Front Screen A: Focus on Modernism
Many American artists experimented with modernism during the first half of the twentieth century, participating in an international explosion of artistic innovations that broke with classical and Renaissance models and sought to express the values of an industrialized, urban world. Forms were often abstracted from objects in nature, as well as from machines and technology; color was released from its traditional associations with the natural world. As demonstrated here, the paintings of most American modernists were characterized by strong, flat colors and expressive distortions, but they rarely became completely nonobjective.
The visual conventions of modernism were largely based on French artistic innovations made before World War I, especially the late works of Paul Cézanne, the paintings of Henri Matisse and the Fauves, and the Cubist experiments of Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. Many American artists were aware of European developments early on. Alfred Stieglitz’s 291 gallery, where Matisse’s work had been first exhibited in New York in 1908, was an early center for the display of advanced European art. A larger American public was introduced to a broad survey of European and American modern art at the 1913 Armory Show, where the avant-garde paintings caused great critical controversy.
| Visible Storage: Case 15, Screen A (Paintings) |
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39.240 |
Abraham Walkowitz
By the Pool, n.d.
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44.69 |
Abraham Walkowitz
Self-Portrait 1908, 1908
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47.10 |
Alfred Henry Maurer
Still Life, 1928
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.JPG) |
54.20 |
Isabel Lydia Whitney
The Blue Peter, 1928
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56.2 |
Morgan Russell
Abstraction, ca. 1922-1923
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.JPG) |
63.148.2 |
Guy Pène du Bois
Automobile Tires, 1915
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.JPG) |
63.148.3 |
Guy Pène du Bois
The Confidence Man, 1919
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67.181 |
Maurice Kish
Job Hunters, 1932-1933
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72.3 |
Marsden Hartley
Handsome Drinks, 1916
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72.99 |
Marguerite Thompson Zorach
Memories of My California Childhood, 1921
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.JPG) |
78.267 |
Max Weber
The Cellist, 1917
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84.298.3 |
William Zorach
Equestrian, ca. 1913
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88.122 |
Manierre Dawson
Xdx, 1910
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.JPG) |
1992.11.4 |
Stuart Davis
Landscape with Clay Pipe, 1941
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.JPG) |
1992.11.15 |
Marsden Hartley
Sunday on the Reefs, 1935-1936
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.JPG) |
1992.11.16 |
Marsden Hartley
Starfish, 1936
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.JPG) |
1992.11.17 |
Marsden Hartley
Three Pears, Grapes, and White Flowers, 1936
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.JPG) |
1992.11.19 |
Marsden Hartley
Summer Clouds and Flowers, 1942
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.JPG) |
1992.11.20 |
Marsden Hartley
White Cod, 1942
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1992.11.24 |
Stanton MacDonald-Wright
Synchromy No. 3, 1917
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.JPG) |
1992.11.30 |
Max Weber
The Visit, 1919
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1998.99 |
Dorothea A. Dreier
Winter Wood Scene, before 1923
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| Visible Storage: Case 15, Screen B (Paintings) |
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01.1502 |
Henry Pember Smith
Landscape, 1882
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.JPG) |
14.552 |
Albert Pinkham Ryder
Summer's Fruitful Pastures, mid-late 1870s
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14.554 |
Albert Pinkham Ryder
The Grazing Horse, mid 1870s
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.JPG) |
14.557 |
Albert Pinkham Ryder
Moonrise, late 1870s
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15.281 |
Homer Dodge Martin
Normandy Coast, 1884
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15.312 |
Ralph Albert Blakelock
Embarkation, ca. 1880 - 1895
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.JPG) |
21.107 |
Thomas Cole
Ruined Castle and River, ca. 1832
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.JPG) |
28.7 |
William Louis Sonntag
Scene in the White Mountains, ca. 1860-1870
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.JPG) |
31.696 |
Robert A. Eichelberger
Coast Landscape, Dunes and Windmill, 1899
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32.830 |
David Johnson
Wallkill Scenery, ca. 1885
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32.853 |
Arthur Parton
The Mist, after 1875
