A Sight to BeholdThe Corcoran Legacy Collection of Nineteenth and Early Twentieth-Century American Landscape Paintings
February 8 – March 30, 2024
Carolyn Kinder Carr, Curator
Read and/or download the exhibition catalog online
William Louis Sonntag, Classic Italian Landscape with Temple of Venus, c. 1860. Oil on canvas, canvas size: 36 × 60 × 1 1/2 inches. Gift from the Trustees of the Corcoran Gallery of Art (Gift of Charles A. Munn and Victor G. Fischer in memory of Orson D. Munn).
Overview
Explore one hundred years of history and the stylistic range of American landscape painting with A Sight to Behold. Showcasing work from the American University Museum’s Corcoran Legacy Collection, this exhibition examines the long-held tradition of capturing the emotional impact of nature.
A variety of both recognizable and lesser-known artists are included in the show, among them Thomas Doughty, William Morris Hunt, Ralph Albert Blakelock, and Maurice Prendergast.
Visitors will be exposed to artistic traditions and the evolving modern American psyche during these pivotal one hundred years, exploring themes of Romanticism, westward expansion, and urgency toward natural conservation.
Maurice Brazil Prendergast, St. Malo, c. 1909-1910. Oil on board, unframed: 10 5/8 x 13 3/4 inches. Gift from the Trustees of the Corcoran Gallery of Art (Gift of Mrs. Charles Prendergast in memory of Charles and Maurice Prendergast).
Edward Willis Redfield, Road to Lumberville, 1930/1935. Oil on canvas, unframed: 21 1/2 x 19 1/2 inches. Gift from the Trustees of the Corcoran Gallery of Art (Bequest of James Parmelee).