Edward Hicks.  Peaceable Kingdom, c.1948, oil on canvas

Based on a biblical theme from the book of Isaiah which
prophesizes the coming of Jesus and the peace that would follow. It depicts his home state PA and it’s not Christ arriving, it’s William Penn. He painted it more than 100 times but they’re all a little different and it’s in a lot of other galleries. Hicks was a Quaker minister and for him Penn signing a treaty with the Indians (pictured) was a sign of the new coming peace. It’s very misleading on Hicks’ part because the treaty had expired 100 years earlier, and the Indians were being deported and slaughtered. Hicks knew this but he chose to paint it this way anyway.

Winslow Homer.  Croquet Players, c. 1865, oil on canvas

Winslow Homer was a freelance artist/reporter. Photography was still in its nascent phase so sketch reporting was still the norm. These sketches and engravings were bought by newspapers and magazines. “Sharp Shooter” 1862-63 and “Prisoners From the Front” 1865 were very popular. After 1866 he stopped painting war.
“Croquet Players” 1865 Croquet was new and men & women were allowed to play this sport together. By the end of the century it was being mass produced and was out of style and considered immoral because people were showing their ankles and waiting their turn which led to flirtatious chit-chat.

Albert Bierstadt.  Laramie Peak, 1870, oil on canvas

ALBERT BIERSTADT went west a few times. He tagged along with groups like
surveyors and miners. “Bridal Veil Falls, Yosemite” 1872 “Sunrise, Yosemite”
“Laramie Peak” 1870 was painted 11 years after he passed through there with a group surveying for a railroad route. He idealized it and painted it the way he thought people back east would want to see and believe it. The west was a great source of pride for this young country and it gave people a positive new focus after the devastation of the civil war. He painted it very quiet, smooth, and peaceful as seen in the water and the large stable pyramid in the center. He thought that the natives went well with the landscape. He knew their culture was quickly disappearing.

George Inness.  The Coming Storm, 1878, oil on canvas

Painted the theme of an approaching storm several times (c.25).
In his middle age he was interested in a philosopher who believed that the relationship between man and nature was equal. A spiritual harmony.
“The Coming Storm” 1878 there’s a balance between the cultivated and the un-

cultivated in nature. The approaching storm doesn’t bother the farmer who continues working. The houses are nestled in the landscape. The stump next to the sapling represents the cycle of life and anyone living at the time would have known that.

William Harnett.  Music and Literature, 1878, oil on canvas

Was a musician and played the flute. He was known for trompe l’oeil still life and this means trying to trick the viewer into thinking what they were seeing was real. He inwas a musician and played the flute. Still life included
books, music, and instruments in many of his paintings and there are about 50 legible book and song titles with themes of courtly love, death, and resurrection.
“Music and Literature” 1878 Don Quixote is one of the book titles. The music is from Verdi’s “La Traviata” and the notes are accurate. The open book is the center of this semi-circular composition and everything else is balanced around it. The atmosphere is dark and still. The objects are old and he’s showing the effects of time on them like the quill, the book covers etc... This is an example of Vanitas European still life which was supposed to remind people of their own mortality. The primary colors are separated. He was an expert at showing different textures.

John Singer Sargent.  Venetian Bead Stringers, 1880 or 1882, oil on canvas

Critics and public disapproved of his style at 1st.
“Venetian Bead Stringers” 1883 he did a series of Venetian paintings which weren’t
very successful. They had several things in common like the long hallway that leads into space, the light that comes from the windows and doors, and women at work. The well dressed woman is probably a customer. He painted scenes that were considered dangerous and un-healthy. His subjects were seen as un-picturesque and absent of color and sunlight. They weren’t painted outside in a brightly lit atmosphere. People wondered why he traveled so far to paint something so ugly. The dark tones are extremely real. His paintings didn’t sell very well during his career and he gave most of them away to his artist friends. The one in the gallery was a wedding gift to his friend, artist Carol Beckwith?? She (with Sergeant’s approval) sold it to the gallery in 1916.

Frederick Childe Hassam.  CHurch at Old Lyme, CT, 1905, oil on canvas

Studied in Paris in the 1880’s where he saw the
French version of impressionism. And his work reflects the same interests, the outdoor painting, the atmosphere, etc.. But his brush strokes were tighter and the subject was never as broken up.
“Brook Back of New Canaan” 1902
“Church At Old Lyme, Connecticut” 19?? At the turn of the century Old Lyme was an
artist’s colony during the summer. He painted it several times during all 4 seasons. Here it’s in the early Fall.

Thomas Eakins.  Music, 1904, oil on canvas

“Music” 1904 was a portrait of violinist named ?? Van der liest?? And pianist ???
They’re completely absorbed by their own plane but unified through the music and
through the composition. The violinist’s head and hands form a triangle, and the piano forms an even larger triangle. A shadowy atmosphere adds to the quiet mood. He was paying homage to the tradition of painting famous musicians as well as to Whistler who also faced harsh public criticism. “Music” is a reproduction of a James Abbott McNeill Whistler portrait of a violinist. He finally did receive recognition in the early 1900’s by young American realists like Henri.

Robert Henri.  Tam Gan, 1914, oil on canvas

Henri’s best way of expressing his own time and place was through people. He painted people from all walks of life. His goal was to show dignity in a human being. And people who were expressing themselves naturally in the nature that was meant for them. He often painted children. “Tam Gan” 1914 was a Chinese girl he met in California. The key word was “life”. Art for life’s sake. He was excited about
being an artist in America and founded a sort of American school. The “school” taught about attitudes in life and art. He believed that every artist had to discover their own way of expressing their own time. He believed in artistic independence but he also believed in a national identity that was based on an American experience.

Everett Shinn.  Theater Box.  1906, oil on canvas

Was painted in NY from a memory of Paris. His theater paintings recall the work of Degas who he considered the greatest artist to ever come from France.
Another one of his favorite subjects was wealthy audience members. He said that he was considered a snob and replied that the uptown people and life made better pictures and were more good looking. He was one of the 1st American artists to adopt the theater as a signature theme. He was involved in the theater too as a playwright and actor. He practiced the tight rope in his back yard and studied closely the circus when they came to town. He constructed a mini theater in his studio with 55 seats. He wrote 35 plays and melodramas. He acted in many others with group of friends

George Bellows.  Elinor, Jean and Anna, 1920, oil on canvas

(his Aunt,daughter,wife) Its very strongly composed
with each of the figures in its own space. He started with a grid on the canvas. Then he painted the background. Then he added the clothes and the hands and finally the faces. Jean is the most important figure in the painting. She’s in the center and she’s wearing white. She’s looking at flowers in a book. The flowers symbolize beauty as well as the passing of time and the transience of life. It’s likely that this work is symbolic of the cycle of generations and the hope of the future which lies in our children. Aunt Elinor was in her 70’s and his mother Anna was in her 80’s. He never disguised the signs of age on a face. He believed that age didn’t destroy beauty and that some people got better looking with age.