A new exhibition at the Reading Public Museum titled American Impressionism: The Lure of the Artists’ Colony opens September 24, 2011 and continues through January 29, 2012. This comprehensive exhibition features, for the first time, one of The Museum’s greatest strengths — its own collection of works by American Impressionists.

This collection of lyrical landscapes, ranging from snow-covered hills to sun-filled harbors and seascapes, penetrating portraits, and remarkable still life paintings documents an important moment in the history of American art. It includes more than 100 total works, including 75 oil paintings and nearly 30 works on paper dating from the golden age of American Impressionism, the 1880s through the 1940s. A wide range of approaches to impressionism in the earliest twentieth century, including an abiding interest in capturing the effects of light and atmosphere in loosely brushed compositions, is explored.

Arranged according to the artists’ colonies that played a critical role in the development of American Impressionism around the turn of the century, this exhibition examines those at Cos Cob and Old Lyme in Connecticut; Cape Cod, Cape Anne, and Rockport, in Massachusetts; New Hope and Philadelphia in Pennsylvania; Taos, New Mexico; and throughout California.

Within each of these colonies, artists were able to teach, collaborate and escape the daily rigors of their city studios. Often located in scenic locations within striking distance of major cities, artists’ colonies served up steady doses of natural beauty and provided ample subject matter.

“The exhibition provides a rare opportunity to see such a wide variety of approaches to impressionism in America,” said Scott Schweigert, The Museum’s Curator of Art and Civilization. “I think visitors will be delightfully surprised by the tremendous scope and depth of The Museum’s collection in this area. While the exhibition includes some ‘big name’ artists, there are also some rediscoveries of lesser known painters who also embraced elements of impressionism.”

Leading artists of the movement include William Merritt Chase, Childe Hassam, Ernest Lawson, Julian Alden Weir, John Twachtman, Chauncey Ryder, Frank W. Benson, William Paxton, Abbott Thayer, Guy Wiggins, Charles Webster Hawthorne, Colin Campbell Cooper, Daniel Garber and Edward Redfield, among others. In addition, American expatriate artists such as Mary Cassatt and John Singer Sargent will be examined.

This exhibition is underwritten by the Marlin and Ginger Miller Exhibition Fund. The Reading Public Museum is supported in part by grants from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.

Related Programming:

American Impressionism Lecture Series ­

Friday, October 14, 6:00 p.m. 

Is There an “Ism” in Pennsylvania Impressionism?  – Lecturer:  Brian H. Peterson,
The Gerry and Marguerite Lenfest Chief Curator, James A. Michener Art Museum

Friday, November 11, 6:00 p.m.

The Feminine Touch: Women Impressionist Painters

Lecturer: Anne Corso, Director of Education, Reading Public Museum

Friday, December 9, 6:00 p.m.

Selling Impressionism: The Changing Marketplace for Impressionist Painting

Lecturer: Ronald Pook, Senior Vice President, Pook & Pook Inc.

Series cost: $45 per Member/$60 per Non-Member; Per lecture cost: $20 per Member/$30 per Non-Member

For subscribers of this series only, on Friday, November 11, 5:00 p.m., there will be a Private Curator’s Tour with Scott Schweigert, Reading Public Museum’s Curator of Art & Civilization.

Noontime Knowledge – Food for Thought

Tuesday, November 1, Noon

Yankee Painters: Impressionists of New England – Anne Corso, Director of Education

Lunch & Lecture cost: $5 for Members/$10 for Non-Members

The Reading Public Museum is located at 500 Museum Road, Reading, PA 19611. Hours are Tuesday - Saturday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 12 to 5 p.m. Admission to the Museum is: $8 adults (18-59), $6 children/seniors/students (w/ID) and free to Members and children three years old and under. Web: www.readingpublicmuseum.org.