In 1873, two years after the construction of the library, Governor Fairbanks added to it a small art gallery.

When the art gallery was built it contained about fifty paintings and a few marble sculptures, selected by Governor Horace Fairbanks. Since then, gifts from the donor’s private collection and work donated by members of his family have increased the collection to over one hundred. All are originals except for 15 copies of masterpieces by Van Dyck, Raphael, Dolci, Murillo, Rembrandt, Veronese, Bonheur, Fra Angelico, and Del Sarto.

The major part of the collection is by American and European artists from the late eighteenth century to the middle nineteenth century. The famous Hudson River School is strongly represented by such artists as Asher B. Durand (the father of American Landscape painting), Jasper Cropsey (known for autumn landscapes), Sanford Gifford (a Luminist painter), James and William Hart (pastoral landscapes with cattle), and western views by Samuel Colman and Worthington Whittredge. Dominating the gallery from its inception has been the magnificent canvas, ten feet by fifteen feet, of the Domes of the Yosemite, by Albert Bierstadt.

The St. Johnsbury Athenaeum prohibits the use of images from its collection in public exhibition, broadcast, electronic reproduction or publication in any form without prior written permission from the institution. If you would like to reproduce any of the Art Gallery images in any form, contact us at 802-748-8291.