Cold Spring Harbor

One or perhaps two shadowy figures anchor the low viewpoint in this painting of Storm King Mountain and St. Mary’s Church. The Hudson Highlands was familiar territory for Gifford Beal because his parents had a summer house in Newburgh and he painted often along both shores. Beal may have been attracted to the church, which had been abandoned in 1906, as a picturesque ruin looming above the beach. From his vantage point, the late afternoon sun bounces off the water with a blinding shimmer.

The Greek Revival Chapel of our Lady, later St. Mary’s, has been a familiar site along the river since 1833. A fire further devastated it in 1927, but in 1971 actress Helen Hayes spearheaded an effort to restore the landmark to its original appearance, without the later steeple.