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40.524 |
William Sidney Mount
Study for Caught Napping (Boys Caught Napping in a Field), 1847
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44.237 |
Louis Michel Eilshemius
Landscape, 1917
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.JPG) |
51.198 |
John Frederick Kensett
English Landscape, 1843-1845
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54.184 |
Albert Pinkham Ryder
Marine, Moonlight, 1890s
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57.4 |
George Henry Smillie
Sunset Landscape, 1867
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64.143 |
James Hamilton
What are the Wild Waves Saying?, 1868
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65.148 |
Thomas Addison Richards
On Claverack Creek near Hudson, New York, 1846
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73.57.1 |
William Trost Richards
River Valley in the Moonlight, ca. 1855
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75.12.1 |
William Trost Richards
A Rough Surf, after 1890
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75.12.3 |
William Trost Richards
Marine Study, 1890s
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75.12.4 |
William Trost Richards
Marine: Oil Sketch, 1880-1890
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75.12.6 |
William Trost Richards
Marine Study, 1890s
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75.137 |
Winckworth Allan Gay
Green Mountains, Lake Champlain, ca. 1865
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85.120.1 |
Hamilton Easter Field
Niagara Falls and Rainbow, n.d.
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1992.105 |
William Trost Richards
Blackberry Bush, 1858
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1992.173.1 |
Alfred Henry Maurer
Landscape, ca. 1907-1910
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| Visible Storage: Case 15, Screen C (Paintings) |
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04.296 |
Charles Warren Eaton
Connecticut Pines, 1904
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.JPG) |
06.52 |
John Carleton Wiggins
Cattle in a Pool, 1883
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.JPG) |
08.218 |
Alexander Theobald van Laer
Winter Landscape, ca. 1907
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08.222 |
Charles Day Hunt
Lake Henderson, Adirondacks, 1881
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12.91 |
Eanger Irving Couse
Lovers (Indian Love Song), 1905
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.JPG) |
13.43 |
Alexander Helwig Wyant
Keene Valley, ca. 1884-1886
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.JPG) |
13.61 |
Arthur B. Davies
Landscape with Pigs (Autumn Landscape), ca. 1897
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13.73 |
Unknown
Picnic in the Catskills, ca. 1840
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22.85 |
Arthur B. Davies
Double Realm, ca. 1905-1906
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23.86 |
Hamilton Easter Field
Early Morning, ca. 1906
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.JPG) |
33.270 |
Ralph Albert Blakelock
Edge of the Forest, ca. 1880 - 1890
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1991.266 |
August Will
View toward New York City from Montgomery Street Bluff, Jersey City, ca. 1875-1877
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| Visible Storage: Case 15, Screen D (Paintings) |
.JPG) |
11.530 |
Leon Dabo
Silver Light, Hudson River, 1911
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18.34 |
Robert Loftin Newman
Landscape with Figures, 1903
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19.91 |
Clifford Warren Ashley
A Whaleship on the Marine Railway at Fairhaven, 1916
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20.636 |
George Oberteuffer
In Stevenson's Moret, ca. 1920
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21.24 |
Jonas Lie
The Old Ships Draw to Home Again, 1920
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22.89 |
Hamilton Easter Field
River Front, New York, in Winter, ca. 1912
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30.42 |
Ogden M. Pleissner
Chaisson's House, 1926-1927
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.JPG) |
30.918 |
George Inness
Sunrise, 1892
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.JPG) |
30.966 |
Unknown
Forest Landscape, ca. 1850s
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80.126 |
Dwight William Tryon
A Glimpse of the Sea, 1872
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| Visible Storage: Case 15, Screen E (Paintings) |
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12.913 |
Hendrik Dirk Krusman van Elten
Landscape, ca. 1885
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.JPG) |
13.34 |
Albert Pinkham Ryder
Evening Glow, The Old Red Cow, early - mid 1870s
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24.89 |
Unknown
Decorative Landscape, After Michele Felice Corne, ca. 1820
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29.1196 |
Frank Horowitz
Lumberville, Pa., n.d.
