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Paul R. Koehler
(1866–1909)
Palisades, New Jersey, Winter
Pastel on paper, 14 1/2 × 22 inches
Signed at lower right: “P. R. Koehler”
Hardly anything is known about Paul R. Koehler, other than that he was a self-taught
commercial artist known to have painted a number of detailed landscapes in
pastel.1 He was born in New York City and died in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
This view of the Palisades was probably painted from a vantage point on the
north end of Manhattan, looking west across the Hudson River toward New Jersey.
The Palisades are a series of cliffs that rise to a height of 350 feet along
the west shore of the Hudson River from Jersey City, New Jersey, to the vicinity
of Piermont, New York. The most dramatic section of the Palisades, now known
as the Palisades Interstate Park, is in northeastern Bergen County, New Jersey.
The land was the first acquired by the Palisades Interstate Park Commission
after the group was founded in 1900. The Commission had been founded by the
states of New York and New Jersey to prevent the destruction of the Palisades
by owners of large stone quarries who threatened to mine the stones and crush
them for use as railroad ballast. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., bought the cliffs
and turned them over to New Jersey for permanent preservation.
Copyright ©2005 The Schwarz Gallery
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