The landscape painters who frequented artist colonies at Cape Ann, Monhegan, and Old Lyme, to name a few, also maintained studios in New York City where their work could be displayed and sold to the viewing public.. In as much as the city provided the practical means to support the more spiritual artistic pursuits in the countryside, the countryside in turn gave artists the inspiration and energy to see the city in a renewed light.

This exhibition will explore town and country through the eyes and on the canvases of a variety of successful nineteenth to twenty-first century painters, as well as work by contemporary realist, Nicora Gangi. Over thirty oil paintings and watercolors by well noted American artists will be exhibited and offered for sale at MME Fine Art, LLC in New York City from January 25, 2013 – March 15th, 2012.

The landscape painters who frequented artist colonies at Cape Ann, Monhegan, and Old Lyme, to name a few, also maintained studios in New York City where their work could be displayed and sold to the viewing public. The professional role of the artist was crucial, enabling further travel or secondary residences in the countryside that provided much of their subject matter.

Artists like Frank Vincent DuMond (1865-1951) struck a balance between country adventures and town responsibilities. He funded his fishing excursions by teaching art at the Art Students League in New York. His Canyon Pool, circa 1940, is a grandiose tribute to his passion for the outdoors and sporting pursuits.

Felicie Waldo Howell (1897-1968) shows the Brooklyn Bridge, 1930, in a dynamic way, with the purple-shadowed bridge deck projecting towards the viewer. Far from typical metropolitan scenes, these are celebrations of the urban landscape; as vigorous and bright as any painting of springtime in Old Lyme or a summer’s day in Monhegan.

Not always concerned with contrasting town and country, artists like Jane Peterson (1876-1965) found natural scenes in the urban setting. In Central Park, 1918, rather than juxtaposing the man-made structures with the natural elements, she used softer lines and chose a palette that would join the two together. When not in the city, Peterson was in Gloucester, Massachusetts, painting vivid harbor scenes. The pleasure afforded to artists who were able to spend time and work in the artist colonies seemed to spill over into depictions of urban subject matter.

Guy Carleton Wiggins (1883-1962) spent his summers at the Lyme Art Colony in Old Lyme, Connecticut, and his winters in Manhattan. Wiggins who became famous for his paintings of New York in winter knew how to define and distinguish the unique beauty of the urban verses the bucolic. In Connecticut Landscape, he reflects the glorious hues of a New England autumn, while his Washington Square 1934, captures the somber beauty of a New York landmark cloaked in snow.

Finding inspiration from travels between her home in New York City and Upstate New York, Nicora Gangi, who is exclusively represented by MME Fine Art, has several paintings in this show which reflect the artist’s fascination with the captivating  light and energy of New York city and the tranquil beauty of the Hudson River valley with its’ own magical light.

MME Fine Art, located in Manhattan’s Upper East Side, specializes in American paintings from 1860-1960 and features examples of Hudson River School, Marine, Still-Life and American Impressionist paintings. The gallery will be open to the public from Monday to Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and is located at 74 East 79th Street, Penthouse B, New York, 10075. Telephone: 212.439.6600; email: gallery@mmefineart.com; website: www.mmefineart.com.