National Academy Museum Exhibits American Impressions

Featuring 32 masterworks of American Impressionism from collection of the National Academy Museum complemented by 3 loans from the Berkshire Museum in Massachusetts, this presentation offers a fresh perspective on this celebrated moment in American art. On exhibition through 6 January, 2008. Reception – September 18, 2007.

Exploring the landscape from coast to coast under varying effects of light and atmosphere, the works on view include paintings by such celebrated figures as George Bellows (1882–1925), William Merritt Chase (1849–1916), Thomas Wilmer Dewing (1851–1938), Lilian Westcott Hale (1881–1963), Childe Hassam (1859–1935), John La Farge (1835–1910), John Singer Sargent (1836–1925), and Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859–1937).

The rise of American Impressionism signaled a new cosmopolitanism in the nation’s art following the end of the Civil War in 1865. Fleeting effects of light and atmosphere compelled new admiration among artists and patrons, and major figures such as William Merritt Chase taught the style to new generations of artists in American academies, even as their expatriate colleagues such as John Singer Sargent enhanced the standing of American art abroad and worked directly with their French peers. Collectively, they established a climate for art in America that would flourish into the new century.

Begun in 1825, the National Academy of Design in New York (known today as the National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts) was a venerated institution by the later nineteenth century. Younger artists working in an Impressionist style were initially met with reluctance from more established artists, but within two decades they too were elected to the Academy’s leadership. Virtually every major American Impressionist was elected to membership in the Academy and their presentation of key examples of their work to the collection, documents their admiration for the institution and its mission to promote American art.

Just as newcomers to the Academy will find accomplished works on display by well-known masters, more seasoned visitors will discover an array of distinguished examples by figures such as John Folinsbee (1892–1972), Birge Harrison (1854–1929), Aldro Hibbard (1886–1972), Walter Launt Palmer (1854–1932), Chauncey Ryder (1868–1949), and Robert Spencer (1879–1931) that will deepen their appreciation for the period. American Impressions provides a fresh, new look at an enduring popular style.

Funding for American Impressions was generously provided by the National Academy Museum’s Kent Day Coes Memorial Fund, the Louis J. and Myrthine Kaep Memorial Fund, the F. Donald Kenney Memorial Fund, the Lenard Kester Memorial Fund, the Page and Otto Marx, Jr. Foundation, and the Ernest E. Morenon Memorial Fund.