Program Description: In collaboration with the Hudson Senior Center, we present a Gallery Hop to the Tom Swope Gallery on Warren Street. At this gallery, we will be transported back to ancient times in China, Egypt, Greece, Rome and Mesoamerica as Tom Swope guides us through his amazing collection. Attendees will meet at the library and there will be transportation to the gallery as well as the opportunity to walk over. After the gallery visit all can return to the library for a lunch provided by Reference and Adult Services (RASS) Mini-Grant Committee of NYLA .
Date/Time: Friday, June 21 from 1-3 pm
Recommended Audience/Registration Required: Adults of all ages are welcome to participate. Registration is required and space is limited. Email programs@hudsonarealibrary.org or call 518-828-1792 x101.
Why visit an art gallery? To begin, art is just plain fun, while teaching and revealing who we are to ourselves. Art is also a form of meditation and time to commune with creativity. Nothing carries you away and clears your mind like a visit to a museum or art gallery.
Tom Swope Gallery deals in Antiquities from around the world; some Greek and Roman, Ancient Egyptian, pre-Columbian and Chinese Archaic jades and early Buddhist sculptures. While the range is broad, all the objects are carefully chosen for their beauty, authenticity, and all tell us about our common past. The gallery currently shows a lot of early Chinese Buddhist sculpture from the 6th to 8th Century A.D., and archaic Chinese jades from the Neolithic period to the Han Dynasty.
Always interested in ancient art since being exposed to the Greek myths as a child, Swope then went on to Harvard College where he studied ancient art as a Fine Arts Major. After college, he worked for the distinguished antiquities dealer, Matthias Komor just before he retired in 1982 – 1984. After dealing with antiquities for several years in the city, while working with many contemporary artists, he moved upstate and continued his love affair with antiquities in Hudson.