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.JPG) |
30.1153 |
Glenn O. Coleman
Fort Lee Ferry, 1923
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32.845 |
Thomas Moran
Sunset at Sea, 1906
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.JPG) |
33.183 |
Hugh Bolton Jones
The Willows, ca. 1900
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51.8 |
Jasper Francis Cropsey
Bareford Mountains, West Milford, New Jersey, 1850
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70.103 |
James Hamilton
Seascape, ca. 1865
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| Visible Storage: Case 15, Screen F (Paintings) |
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06.31 |
Arthur Parton
Misty Morning, Coast of Maine, ca. late 1860s
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.JPG) |
06.309 |
Arthur Quartley
On Synepuxent Bay, Maryland, 1876
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.JPG) |
07.272 |
Elliott Daingerfield
Midnight Moon, ca. 1906
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.JPG) |
14.551 |
Albert Pinkham Ryder
The Sheepfold, late 1870s
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15.279 |
Hayley Lever
Winter, St. Ives, ca. 1914
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15.302 |
Alexander Helwig Wyant
Autumn Scene, Asheville, North Carolina, ca. 1892
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15.329 |
Robert Swain Gifford
Seconnet Rock, New Bedford, Massachusetts, ca. 1865
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15.509 |
John Sargeant Rollin Tilton
Paestum, ca. 1860
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18.33 |
Robert Loftin Newman
Landscape: The Sleeper, 1901
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.JPG) |
33.268 |
Robert Crannell Minor
In the Adirondacks, ca. 1890
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.JPG) |
44.232 |
Unknown
Panoramic Landscape with a View of a Small Town, ca 1840s-1850s
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.JPG) |
58.81 |
Glenn O. Coleman
Gloucester Harbor, ca. 1920s
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81.63 |
William Trost Richards
Tulip Trees, 1859
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1992.12 |
Jasper Francis Cropsey
Autumn at Mount Chocorua, 1869
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| Visible Storage: Case 15, Screen G (Paintings) |
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13.54 |
William Merritt Chase
Still Life, Fish, 1912
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18.48 |
Sanford Robinson Gifford
Derwentwater, 1856
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33.528 |
Eric Hudson
Fishing Boats, Monhegan, ca.1922-1930
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51.191 |
Worthington Whittredge
Rocky Shore, 1867
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68.95 |
Thomas Hewes Hinckley
Deer, 1855
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.JPG) |
74.210 |
Alfred Henry Maurer
Two Heads, ca. 1924-1925
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75.12.2 |
William Trost Richards
Rocky Coast, after 1891
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77.101 |
Aaron Draper Shattuck
Madison Boulder, Conway, New Hampshire, ca. 1858
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86.197.3 |
Ernest Parton
An Old Road in Wales, ca. 1888
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| Visible Storage: Case 15, Screen H (Paintings) |
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32.140 |
William Trost Richards
The League Long Breakers Thundering on the Reef, 1887
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33.217 |
William Trost Richards
White Island Light, Isle of Shoals, N.H., 1870
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41.624 |
Francis Guy
View of Baltimore from Chapel Hill, 1802-1803
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45.166 |
Thomas Birch
Shipwreck, 1829
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58.202 |
William Mason Brown
Still Life, ca. 1882
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73.57.3 |
William Trost Richards
Near Florence, ca. 1855-1856
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80.189 |
George Inness
The Rigor of the Game, Kearsarge Hall, North Conway, New Hampshire, ca. 1875
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.JPG) |
82.86 |
William Stanley Haseltine
Rocks at Nahant, 1864
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1990.101.1 |
Albert Bierstadt
Sunset - Last Reflections - Cloud Study,
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| Visible Storage: Case 15, Screen I (Paintings) |
