Storm King

The bulging rock face of Storm King has long beckoned artists and sightseers alike, particularly during the heyday of the Hudson River School. Functioning as a southern gateway to the Hudson Highlands, the distinctive form of the mountain, some 1,340 feet high, dwarfs the industrial tugboat and barges below. While earlier artists like Samuel Colman depicted the conflict between nature and industry in bombastic terms, the two hikers on the left of Gifford Beal’s scene safely situate this once sublime vista as familiar and accessible by foot.