Masterpieces of American Art, 1770-1920
opens Oct. 23 at the Milwaukee Art Museum

THE MILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM this fall will treat visitors to a visually stunning exhibition of painting and sculpture from the period in which American art came into its own.

Masterpieces of American Art, 1770-1920 from the Detroit Institute of Arts opens Oct. 23 and will be on display through Jan. 30, 2005. Included in this only Midwest appearance of the exhibition are more than 90 masterpieces by such American greats as John Singleton Copley, John Singer Sargent, Gilbert Stuart, Mary Cassatt, Winslow Homer, Frederic Church, William Merritt Chase, Albert Bierstadt, the Peale family and Robert Henri.

“We are delighted to present an exhibition of this breadth that exposes the masterworks of our own nation,” comments David Gordon, director and CEO of the Milwaukee Art Museum. “Visitors will discover a unique style and definition of beauty forged during the earliest years of this country by the greats of American art.”

The Detroit Institute of Arts, which boasts one of the finest collections of American art in the nation, organized the touring exhibit that explores the development of American visual history through almost two centuries.

The exhibition includes such iconic masterpieces as John Singleton Copley’s Watson and the Shark, Frederic Church’s Cotopaxi and Winslow Homer’s Defiance: Inviting a Shot Before Petersburg. Also featured are examples of many other figures of American art between 1770 and 1920 such as still life master Raphaelle Peale; landscapists Thomas Cole and Martin Johnson Heade; sculptor Hiram Powers; genre painters George Caleb Bingham and Eastman Johnson; Philadelphia genius Thomas Eakins; American impressionists John Singer Sargent, Childe Hassam and Mary Cassatt, and Ashcan School artists Robert Henri and George Bellows.
The exhibition contains some of the best-known works representing the major American art movements and trends of the period, including the Hudson River School and American Impressionism. From the faces of a new nation and the Colonial Era to American life through the Civil War, global landscapes and the cosmopolitan trends of the later 19th century and early 20th century, the exhibition provides an extraordinary exploration of the exemplary art and artists of America.

The exhibition has toured to the National Gallery of Ireland, the Phoenix Museum of Art and the San Diego Museum of Art. After Milwaukee, it travels to the Frick Art and Historical Center in Pittsburgh, before returning to Detroit.

The Milwaukee showing of the exhibit is coordinated by Glenn Adamson, curator of the Chipstone Foundation and Milwaukee Art Museum adjunct curator. Sponsoring the exhibition are M&I Bank and Michael Best & Friedrich LLP.

Tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for seniors and $8 for students, with children 12 and under free. Tickets include general Museum admission and an audio guide, available in both English and Spanish. Group tour reservations and discounts are available by calling 224-3842.

The exhibition will be displayed in the new Santiago Calatrava-designed Quadracci Pavilion, completed in October 2001 and named by Time magazine as the “Best Design of 2001.” With a history dating back to 1888 and holdings that include more than 20,000 works, the Museum’s primary strengths are in 19th and 20th century American and European art, contemporary art, American decorative arts, Old Master works and folk and self-taught art.

The Museum is open seven days a week from 10 a.m.-5 p.m., except for Thursdays when it remains open until 8 p.m. The Museum is closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas. For more information, visit www.mam.org.