An exhibition currently on view at the Asheville Art Museum in North Carolina shines a spotlight on American impressionism and the ways in which the movement has influenced subsequent contemporary art movements. In a New Light: American Impressionism 1870–1940 | Works from the Bank of America Collection showcases more than 120 paintings and works on paper by some of the most esteemed impressionists in American history, including Thomas Moran, Childe Hassam, Guy Carleton Wiggins, Robert Spencer, John Sloan, Daniel Garber and more. This is a style of artwork that has continued to captivate artists and art connoisseurs for centuries.

E. Martin Hennings (1886-1956), Two Summer Riders, ca. 1930s. Oil on canvas, 30¼ x 30¼ in. Bank of America Collection. 

 

Through these works, In a New Light provides both context and deeper insight into the ever-changing nature of American art, from the nation’s earliest movements in landscape painting to the early 20th-century realists. 

Among the many highlights in the exhibition are Edgar Alwin Payne’s oil Canyon de Chelly, painted around 1935, and depicting the famous Arizona monument located on Navajo tribal lands. In addition, visitors should be on the lookout for E. Martin Hennings’ 1930s oil Two Summer Riders, as well as Spencer’s early 1920s oil Afternoon Bathers. Wiggins is represented in the show by his iconic winter season cityscape Winter in New York, painted between 1938 and 1946.

Robert Spencer (1879-1931), Afternoon Bathers, ca. 1920. Oil on linen, 301/8 x 361/8 in. Bank of America Collection. 

 

Edgar Alwin Payne (1883-1947), Canyon de Chelly, ca. 1935. Oil on linen, 22 x 263/8 in. Bank of America Collection.

 

And of course Moran’s expansive 40-by-52-inch landscape View of Fairmont Waterworks will be among the stars of a show already filled with showstoppers. “Thomas Moran, renowned for his sweeping landscapes of the American West, is represented here by an early painting of Philadelphia’s Fairmount Water Works. The work reflects key elements of the Hudson River School with which Moran is closely associated,” notes the Asheville Art Museum. 

Guy Carleton Wiggins (1883-1962), Winter in New York, ca. 1938-46. Oil on board, 13 x 173/8 in. Bank of America Collection.

 

“Childe Hassam, one of America’s foremost Impressionists, is represented by Old House, East Hampton, [painted in 1917],” museum representatives add. “The painting exemplifies his mature style, featuring bold strokes of pure color that allow the  viewer’s eye to blend hues and create a vibrant, luminous effect.”

In a New Light: American Impressionism 1870–1940 | Works from the Bank of America Collection will hang through June 29. All works in the exhibition are drawn entirely from the Bank of America Collection. —

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