United States

With its crimson and golden light, this landscape is evocative of California; it may have been inspired by Keith’s excursion to Monterey the year it was painted. The painting was described in a 1912 exhibition catalogue as “a poem in pigments, one of those rare poetic fancies, a song without words such as only a masterhand and spirit can call from the spheres.” Keith considered this work one of his best, exhibiting it in the California Building at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exhibition in Chicago.

With its crimson and golden light, this landscape is evocative of California; it may have been inspired by Keith’s excursion to Monterey the year it was painted. The painting was described in a 1912 exhibition catalogue as “a poem in pigments, one of those rare poetic fancies, a song without words such as only a masterhand and spirit can call from the spheres.” Keith considered this work one of his best, exhibiting it in the California Building at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exhibition in Chicago.

This creek scene condenses brown-green foliage against its reflection on the water’s surface. With horizontal green strokes, Hunt rendered Spanish moss hanging from tree branches, suggesting the damp warmth of the Florida climate. Governor’s Creek and the St. John River were fashionable resort areas when the artist painted this scene. However, this picture includes no evidence of leisure—instead, Hunt shows two small figures rowing their boat laboriously through the smooth water.

This creek scene condenses brown-green foliage against its reflection on the water’s surface. With horizontal green strokes, Hunt rendered Spanish moss hanging from tree branches, suggesting the damp warmth of the Florida climate. Governor’s Creek and the St. John River were fashionable resort areas when the artist painted this scene. However, this picture includes no evidence of leisure—instead, Hunt shows two small figures rowing their boat laboriously through the smooth water.

Heade painted 120 views of salt marshes, natural farmlands where laborers harvested black marsh grasses and gathered them into haystacks to dry. The artist first went into the marshes to hunt and fish, developing a deep appreciation for the productive relationship between humans and the land. The two figures in the canoe—likely a father and son—may have symbolized the future generations that would benefit from protecting and maintaining such natural resources.

Heade painted 120 views of salt marshes, natural farmlands where laborers harvested black marsh grasses and gathered them into haystacks to dry. The artist first went into the marshes to hunt and fish, developing a deep appreciation for the productive relationship between humans and the land. The two figures in the canoe—likely a father and son—may have symbolized the future generations that would benefit from protecting and maintaining such natural resources.

Here we see the ruins of a Greek and Roman theater in the ancient town of Taormina, Sicily. Classical civilization had symbolic resonance for many Americans, who viewed their country as being founded upon the democratic ideals of ancient Greece and Rome. Haseltine’s views not only served as a pictorial souvenir of popular tourist destinations but also inspired those who could not afford to take the “Grand Tour” of Europe.

Here we see the ruins of a Greek and Roman theater in the ancient town of Taormina, Sicily. Classical civilization had symbolic resonance for many Americans, who viewed their country as being founded upon the democratic ideals of ancient Greece and Rome. Haseltine’s views not only served as a pictorial souvenir of popular tourist destinations but also inspired those who could not afford to take the “Grand Tour” of Europe.

Whittredge likely made this painting on the last of three journeys to the American West. He was deeply impressed by the beauty of the countryside: “Nothing could be more like an Arcadian landscape . . . the earth covered with soft grass waving in the wind, with innumerable flowers often covering acres with a single color as if they had been planted there.”

Whittredge likely made this painting on the last of three journeys to the American West. He was deeply impressed by the beauty of the countryside: “Nothing could be more like an Arcadian landscape . . . the earth covered with soft grass waving in the wind, with innumerable flowers often covering acres with a single color as if they had been planted there.”