Lake to Lake: John Pfahl and Amos W. Sangster reflected the legacy of two artists whose works, spanning two centuries, captured the beauty and grandeur of the Niagara region. 

In 1985 several community celebrations took place in Niagara Falls, NY to commemorate the establishment of the Niagara Reservation, the first state park in the United States, which protected land adjacent to the Falls from development by industry and tourism. The staff of the Buscaglia-Castellani Art Gallery (the precursor to the Castellani Art Museum) and local historians formed the Amos W. Sangster Niagara River Centennial Committee to mark the 100^th anniversary of the creation of Sangster’s monumental portfolio of 153 etchings, The Niagara River and Falls from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. An exhibition of selections from this portfolio was organized and took place from May 4, 1986 – September 7, 1986. From that same committee came the parallel exhibition Niagara River and Falls: A Contemporary View, photographs by John Pfahl that captured spectacular images from the same sites as Amos W. Sangster between Lake Erie to Lake Ontario.

In this re-imagined exhibition, 12 plates (10 not shown in A Sangster Celebration) and 14 vignettes were featured with John Pfahl’s photographs (11 original Pfahl pairings from Arcadia Revisted) to give a larger look at these two important bodies of work against the landscape as it stands today.

Lake to Lake: John Pfahl and Amos W. Sangster was made possible in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
       

Image credits:

John Pfahl (American, born 1939) View of Lake Erie and Buffalo from Wanakah, 1985, Ektacolor color-coupler print, Collection of the Castellani Art Museum of Niagara University, Purchased through a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts and The Institute for Museum Services, 1985

Amos W. Sangster  (American 1833-1904). Lake Ontario, 1886, etching. Collection of the Castellani Art Museum of Niagara University, Generous Donation from Dr. Charles Rand Penney, partially funded by the Castellani Purchase Fund, with additional funding from Mr. and Mrs. Thomas A. Lytle, 2006 

Checklist for Lake to Lake: John Pfahl and Amos W. Sangster

All works in this exhibition are Collection of the Castellani Art Museum of Niagara University, unless otherwise noted.

Amos W. Sangster prints:

Collection of the Castellani Art Museum of Niagara University, Generous Donation from Dr. Charles Rand Penney, partially funded by the Castellani Purchase Fund, with additional funding from Mr. and Mrs. Thomas A. Lytle, 2006 and Gift of Bethlehem Steel Corporation, 1982

John Pfahl photographs:

Collection of the Castellani Art Museum of Niagara University, Purchased through a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts and The Institute for Museum Services, 1985

Amos W. Sangster  (American, 1833-1904)            Etchings                             

• A Breezy Day - Lake Erie, 1886
• Buffalo Harbor, 1886                                                                                              
• A Point of Tonawanda Island, 1887  
• Patience, ca. 1885                                                                                     
• Beaver Creek in 1860, Grand Island, 1886 
• The Rapids from Goat Island, 1887   
• A Glimpse of the Rapids Above American Falls from Goat Island, 1887           
• The Two Sister Islands, 1886
• The End of the Pathway - Horse-shoe Falls, 1886
• Rock and Mist - American Falls, 1888                          
• Ice Mountain, Horse-Shoe Falls, 1886                                          
• Entrance to the Cave-of-the-Winds, Niagara Falls, American Side, 1886                          
• American Falls-Looking Down the River from Foot of Horse-Shoe Falls-American Side, 1886
• View a Mile Below the Falls, 1886 
• Two Miles Below the Falls - American Side, 1886                                       
• In the Shadow of the Rocks, 1887                                                                   
• A Jumper in the Whirlpool, undated   
• Rapids Above the Whirlpool, 1888                                                           
• The Sphinx of the Whirlpool, 1886                                                                       
• From the Road to Brock's Monument, 1888
• Grove of Oaks Below Lewiston, 1888                                                               
• Fort Niagara, 1886                                                                        
• Lake Ontario, 1886

John Pfahl  (American, born 1939)  Ektacolor color-coupler prints

• Self-Portrait, 1985                                                                                       
• A Breezy Day on Lake Erie, August 1985
• Buffalo Skyline, July 1986
• Electric Plant from Beaver Island, October 1985
• Cattails on Buckhorn Island, October 1985
• Purple Loosestrife on Buckhorn Island, July 1985
• Lone Observer on Three Sisters Island, March 1985
• Tree Clump and Rapids from Three Sisters Island, May 1985
• Rapids from Bridge to Three Sisters Island, July 1985
• Horseshoe Falls with Rainbow, May 1987
• Rainbow in the American Falls from Luna Island, July 1985
• American Falls with Ice and Rainbow, April 1985
• Horseshoe Falls from Below, September 1985
• Horseshoe Falls at Sunrise, September 1985
• Crescent Moon over Rainbow Bridge, July 1985
• Two Miles Below the Falls, August 1985
• Rocky Point Near Whirlpool, July 1985
• Large Wave in Whirlpool Rapids, May 1985
• Turbulent Water Near the Whirlpool, 1985
• The Whirlpool Rapids, August 1985
• View of Lower River from Brock's Monument, July 1985
• Niagara Glen Boulders, October 1985
• Fort Niagara from Niagara-on-the-Lake, July 1985
• Lake Ontario and Toronto, June 1986
• View of Lake Erie and Buffalo from Wanakah, August 1985

Additional works

John George Nussbaumer  (American, 1866-1948) 

Amos W. Sangster, undated                                                                                 

Reproduction, from an original cabinet photo by                                                   

Nussbaumer's Portraits Studio, 512 Main Street, Buffalo, New York                             

Image Courtesy of Meibohm Fine Arts, Inc., East Aurora, New York      

Press Review booklet of Sangster’s portfolio of etchings,                            

The Niagara River from Lake to Lake created by publisher,                                       

Thomas T. Fryer, 1886                                                                                           

Archives of the Castellani Art Museum of Niagara University

H. A. Parsons                                                                                                             

Map of Niagara River and Parts Adjacent and                                                                     

Map of Niagara Falls and Vicinity, Engraving by J. G. Darby                                                 

in Book of Niagara Falls, 1836                                                                                 

engraving                                                                                                             

Archive of the Castellani Art Museum of Niagara University

Giraldon                                                                                                                     

Plan de la Cataracte de Niagara et de l'Isthme                                                             

que separe les Lacs Erie et Ontario, 1801                                                               

engraving

W.R. Callington                                                                                                               

A Bird's Eye View of the River Niagara                                                                         

from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, 1838                                                                           

hand colored lithograph  

Fully digitized Sangster portfolios can be viewed online at: https://www.meibohmfinearts.com/artists/details/746