Castellani Art Museum of Niagara University receives Conservation Treatment Grant

One of only two grants awarded in Western New York Region 

The Greater Hudson Heritage Network (GHHN) is awarding a $4,500 conservation treatment grant to the Castellani Art Museum of Niagara University to conserve a Joachim Ferdinand Richardt painting of the Niagara River from the museum’s permanent collection. The artwork has never been publicly displayed, because of its poor condition when first acquired. 

The CAM is the only Niagara County cultural institution receiving GHHN grant funding, and it is one of only two organizations in Western New York to be recognized. The GHHN awarded 25 organizations, located in 19 counties of New York, in partnership with the New York State Council on the Arts.

Artist Richardt (1819-95) was a Danish-American artist. His work is highly sought after and recognized by art collectors around the world. In the U.S., he is known for his paintings of Niagara Falls and historically significant landscapes throughout the country.

The awarded painting, “Niagara University, New York,” portrays the front of Holy Angels Seminary, now Niagara University, and a sweeping northern view of the Niagara River looking to Lake Ontario. A barely discernible train from the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad line is visible, which had passed through the Niagara University campus in front of what is now Glynn Hall when the painting was created.

Richardt’s painting in the CAM collection is most likely from an 1850s suite of 32 views of Niagara Falls and the surrounding region. 

The Conservation Treatment Grant is a partnership of the NYSCA and GHHN that provides support for treatment procedures by professional conservators to aid in stabilizing and preserving objects in collections of museums, historical, and cultural organizations in New York. The Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation has provided additional dedicated support for conservation treatment projects on Long Island and New York City. 

CAM, at the center of the NU campus, is dedicated to the enjoyment and educational potential of artistic creativity. As a major resource for the visual arts in Niagara County, the CAM's permanent collection includes over 5,000 pieces of modern and contemporary art, Niagara Falls art, and regional folk arts. The museum is committed to the professional care and preservation of this artwork. 

Image credit: Joachim Ferdinand Richardt, “Niagara University, New York” (detail), c. 1856-73, oil on canvas. Collection of the Castellani Art Museum of Niagara University, 1979.