Behold, America!

Behold, America!Art of the United States from Three San Diego Museums includes works from the colonial period to the present that together tell a cohesive and dynamic story of the history of art in the United States. The exhibition is a part of an innovative collaboration between three renowned museums: the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, The San Diego Museum of Art, and the Timken Museum of Art.  Behold, America! will be presented as three distinct, but related shows at the three institutions. The works at the Timken Museum of Art will focus around the concept of Forms and include traditional still-lifes by Raphaelle Peale and more recent works by Sam Gilliam. The San Diego Museum of Art will host the Figures component of the exhibition and a selection of works also related to the concept of Forms. Portraits by John Singleton Copley, Cindy Sherman, and John Currin will be featured in Figures. At the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego works related to the notion of Frontiers will be on view. Art created by Robert Irwin, Ann Hamilton, Albert Bierstadt, Asher B. Durand, and Eastman Johnson will be displayed side by side.

_{Image captions from left to right:} 

_{Albert Bierstadt,1830—1902, Cho-looke, the Yosemite Fall, Oil on canvas, 1864,Putnam Collection, Timken Museum of Art, San Diego}

 _{Robert Henri,1865–1929, Bernardita, Oil on canvas, 1922, Gift of the San Diego Wednesday Club,1926.138, The San Diego Museum of Art}

 _{Lorna Simpson, b.1960, Guarded Conditions, 18 color Polaroid prints, 21 engraved plastic plaques, and plastic letters, 1989, Museum purchase, Contemporary Collectors Fund, 1990.12.1-28, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego}

 _{Ellsworth Kelly, b.1923, Red Blue Green, Oil on canvas, 1963, 83 5/8 x 135 7/8 inches, Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Jack M. Farris, 1978.3, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego}

 _{Eastman Johnson, 1824–1906, The Cranberry Harvest, Island of Nantucket, Oil on canvas, 1880, Putnam Collection, Timken Museum of Art, San Diego}

 _{John Singleton Copley, 1738-1815, Mrs. Thomas Gage, Oil on canvas, 1771, 50 x 40 inches, Putnam Collection, Timken Museum of Art, San Diego}

 _{John Currin, b.1962, The Hobo, Oil on canvas, 1999, 40 x 32 inches, Museum purchase, Contemporary Collectors Fund, 2000.3, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego}