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Ties That Bind: American Artists in Europe

July 14 - September 23, 2012

 

Ties That Bind: American Artists in Europe features paintings from the collections of the Frye Art Museum by American artists who lived, studied, and worked in Europe in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. As Europe became more accessible to American artists after the Civil War (1861-65), many young painters desired to experience the art and culture of the Continent. These bold artists made the long journey across the Atlantic in hope of acquiring new techniques and basking in the presence of masterpieces hanging on the walls of great European museums. (right: George Inness, Campagna, Italian Landscape, ca. 1875. Oil on wood panel. 9 5/8 x 12 7/8 inches. Frye Art Museum, 1960.005.)

Many American artists returned to the United States familiar with the latest art movements in Europe and with a renewed interest in forging a uniquely American style. For example, armed with knowledge of French Impressionism and its loose brushwork and light palette, artists like Childe Hassam and John Twachtman were able to champion their vision of American Impressionism. Exposure to German portraiture emboldened American painters like Frank Duveneck, Robert Henri, and George Luks, who experimented with light, color, and bravura brushwork involving thick, flowing brushstrokes. New approaches to landscape painting were studied in academies in Düsseldorf and Munich by Albert Bierstadt and Henry Raschen, who used German techniques to depict the undaunted spirit of the American West. This exhibition also includes works by William Merritt Chase, John White Alexander, Charles Sprague Pearce, and John Singer Sargent, painters who experimented with the uncompromising Realism and Impressionism they encountered in European art capitals, including Paris, London, and Munich.

Some American artists found inspiration in established academies such as the École des Beaux-Arts and Académie Julian in Paris, the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, and the Düsseldorf Art Academy. Others were drawn to the collective experiences of small art colonies, like Duveneck's artist community in Polling, Bavaria, and the famed sketching grounds in Dordrecht, Holland.

Inevitably, many of the painters in this exhibition crossed paths: they visited each other in small villages, or sketched together in classes at the academies. Their works would often be shown together in American exhibitions, where critics compared their diverse interpretations of Continental influences. They also participated in important European exhibitions, like those of the Munich Secession and the Paris Salon, where Americans comprised the largest national group of foreign artists. Together these artists freely exchanged ideas, often returning to the United States with the desire to paint their homeland with a bold reinterpretation of the techniques they learned from their European peers.

Ties That Bind: American Artists in Europe is organized by the Frye Art Museum and curated by Jo-Anne Birnie Danzker. The exhibition is funded by the Frye Foundation with the generous support of Frye Art Museum members and donors. The exhibition is also supported by a grant from the Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs. Seasonal support of the Frye Art Museum is provided by 4Culture, Canonicus Fund, and ArtsFund.

 

(above: Charles Sprague Pearce. Sainte Genevieve, 1887. Oil on canvas . 82 x 66 in. Courtesy of an anonymous lender. Photo: Spike Mafford)

 

(above: John White Alexander. Woman in Black, 1896. Oil on canvas. 40 _ x 22 _ inches. Frye Art Museum, 1998.001.)

 

(above: Thomas Eakins, Maybelle (Mrs. Henry Walter Schlichter), 1898. Oil on canvas. 24 _ x 18 _ inches. Frye Art Museum, 1958.011.)

 

Checklist for the exhibition

John White Alexander
Woman in Black, 1896
Oil on canvas
40 _ x 22 _ in.
Frye Art Museum, 1998.001
 
Albert Bierstadt
Rainbow in the Sierra Nevada, ca. 1871-73
Oil on panel
18 x 24 in.
Frye Art Museum, 1997.006
 
Mary Stevenson Cassatt
Little Eve, ca. 1902
Pastel on paper
Frye Art Museum, 1962.01
 
William Merritt Chase
Portrait of a Lady against Pink Ground (Miss Virginia Gerson), ca. 1886
Oil on canvas
72 x 36 in.
Frye Art Museum,1969.007
 
Frank Duveneck
Henry Singlewood Bisbing, ca. 1880-85
Oil on canvas
23 x 19 in.
Frye Art Museum, 1962.002
 
Thomas Eakins
Maybelle (Mrs. Henry Walter Schlichter), 1898
Oil on canvas
24 _ x 18 _ in.
Frye Art Museum, 1958.011
 
Frederick Childe Hassam
Parc Monceau, Paris, 1897
Oil on canvas
24 1/8 x 17 _ in.
Frye Art Museum, Charles and Emma Frye Collection, 1952.059
 
Robert Henri
The Stoker, 1910
Oil on canvas
24 _ x 20 _ in.
Frye Art Museum, 1958.009
 
George Inness
Campagna, Italian Landscape, ca. 1875
Oil on wood panel
9 5/8 x 12 7/8 in.
Frye Art Museum, 1960.005
 
Willard Leroy Metcalf
Bank of the Seine, Giverny, 1888
Oil on canvas
26 x 32 in.
Frye Art Museum, 1969.006
 
Willard L. Metcalf
Auberge on the Road to Giverny, 1887
Oil on canvas
13 x 16 in.
Frye Art Museum Purchase, 1961.005
 
Charles Sprague Pearce
Sainte Genevieve, 1887
Oil on canvas
82 x 66 in.
Anonymous lender, IL 2011.011
 
Henry Raschen
The Deserted Camp, n.d.
Oil on canvas
26 7/8 x 46 _ in.
Frye Art Museum, Charles and Emma Frye Collection, 1952.134
 
John Singer Sargent
Mrs. Frederick William Roller, 1895
Oil on canvas
88 _ x 44 5/8 in.
Frye Art Museum, 1981.014
 
John Henry Twachtman
Dunes Back of Coney Island, ca. 1880
Oil on canvas
13 7/8 x 19 7/8 in.
Frye Art Museum, 1956.010
 
John Henry Twachtman
Windmills, Dordrecht, ca. 1881
Oil on panel
14 5/8 x 20 _ in.
Frye Art Museum, 1977.014
 
Thaddeus Welch
Steep Ravine, Marin County, California, 1912
Oil on canvas
26 x 46 _ in.
Frye Art Museum, Charles and Emma Frye Collection, 1952.188
 
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
Head of Mrs. Beaumont, 1895
Oil on canvas
14 _ x 12 _ in.
Frye Art Museum, 1961.002

Editor's note: RL readers may also enjoy:

and biographical information on selected artists cited in this article in America's Distinguished Artists, a national registry of historic artists.

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