"Pitts brings McEntee’s journals to life, injecting the same energy and enthusiasm for the wilderness as the art they inspired. A delightful must read to better understand this lesser-known artist and the travels of Hudson River School painters."—Chris Rossi, Director of Exhibitions, Fenimore Art Museum
"Through imagined letters based on an 1850 journal, Edward Pitts has given us the adventures of two young artists as they tromp the pristine Adirondacks with camp chairs and paint brushes. Reading Sketching the Adirondacks, I felt like I was there with them in the forest, looking at what they were sketching."—Lowell Thing, author of The Street That Built a City – McEntee’s Chestnut Street, Kingston, and the Rise of New York
Description
In 1851, two aspiring landscape artists, Jervis McEntree and Joseph Tubby, set out for the Adirondacks on a sketching expedition that would test not only their mettle as artists but as outdoorsmen. Heading into the still-rugged wilderness, not yet fully explored and sparsely inhabited, the two artists ventured across about one hundred seventy miles of terrain, sketching what they saw for future painting reference.
In Sketching the Adirondacks, the artists’ unique journey is brought to life by author Edward Pitts, who drew on McEntree’s journal to reimagine the expedition as a series of letters home to friends and family. These fictionalized letters, all richly annotated with historical facts and context about the region, recount the pair’s real adventures and the art that inspired others when they returned to the Hudson Valley School. Following their trip McEntree and Tubby were artists first, not natural outdoorsmen, and the letters describe the challenges they faced, as well as many of the famous guides and Adirondack characters who assisted them during the trip. Sketching the Adirondacks renders McEntree and Tubby’s journey in vivid detail, and reveals how their artwork inspired so many others, blending a unique creative approach with rigorous historical accuracy.
About the Author
Edward I. Pitts is a retired attorney and federal administrative law judge. He is the author of Beaver River Country: An Adirondack History. His articles on Adirondack history have appeared in Adirondac Magazine, Adirondack Life, LOCALadk, and the Adirondack Almanack.
Series: New York State and Regional studies
6 x 9, 254 pages, 20 black and white, 4 maps illustrations
May 2025