Visit to the Fairbanks Museum Part 3: The Nearby St. Johnsbury Athenaeum

 By Richard B. Primack

 

“To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts.” Henry David Thoreau in Walden.

 

A short walk from the Fairbanks Museum is the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum, an extraordinary late 19^thcentury building representing Victorian French Empire style.

 

  

Photo 1: The building has a strong Victorian outline.

 

The Athenaeum contains a library in the front half and an art gallery in the back half.

 

 

Photo 2: Black walnut woodwork, spiral staircases and balconies, and elaborate moldings and carvings give the library a distinct 19^th century impression. 

 

The back of Athenaeum contains an art gallery with paintings by European and American artists. 

 

 

Photo 3: Gilt-framed paintings are shown in natural light coming in from a large skylight above.

 

Photo 4: The art gallery is dominated by the enormous painting Domes of Yosemite by Albert Bierstadt.

 

Many of the American paintings were associated with the Hudson River School. 

  

Photo 5: Autumn on the Ramapo River – Erie Railway, 1876 by Jasper Francis Cropsey.