Between Saratoga Springs and Lake George is a small town called Glens Falls. The main street is lined with shops, restaurants, the public library, banks, churches and hotels, everything you would need for a good life. But east of downtown is a hidden gem, maybe not hidden to those who live in Glens Falls but still a gem. It’s called The Hyde Collection. The Hyde Collection is not your typical art gallery. It houses more than 3,000 paintings, drawings, sculptures and other art objects that were collected by Louis and Charlotte Hyde. How did such an extensive and impressive collection that includes Degas, Picasso, Renoir, Whistler, Winslow Homer, Van Gogh and Cezanne come to Glens Falls? Charlotte Pruyn (whose father was the founder of Finch Pruyn & Co. paper mill located in Glens Falls) met Louis Hyde and they married in 1901, six years later they moved to Glens Falls. Louis was made Vice President of the paper company and Charlotte along with her two sisters built adjoining revival style homes that encompassed seven acres over looking the bluffs of the Hudson River. Louis and Charlotte shared a love of art and their collection grew and was influenced by trips to Europe, Boston and New York and with the aid of noted art connoisseurs their collection became quite extensive.
The entrance to the gallery looks very much like any modern art gallery. You are greeted by a volunteer who will ask how many admissions you need, there is an $8 (recommended) donation. After you pay you will learn the layout of the gallery. Now on display in the Charles R. Wood gallery is the juried show in which thousands of entries were narrowed down to 100 by a panel of jurors. The entries are by local high school art students in a variety of medium. Walking through the exhibit the amount of talent that was on the walls and in the cases was astounding. Self portraits done in a variety of media- pencil, ball point pen, pastels, charcoal….digital photographs that were amazing in their composition….sculptures and paintings all look like they were created by someone way beyond the years of a high school student.
To the right of the entrance is the Hyde House which was restored in 2004 to its historic period. Walking into the Hyde House portion of the museum is true step back in time. The solarium where art classes were taught in the 1940’s has massively high ceilings and doors that open out on to the courtyard. Off of the solarium there are two smaller rooms, one a library that holds some amazing paintings ( the Rembrandt that usually hangs in this room is on loan to the Louvre!). From there you can go upstairs. Be sure to pay attention to the stained glass window at the top of the stairs. One of the volunteers pointed something very interesting and quite surprising about it. The stained glass window depicts a scene with priests and an alter. There is a lamp hanging above the alter in the stained glass window. The volunteer asked if we saw the lamp hanging above the alter in the window. We said yes. He said, now turn around. The lamp that was in the stained glass window was hanging from the ceiling over the stairs! The Hyde Collection is full of little gems like that. A Picasso that is hanging in Mrs. Hyde’s bedroom is actually painted over an existing painting. At the time he painted it Picasso was very poor and reused canvases. If you look carefully at the top of the man’s head in the painting you can see the outline of a woman’s face coming through from underneath. In one of the other bedrooms is a Renoir painting of what looks like a little girl — long hair feminine clothing and even a bow- but it turns out that it was Renoir’s son!
In the music room are the most amazing pieces. Take some time to really appreciate the tapestries and sculptures from 1400 and 1500 – some older. Pieces of artwork that you would expect to see in a museum and not displayed in someone’s home. I think that what I liked best about the Hyde Collection – it didn’t feel like a “museum” but rather that you were walking through someone’s home and admiring their collection and its a rather impressive collection.
If you would go to your left once you enter the museum you will go into the gift shop and then down the stairs. There you will find an art studio where they hold art drop off classes where children from 6-12 can be dropped off from 1:30-4:40 on Wednesday during the school year. There is also an orientation film that will give you a little bit of history of the Hyde Collection and runs on a 12 minute loop.
The museum hosts a number of special events with includes films, lectures and family programs.
The Hyde Collection is a great place to wander around and marvel at the imagination and creativity of humankind, of the longevity of man-made pieces of art. It makes a nice respite on a rainy, gloomy day, but if you decide to visit on a nice day, be sure to take in the gardens and the sculptures outside.
If art can be intimidating to you there are docents led tours available on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 2 and 3 pm or if you prefer you can take a self guided tour through your cell phone or borrow one of the MP3 players at the program desk in the foyer. To make the museum experience more family friendly they offer “family kits” which can also be borrowed from the program desk. These colorful kits can be used to teach children different ways to view and enjoy the works of art they see.
There will be a new exhibit in the Charles R. Wood Gallery as the juried show comes to a close. The new exhibit is called New York, New York, the 20th Century will open June 11th. The Hyde Collection is located at 161 Warren Street in Glens Falls. They are open Tuesday through Friday from 11 am – 4 pm and on the weekends from noon – 5 pm.