American Stories: Paintings of Everyday Life, 1765–1915 October 29, 2009

American Stories: Paintings of Everyday Life, 1765–1915
H. Barbara Weinberg, Alice Pratt Brown Curator of American Paintings and Sculpture.

American painters have always told stories in their works. In the eighteenth century John Singleton Copley and Charles Willson Peale recounted their tales in portraits. In the early 1800s William Sidney Mount and George Caleb Bingham invited broader audiences to see themselves in genre scenes. Between the Civil War and World War I Winslow Homer, Thomas Eakins, John Singer Sargent, and others responded to international influences and modern developments. Capturing the temperament of their respective eras, these artists described and defined Americans as individuals, citizens, and members of ever-widening communities.

This Week’s Topic:

Cosmopolitan and Candid Stories, 1860–1915

This series is presented in conjunction with the exhibition “American Stories: Paintings of Everyday Life, 1765–1915,” October 13, 2009–January 24, 2010.

The exhibition is made possible by Alamo Rent A Car, The Marguerite and Frank A. Cosgrove Jr. Fund, The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation, the Henry Luce Foundation, and the Oceanic Heritage Foundation.

Official Website: http://www.metmuseum.org/tickets