Paul Rocheleau: Photographs of an Artists Landscape
Opens July 17 at Chesterwood
Renowned Berkshire photographer celebrates the beauty of the country home of Americas foremost public sculptor Daniel Chester French in new exhibition
Paul Rocheleau has photographed the finest and most interesting representations of Americana and American architecture in the United States for nearly 40 years. In a new exhibition, Paul Rocheleau: Photographs of an Artists Landscape, opening July 17 at The Morris Center at Chesterwood, A National Trust Historic Site, Rocheleau again turns his artists eye and camera lens on the formal and woodland gardens, sculptures and historic structures at Chesterwood, the country home and studio of Daniel Chester French (1850 - 1931), 
creator of the iconic Abraham Lincoln for the Lincoln Memorial. The exhibition will be on view through September 19.
According to Rocheleau, The success I have had photographing Chesterwood over the years can be attributed to many more factors than just talent. A beautiful and intriguing subject helps make a photographer look good; but Chesterwood is also an inspiring environment. The art of the photo shoot is in conveying the essence and spirit of the subject, be it gardens, buildings, or sculpture. When on location I try to become one with my subject and inhabit its spirit. I have found that Chesterwood is generous in sharing its spirit with those who seek it.
This will be the first of many temporary exhibitions in the Morris Center (the former Visitors Center at the site) featuring the work of contemporary artists who have been inspired by Chesterwood and the Berkshires to create art in a variety of media, said Chesterwoods Director Donna Hassler. Paul has been photographing Chesterwood for many years with a realistic eye toward 
capturing dramatic images of this very special place, from the magnificent view of Monument Mountain to the gorgeous hydrangea trees in full bloom near the Studio Garden.
Rocheleaus photographs, several of which will be included in the exhibition at Chesterwood, accompany an article about Daniel Chester French as a garden designer in this months issue of Berkshire Living. The article, entitled A Cultivated Gentleman, was written by local author and editor, Gladys Montgomery, who will give remarks about the sculptor and his little known passion for gardening at the exhibition opening reception on July 17.
On June 13, 1911, French wrote to his friend, Newton Mackintosh, I hope you will come to Chesterwood and rest. It is as beautiful as fairy-land here now, the hemlocks are decorating themselves with their light-green tassels and the laurel is beginning to blossom and the peonies are a glory in the garden. I go about in an ecstasy of delight over the loveliness of things.
Rocheleau has been recording and interpreting Chesterwood, one of the Berkshires most beautiful and historic places, for more than four decades. For his first assignment at Chesterwood in 1969, he was interviewed by Margaret French Cresson (1889 - 1973), the daughter of Daniel Chester French, who resided at the property. Mrs. Cresson, Rocheleau recalls, took an obvious propriety interest in how the property was going to be recorded. She pointedly questioned me about how I would approach the assignment. Regardless of my nervousness in partaking of such an important assignment, the results of the shoot met with her approval and I was asked to return for many other projects in the ensuing years.
As author, co-author/photographer, or principle photographer for more than 30 art and architecture books, Paul Rocheleau has worked with many prestigious publishers including Abrams Books, Rizzoli, W.W. Norton, Houghton Mifflin, 
The Monacelli Press, and Stewart, Tabori & Chang. His work has appeared in over one hundred magazines worldwide and he has been principle photographer for The Magazine Antiques for 30 years.
Rocheleaus major projects include Smithsonian Guide to Historical America (Southern and Northern New England), The Berkshires (a homage to his adopted home), OAppalachia (folk art), The One Room Schoolhouse, Modern American Synagogues, Architecture for ArtModern American Museums, Tree Houses, Barn, Shaker Built (architecture), Shaker Design (objects and art), and monographs of architects Frank Lloyd Wright, H.H. Richardson, Daniel H. Burnham and landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted.