The great Impressionist painters fire the imaginations of art lovers like no other group, and the lines extending for blocks outside museums whenever Monet, Renoir, or Cezanne come to town are proof positive of this love affair.
While these mid-19th century French artists were redefining the relationship between light and shape, they had an immense impact on their fellow painters on this side of the Atlantic. That is the point of "Sunlight & Shadow: American Impressionism, 1885-1945," an exhibition of 78 works of American Impressionist painters on display at St. John's College's Mitchell Gallery through April 23.
The paintings in this exhibit are part of the Lyons Collection from the Fuller Art Museum in Brockton, Massachusetts. The show will travel to 20 museums across the country over the next two years.
Several major American artists saw Impressionism's rebellion against the artificial academic style that had been used in France for decades and made the new adventurous style their own. They went to the heart of Impressionism's sensual, subjective message as they painted landscapes of America's unspoiled wilderness, harbors and atmospheric small towns.
John Joseph Enneking (1841-1916) was one such artist. A Bostonian, he studied in France, where he admired the infusion of light and color into nature that he found in the works of Monet and Renoir.
He also was influenced by American painters of the Hudson River School, who crafted splendid evocations of America's rich natural beauty, but painted in a more traditional manner.
The power of these luminous works, such as Robert Emmett Owen's "Winter Light, New England" is genuine and undeniable.
Featured prominently in "Sunlight & Shadow" are works by women artists Elizabeth Miller Longbinier, Marituita Gill, Helen Butman, Blanche Cloy Grant, and Helena Sturtevant. The landscapes, portraits, and still lifes of these New England painters helped define the parameters of American Impressionism.
An opening reception for the exhibit will be held from 3: 30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at the Mitchell Gallery. Collector Jim Lyons will conduct a tour, art teacher Lucinda Edinberg will lead children in a painting workshop and Annapolis artist Lee Boynton will demonstrate Impressionist techniques.
Information: 410-626-2556.
Pub Date: 3/11/99