American Art: Selections from the Collection

This fresh presentation of the Museum's American collection invites visitors to experience the development of American art from the founding of a new nation to a modern world of unlimited possibilities.

The earliest paintings on display borrowed concepts from Britain's grand portrait tradition. American painters, however, soon began to form their own ideas in response to the New World, as seen in Asher B. Durand's Landscape — Composition. In the late 19th century, many artists left the United States for extended visits to Europe where they studied old master paintings, as well as the radical new style of Impressionism. Guy Rose's Late Afternoon Giverny, painted in close proximity to Claude Monet's home, is heavily influenced by the plein-air master.

American painters in the early 20th century, determined to find their own artistic voice, created images of pulsating urbanism and bold color abstractions, paving the way for modernism in America. Several examples of these works are exhibited here, including Stuart Davis's New York Elevated.

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