HUDSON RIVER VALLEY, N.Y. — A comprehensive story documenting America’s first artistic fraternity, The Hudson River School: Artistic Pioneers, features renowned Nineteenth Century American painters Thomas Cole, Asher Durand, Frederic Church, Albert Bierstadt, Jasper Cropsey and others, and tells the story of a devoted group of like-minded individuals with a dedication for, and love of, landscape painting.

In the vicinity of New York’s Hudson River Valley, the Adirondack Mountains, Catskill Mountains, and the White Mountains of New Hampshire, a group of American painters led by British-born artist Thomas Cole forged an artistic vision of the American wilderness.

This was the first American school of landscape painting that emerged between 1825 and 1880. Men with the names of (Thomas) Cole, (Asher) Durand, (Jasper) Cropsey, (Albert) Bierstadt and (Frederic) Church would impress the world with their creative brilliance and wondrous vision.

The film is produced by Vin Tabone, who grew up in the Hudson River Valley. Contributors include the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the New-York Historical Society, the Newington Cropsey Foundation and many others.

The Hudson River School: Artistic Pioneers is currently available on DVD at www.shoppbs.org and at Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com. For information, www.thehudsonriverschoolpart1.com.