Hudson-Fulton Review

This scene emphasizes human mastery over the elements of nature: the creation of modern navy fleets to control the seas. On October 1, 1909, a flotilla of warships from the U.S. and around the world paraded up the Hudson as part of the Hudson-Fulton Celebration which commemorated the 300th anniversary of European arrival at the mouth of the river and the centennial of Robert Fulton’s invention of the steamboat. Yonkers factories announced they were closing so that citizens could watch the spectacle.

It is likely MacRae, leader of the Cos Cob Art Colony in Greenwich, sketched a study for this painting just north of the current site of the Museum, then the home of the Trevor family. The building at the right is the Corinthian Yacht Club and the end of the Palisades is visible. However, the factory painted against the Palisades reveals that MacRae must have also used published photographs taken further south to assist his depiction of the destroyers and torpedo boats.