NEW YORK CITY — The New-York Historical Society announces two major donations to its museum collection. Fifteen Hudson River School paintings — collected over the course of two decades by the late Arthur and Eileen Newman and including such artists as Thomas Cole, Frederic Edwin Church and Martin Johnson Heade — will join New-York Historical’s collection of Nineteenth Century American paintings. The museum has also been gifted a fine contemporary work by longtime New-York Historical Society Trustee Sid Lapidus and his wife Ruth: “Fanned Book” by Ed Ruscha, 2013.

“On Catskill Creek, Sunset” by Thomas Cole, circa 1845–47. All images New-York Historical Society. Collection of Arthur and Eileen Newman, bequest of Eileen Newman, 2015.

Dr Linda S. Ferber, the New-York Historical Society’s senior art historian and museum director emerita said, “My first visit to see these wonderful Hudson River School paintings at the Newmans’ apartment brought the thrilling realization that the ‘fit’ of their collection and New-York Historical Society’s holdings was truly uncanny.”

“Our parents were long drawn to the natural beauty of Hudson River School landscapes captured by the great American painters of the Nineteenth Century,” said David Newman on behalf of his family. “They could only have experienced art like this at a museum while they were growing up themselves, so we are delighted that they wished to share these paintings with a public institution for future generations’ enjoyment.”

New-York Historical Society visitors will be able to preview selected paintings from the Arthur and Eileen Newman Collection beginning August 28.

A highlight of the acquisition is Thomas Cole’s “On Catskill Creek, Sunset,” circa 1845–47, a bucolic spot beloved by the artist, exemplifying a major theme in Cole’s oeuvre: the beauty of the unspoiled natural world undisturbed by human “progress.”

“Home by the Lake” by Frederic Edwin Church, 1852.

Church’s iconic early Hudson River pastoral “Home by the Lake” complements one of the best-known works by the artist: “Cayambe,” a summary of South American topography also held by the New-York Historical Society.

A signature New England marsh landscape by Martin Johnson Heade, setting for the drama of an impending storm, will join the New-York Historical Society’s well-known still life of a Brazilian orchid.

“Storm Cloud Over the Marshes” by Martin Johnson Heade, circa 1871–75.

A trio of fine landscapes by Jasper Cropsey deepens the society’s strong holdings by this renowned Hudson River School artist.

“We are enormously grateful to Trustee Sid Lapidus and Ruth Lapidus for their generous donation of Ed Ruscha’s ‘Fanned Book,’ 2013. This spectacular gift brings New-York Historical’s art collecting into the Twenty-First Century and fortifies our repertoire of works by landmark, late Twentieth Century artists,” said Dr Louise Mirrer, New-York Historical’s president and CEO.

The New-York Historical Society is at 170 Central Park West. For further information, www.nyhistory.org or 212-873-3400.