Discovering American Visions

A sweeping survey of American art at the turn of the 20th century, American Visions: 1870–1940 traces the emergence of a truly American style of painting by concentrating on regional artists’ colonies established across the United States during this period. The exhibition features works by a diverse group of over 70 artists including Childe Hassam, Thomas Moran, John Sloan, Ernest Lawson, George Inness, Daniel Garber, George Bellows, Lila Cabot Perry, and Guy Carleton Wiggins.

The exhibition 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. It provides a thought-provoking historical context for American Impressionism by positioning it between the Hudson River School—whose majestic landscapes influenced, then gradually gave way to, French Impressionist–inspired works—and the modernist trends evident in the later pieces on view.

The exhibition at the Montclair Art Museum is organized by Gail Stavitsky, MAM chief curator. Works featured in the exhibition are from the Bank of America Art in our Communities program.

Image: 

Gifford Beal (1879–1956)

Garden Beach, c. 1925

Oil on canvas

Bank of America Collection

Courtesy of Kraushaar Galleries & The Estate of Gifford Beal