Mt. Holyoke, which overlooks the Pioneer Valley of western Massachusetts, has been a tourist destination and an inspiration for artists and writers for almost two centuries. The view from its summit attracted the Hudson River School artist Thomas Cole...
Frequent flooding, changing settlement patterns and industrialization have all had a role in altering the view from the summit. The Oxbow became a closed loop bisected by a highway, and marinas punctuate the Connecticut River. From Cole's time to our own, artists including Edward Corbett, Stephen Hannock, Alfred Leslie and Elizabeth Meyersohn have observed and recorded these alterations. Colour plates of their paintings and photographs, reproduced in the book, allow us to track changes to the landscape and to Cole's influence. Contemporary artists both challenge and pay homage to his vision of the scene, even as their images are used to underline the need to preserve the mountain's natural beauty and cultural significance.
