HISTORICAL FICTIONS: EDWARD LAMSON HENRY’S PAINTINGS OF PAST AND PRESENT OPENS AT THE NEW-YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY Dynamic works by the renowned 19th-century artist on view April 4, 2006 through August 6, 2006 NEW YORK – New York City’s first museum, the New-York Historical Society (N-YHS) presents Historical Fictions: Edward Lamson Henry’s Paintings of Past and Present, a comprehensive exhibition of the acclaimed genre painter’s works. Brought together for the first time, twenty-one paintings and drawings will be on view highlighting Edward Lamson Henry’s idealized renderings of America’s past as well as his vivid depictions of contemporary life. Working in the late-nineteenth century, a period greatly affected by sweeping changes following the Civil War, Henry’s paintings captured the popular imagination by illustrating the pervasive nostalgia for early America. Historical Fictions opens on April 4, and is on view through August 6, 2006, at the New-York Historical Society, located at Central Park West and 77th Street, announced Linda S. Ferber, N-YHS Museum Director. This exhibition, organized by the Yale University Art Gallery, provides an illuminating look at a critical period when American history was assigned a crucial role in the effort to construct a stable, national collective identity after the ravages of the Civil War. Historical Fictions is especially meaningful because many of the types of objects and artifacts that inspired Henry’s paintings were also collected during this period by the New-York Historical Society, said Dr. Ferber.