B. Durand,

Jasper Francis Cropsey Jasper Francis Cropsey (February 18, 1823 – June 22, 1900) was an American architect and artist. He is best known for his Hudson River School landscape paintings. Early years Cropsey was born on his father Jacob Rezeau Cropsey's farm in R ...

Sanford Gifford Sanford Robinson Gifford (July 10, 1823 – August 29, 1880) was an American landscape painter and a leading member of the second generation of Hudson River School artists. A highly-regarded practitioner of Luminism, his work was noted for its ...

, a Luminist painter,

James James may refer to: People * James (given name) * James (surname) * James (musician), aka Faruq Mahfuz Anam James, (born 1964), Bollywood musician * James, brother of Jesus * King James (disambiguation), various kings named James * Prince Ja ...

and

William Hart William Hart, also Will, Willy, Bill, or Billy Hart may refer to: Arts and entertainment * William Hart (actor) (died 1650), English Caroline actor * William Hart (painter) (1823–1894), Scottish-American painter * William Hart (singer) (1945– ...

pastoral landscapes with cattle. Western scenes are portrayed by

Samuel Colman Samuel Colman (March 4, 1832 – March 26, 1920) was an American painter, interior designer, and writer, probably best remembered for his paintings of the Hudson River. Life and career Born in Portland, Maine, Colman moved to New York City ...

and

Worthington Whittredge Thomas Worthington Whittredge (May 22, 1820 – February 25, 1910) was an American artist of the Hudson River School. Whittredge was a highly regarded artist of his time, and was friends with several leading Hudson River School artists including ...

. Dominating the room is a canvas, ten by fifteen feet, of the ''Domes of Yosemite'', by

Albert Bierstadt Albert Bierstadt (January 7, 1830 – February 18, 1902) was a German American painter best known for his lavish, sweeping landscapes of the American West. He joined several journeys of the Westward Expansion to paint the scenes. He was no ...

. European painters represented by original works of art include:

Bouguereau William-Adolphe Bouguereau (; 30 November 1825 – 19 August 1905) was a French academic painter. In his realistic genre paintings, he used mythological themes, making modern interpretations of classical subjects, with an emphasis on the female ...

("Raspberry Girl"),

Félix Ziem Félix Ziem (26 February 1821 – 10 November 1911) was a French painter in the style of the Barbizon School, who also produced some Orientalist works. Biography He was born Félix-Francois Georges Philibert Ziem in Beaune in the Côte-d'O ...

("Venice"),

Charles Euphrasie Kuwasseg Charles Euphrasie Kuwasseg (1838, Draveil, Essonne – 1904) was a French painter of the 19th century. He essentially specialized in landscape paintings - particularly the coastal landscapes of Brittany and Normandy. His father, Karl Joseph Kuw ...

, and Louis Pinel de Grandchamp.St. Johnsbury Anathaeum listing of paintings
retrieved June 20, 2008

Library

The Athenaeum's library shares a unified catalog and circulation system with over 50 other Vermont libraries through the

Vermont Organization of Koha Automated Libraries The Vermont Organization of Koha Automated Libraries (VOKAL) is an organization of libraries in the U.S. State of Vermont. It provides a unified, online library catalog using the open source, Koha integrated library system. It was established ...

Footnotes

External links

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Photos of Athenaeum

St. Johnsbury Community Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Johnsbury Athenaeum Public libraries in Vermont Second Empire architecture in Vermont National Historic Landmarks in Vermont

Athenaeum Athenaeum may refer to: Books and periodicals * ''Athenaeum'' (German magazine), a journal of German Romanticism, established 1798 * ''Athenaeum'' (British magazine), a weekly London literary magazine 1828–1921 * ''The Athenaeum'' (Acadia U ...

Organizations based in Vermont Museums in Caledonia County, Vermont Art museums and galleries in Vermont Buildings and structures completed in 1871 Libraries established in 1871 Art museums and galleries established in 1873 1871 establishments in Vermont Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in Vermont National Register of Historic Places in Caledonia County, Vermont

History

Art Gallery

Library

See also

Footnotes

External links