American Collection August 22, 2008

Encompassing nearly two centuries of impressive achievement, Joslyn's American collection includes excellent examples of Colonial art, both Spanish and British, in particular two early American portraits by James Peale and Mather Brown. The 19th-century Hudson River School, America's first major artistic movement, is represented in the landscapes of Thomas Cole, Homer Dodge Martin, George Inness and Thomas Worthington Whittredge. This blend of meticulous realism with a romantic vision of America's destiny reached a high pitch in the art of Albert Bierstadt and Thomas Moran, whose works feature impressive panoramas and spectacular views of both Europe and America. A more unflinching realism is evidenced in paintings by Winslow Homer and Thomas Eakins. Works by Childe Hassam and William Merritt Chase reflect American artists' response to the French Impressionists.