The National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts
New York, NY
212-369-4880
http://www.nationalacademy.org/
Charles Hawthorne: Watercolors
May 4 - July 30, 2000
Charles Webster Hawthorne (1872-1930), National Academician and
founder of the Cape Cod School of Art,
was one of the most celebrated American painters of the early twentieth
century. Known mostly for his realist oil paintings ranging in subjects
from Portuguese fishermen to fashionable ladies, the artist also produced
a considerable body of work in watercolor. (left: Sunset Clouds,
c. 1927-30, watercolor on paper, 9 7/8 x 13 7/8 inches. Courtesy of Babcock
Galleries)
Under the tutelage of William Merritt
Chase, NA, Hawthorne, along with fellow
students Charles Demuth, Rockwell Kent, and Joseph Stella, NA
Elect, became practiced at the progressive
art of plein air painting. By 1889, the artist
began to focus on a highly personal
theme of simple, honest people captured
in introspective moods, yet his dedication
to traditionalism kept him from joining
other socially conscience artists such
as members of 
the Ashcan School. (right: The Cirque
Gavarnie, 1929, watercolor on paper, 13 7/8 x 19 3/4 inches, Estate
of Charles Hawthorne)
On
view at the Academy through July
30, 2000, the exhibition marks the first
time in over 20 years that a
comprehensive grouping of Hawthorne watercolors
will be exhibited in New York.
In these watercolors, visitors will experience
the more unconventional side of Hawthorne
through his abstract simplification of
the landscape. (left: On Board the S. S. Alessia,
1928-29, watercolor on paper, 10 x 14 inches. Courtesy of Babcock Galleries)
Curated by Paul Resika, NA, this selection of 25 paintings, on loan from private, public and the Hawthorne family collections, represents the artist's finest work in the medium from 1915 to 1930.
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For further biographical information on selected artists cited above please see America's Distinguished Artists, a national registry of historic artists.
This page was originally published in Resource Library Magazine. Please see Resource Library's Overview section for more information. rev. 2/28/11
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