American Vistas: Landscapes from the Collection

In scenes alternately breathtaking and serene, 19th-century artists illuminated their experiences of the American landscape. American Vistas: Landscapes from the Collection takes a fresh look at the Museum’s collection in conjunction with our presentation of The Poetry of Nature: Hudson River School Landscapes from the New-York Historical Society. The selection of works includes the perspectives of American artists painting, printing, and drawing both familiar and far-flung locales, as well as European artists exploring and recording the New World.

Many of these artists subscribed to the Hudson River School’s tenet of truth, carefully working from nature, while others took interpretive liberties with romantic visions. From the roaring tumult of a waterfall to the quiet reflection of autumn color on a lake, the strength of these landscapes is in offering the feeling of being there, in a particular place, season, and time of day.

Featuring works by artists such as Albert Bierstadt, Karl Bodmer, Gustav Grunewald, and Thomas Moran, this exhibition presents sublime, dramatic, and contemplative scenery from Niagara Falls, New York, to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.