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American Impressions
9/13/1996 - 11/10/1996
In conjunction with the exhibition of paintings by California
Impressionist Guy Rose, this exhibition from the permanent
collection will highlight work by American painters who responded to
the example of the French Impressionists.
The Norton's collection really begins with "Landscape," 1878-80, by
John Herny Twachtman, one of the founders of the group known as The
Ten American Painters, often referred to as American Impressionists.
The group was founded in 1897, and was highly influenced by the work
of the French Impressionists. In Europe, where he went in 1877,
Twachtman met another American painter, William Merritt Chase, whose
"Untitled" (Landscape), 1912, is a scene in northern France or
Belgium, showing a high Impressionist style and subject matter.
Another exhibitor with The Ten, Childe Hassam, is represented in
this exhibition by his "Gloucester Harbor", 1909, which demonstrates
Hassam's mastery of the style that he had learned during his
European travels. In fact, works such as this, which directly
translated the French Impressionists' brushstroke and approach to
color, played a significant role in the development of Impressionism
in the United States, as they were widely admired. The exhibition
will also include works by Frank W. Benson, Thomas W. Dewing and J.
Alden Weir, other members of The Ten.
Mary Cassatt was not a member of The Ten. She lived for most of her
artistic career in France where she became very close to Edgar Degas
and other French Impressionists. She was not only important as the
only American in the original Impressionist circle (she helped to
finance some of the Impressionist group shows), but she also sent
many French Impressionist works to collector friends of hers in the
United States, in particular the Havemeyers. The Museum possesses
three studies by Cassatt, which demonstrate a distinctly feminine
version of the modern life theme so beloved of the French
Impressionists.
Later American painters with Impressionist or neo-Impressionist
painting styles selected harsher subject matter than The Ten, who
traditionally chose fairly idyllic landscapes or seascapes. The
Eight, founded in 1908 under the guidance of Robert Henri, reacted
against the conservatism of the established art world, and often
portrayed the city and its seamier side. The Eight - many of whom
were trained as reporters and illustrators - frequently went further
than their European counterparts in this regard. Many of the
painters in this group, such as George Luks, John Sloan, Maurice
Prendergast, Ernest Lawson, Arthur B. Davies, Everett Shinn and
William Glackens, are represented in this exhibition by highly
important and individualistic works, including portraits of ordinary
people and scenes from everyday life.
The Ashcan School was a loose affiliation of painters who, even more
than The Eight, concentrated on the rougher side of city life.
Ernest Lawson's "Hoboken Heights," 1900 - 1910, and "Hoboken
Waterfront," 1910 - 1912, represent in a traditionally Impressionist
style a landscape affected by industrial society. In George Bellows'
"Winter Afternoon," 1909, Riverside Park is distinguished by a
background in which railroad tracks, a tug boat and the palisades of
industrial New Jersey are clearly visible. In such paintings, the
Impressionist brushstroke and use of color is a vehicle for a
distinctly American vision, a new school of American Modernism
influenced by French Impressionism.
The Impressionist influence remained strong across America
throughout the first half of the century. Works by such artists as
Emil Carlsen, Selden Connor Gile, Guy Wiggins, Hayley Lever and
Jonas Lie demonstrate this continuing trend in American twentieth
century painting.
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The Norton Museum
of Art is a major cultural attraction in Florida.
The Museum is internationally known for its distinguished permanent
collection featuring
19th and 20th century European and American art, Chinese, contemporary art and photography.
From its founding the Norton has been famous for its masterpieces
of 19th century and 20th century painting
and sculpture by European artists such as Brancusi, Gauguin, Matisse,
Miró, Monet, Picasso
and by Americans such as Davis, Hassam, Hopper, Manship, O'Keeffe,
Pollock and Sheeler.
View special exhibitions and attend lectures and exhibition programs
for both children and adults.
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