HALLAM, PA .- The Friends of the Susquehanna River Art Collection announced the recent acquisition of Rainstorm-Wyoming Valley (1902), a major painting by American master Robert Henri (1865-1927). The work was acquired through the generous funds provided by Georgina T. and Thomas A. Russo, with additional support provided by Founding Friends and Trustees.

Joe Deerin, Chair of the Friends, noted that “it was Gina who first noticed the painting, and through her research discovered that the subject was Wyoming, Pennsylvania, rather than the state of Wyoming. As a member of the Friends Collections Committee, she immediately recommended that we acquire this important, and magnificent example of the rich heritage of the Susquehanna River watershed.”

Robert Henri (1865–1929) stands as one of the most influential figures in early twentieth-century American art. As the central leader of the Ashcan School, he rejected academic idealization in favor of a bold, vigorous realism that captured the energy and grit of modern American life, helping to forge a distinctly contemporary national voice in painting. Equally significant was his profound impact as a teacher and mentor. A charismatic instructor who inspired generations of artists, Henri encouraged direct, honest expression rooted in contemporary experience; his teachings, distilled in the enduring volume, The Art Spirit, profoundly shaped the career of Edward Hopper and many other notable students.

The Wyoming Valley is a core geographic and cultural heartland of the Susquehanna River basin. Henri painted a series of images of the area in 1902 while staying with his in-laws in Black Walnut, Pennsylvania—a town sitting directly on the banks of the Susquehanna River, making the painting an organic, foundational part of the Susquehanna’s visual history. While Henri completed a number of paintings on this trip, there are only three large canvases of this scale known to exist, all held in private collections.

Rainstorm-Wyoming Valley is a premier example of Henri's shift toward proto-Ashcan realism,” said Collections Curator Rob Evans. “1902 was the year Henri moved to New York and founded the Ashcan School philosophy. This painting exemplifies the birth of his mature style, focusing on the Susquehanna landscape as an experimental proving ground for the tempestuous, heavy brushwork and moody, unidealized atmospheric palette techniques that would soon define 20th-century American Modernism. This important painting, explicitly linked to the Susquehanna, adds immeasurably to the Collection’s ability to fully explore images of the Susquehanna River to the broader trajectory of American art history.”





“The acquisition of this work fills our collection’s critical 1900–1930 historical gap, providing the missing chronological bridge that proves the Susquehanna watershed did not just inspire 19th-century romanticism, but actively birthed the raw, avant-garde Ashcan Realism that redefined modern American art.” Commented Molly Kinsley, Chair of the Friends Collections Committee. “The work has a stellar provenance: it was included in surveys of Henri’s work at such museums as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Cincinnati Art Museum and Delaware Art Museum as well as featured in numerous books, catalogs and publications.

Evans added, “This is the first of Henri’s paintings of the Susquehanna River Valley to come to auction in 30 years. The landmark work links the river to the birth of Modernism and will be an iconic work for the collection.

The Friends of the Susquehanna River Art Collection was formed as a 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit organization by a group of arts patrons with the vision of acquiring the existing core artworks of the Susquehanna River Art Collection amassed by artist and curator Rob Evans and arts patron and philanthropist James Snyder, to expanding and caring for the collection until a new, purpose-built museum is established.

The Friends mission is to secure, insure, and care for the collection, support growth through acquisitions, provide for curatorial consulting, and underwrite supportive programming. Currently the collection is housed in the renovated farmhouse galleries at the Ingrid Graham Historic Hellam Nature Preserve owned by the Lancaster Conservancy, whose extraordinary efforts preserving thousands of acres of Susquehanna watershed blends perfectly with the mission of the Friends.

The collection will be available for viewing by appointment and for educational and interpretive programming created in partnership with the Friends, the Lancaster Conservancy, Susquehanna National Heritage Area and other organizations promoting art, history and environmental stewardship.