Artist Stephen Talasnik considers the legacy of mid-century design Russel Wright

2015-06-29T15:17:00-04:00

It was the slow retraction of glaciers over centuries that shaped the Hudson Highlands into their gentle, undulating forms, later represented in soft grays and blues by the painters of the Hudson Valley School. By the 19th century, humans had started to hollow them out from below. The hills were extensively quarried, their stone pulverized and turned into asphalt or brought down by train to New York City to be recast as architecture.

In 1942, the noted industrial designer Russel Wright and his wife purchased 75 acres of devastated property and shifted directions, beginning a slow process of collaboration with the land. Wright redirected streams to cascade into the gaping pit of the quarry and built a home intended to seamlessly fit into the landscape. Today, the Manitoga estate’s current artist-in-residence Stephen Talasnik continues Wright’s legacy with Sanctuary, a large-scale installation of aquatic architecture floating in the Quarry Pool.

“The responsibility of the artist is to t...

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Artist Stephen Talasnik considers the legacy of mid-century design Russel Wright