A sweeping survey of American Impressionism embracing precursor, contemporary and subsequent movements, In a New Light: American Impressionism 1870–1940 explores the reinterpretation of American landscape painting. Presenting works by a diverse group of more than 75 artists, the exhibition traces not only the development of Impressionism in the United States but also the emergence of a uniquely American style. Featured artists include Childe Hassam, George Inness, Thomas Moran, John Sloan, Ernest Lawson, Daniel Garber and Guy Carleton Wiggins.
This exhibition provides a thought-provoking historical context for American Impressionism by positioning it between the Hudson River School—whose majestic landscapes influenced, and then gradually gave way to, French Impressionist-inspired works—and the modernist trends evident in the later pieces on view. The works included reflect the changing mindset of America from the mid-nineteenth to the early twentieth century. Concentrating on regional artists’ colonies established across the United States, In a New Light explores the ways in which local artists interpreted America’s rural, maritime and urban spaces and portrayed daily life using the Impressionist devices of capturing the moment with brisk brushstrokes, a vibrant palette and atmospheric effects.
Some of the colonies/artists featured in the collection:
Cape Ann/Gloucester: James Jeffrey Grant, Emile A. Gruppe, William Morris Hunt, Jonas Lie, Philip Little, Jane Peterson
Boston: Charles Curtis Allen, Arthur Wesley Dow, John Joseph Enneking, Gertrude Fiske, Arthur Clifford Goodwin, Abbott Fuller Graves, Helena Sturtevant
Old Lyme: Ernest Albert, Gifford Beal, George M. Bruestle, Bruce Crane, Wilson Irvine, Charles Adams Platt, Chauncey Foster Ryder
Cos Cob: Charles Ebert, Childe Hassam, Ernest Lawson
Woodstock: George Wesley Bellows, John F. Carlson, Leonard Ochtman
New Hope: Daniel Garber, Edward Willis Redfield, Walter Elmer Schofield, Robert Spencer
Hoosier: Alexis Jean Fournier, Edgar Alwin Payne
Chicago: Karl Buehr, Frederick W. Freer, Louis Ritman
Taos: Oscar E. Berninghaus, Ernest Blumenschein, E. Martin Hennings, Birger Sandzén, Joseph Henry Sharp, Louis Hovey Sharp, John Sloan
San Francisco: Ransom Gillet Holdredge, Joseph Raphael
Carmel/Monterey/Catalina: Armin Carl Hansen
Santa Barbara: Carl Oscar Borg, Colin Campbell Cooper
Southern California/Pasadena: Alson S. Clark, William Wendt