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17.42 |
Alexander Helwig Wyant
Moonlight and Frost, 1890-1892
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28.73 |
Robert Melvin Decker
Old Chestnuts at Bolton, Lake George, ca. 1890-1895
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29.1306 |
William Henry Howe
Milking Time in Holland, ca. 1902
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.JPG) |
31.276 |
Arthur B. Davies
Homage to the Ocean, ca. 1908
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41.391 |
Max Weber
Music, ca. 1940
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45.61 |
Allen Tucker
Cranberry Island Fog, 1906
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52.15 |
Winckworth Allan Gay
Welch Mountain from West Campton, New Hampshire, 1858
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70.150 |
Francis Augustus Silva
Boats on the Hudson, ca. 1874-1878
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.JPG) |
71.18 |
William Holbrook Beard
In the Forest, 1856
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| Visible Storage: Case 15, Screen J (Paintings) |
.JPG) |
32.141 |
William Trost Richards
Early Summer, 1888
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.JPG) |
33.218 |
Asher B. Durand
Landscape, 1867
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49.3 |
Alfred Thompson Bricher
Marine, after 1885
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.JPG) |
49.6 |
Robert Salmon
Curious Rocks, Coast of Scotland, 1828
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50.65 |
Alvan Fisher
View of Springfield on the Connecticut River, 1819
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54.156 |
Emile Branchard
Snow Scene, ca. 1920s-1930s
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.JPG) |
55.138 |
James Hamilton
The Last Days of Pompeii, 1864
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.JPG) |
61.32 |
Edwin Dickinson
View of Great Island, ca. 1940
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76.191 |
Jane Peterson
Fishing Boats, Gloucester, ca. 1915-1920
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78.176 |
Frank Duveneck
Villa Castellani, 1887
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87.136.6 |
Georgia O'Keeffe
2 Yellow Leaves (Yellow Leaves), 1928
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| Visible Storage: Case 15, Screen K (Paintings) |
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00.60 |
Carlton Theodore Chapman
Calm in Gloucester Harbor, 1890
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08.219 |
Owen Cullen Yates
Landscape, ca. 1907
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08.223 |
David Johnson
Old Mill, West Milford, New Jersey, 1850
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.JPG) |
13.76 |
George Inness
Royal Beech in New Forest, Lyndhurst, 1887
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21.84 |
Gustave Wiegand
Landscape, Moonrise, 1901
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.JPG) |
33.577 |
James McDougal Hart
Cow and Dog, n.d.
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54.104 |
Thomas B. Griffin
Moonlight on the Delaware River, ca. 1896-1915
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79.18 |
Jervis McEntee
Tivoli, 1868
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.JPG) |
1992.11.10 |
Lyonel Feininger
Lunar Web, 1951
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.JPG) |
2002.32.1 |
James Hamilton
Foggy Morning on the Thames, ca. 1875
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.JPG) |
2002.32.2 |
James Hamilton
After a Gale--Wreckers, ca. 1875
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2004.49 |
Albert Bierstadt
Blue and White Cloud, n.d.
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2005.14 |
Maurice Sterne
Village Scene, ca. 1910s
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| Visible Storage: Case 15, Screen L (Paintings) |
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05.87 |
Paul Dougherty
Autumn Oaks, Forest of Fontainebleau, ca. 1900
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15.308 |
Ralph Albert Blakelock
The Edge of the Woods, n.d.
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16.32 |
Edwin Howland Blashfield
Island of Elephantine (Egypt), ca. 1886-1891
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21.118 |
J. Hall
Mountain Landscape, 1853
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40.304 |
Arnold Blanch
Swamp Folk, 1939
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46.14 |
Louis Michel Eilshemius
Nude Ascending, 1908
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51.212 |
Samuel Lancaster Gerry
New England Homestead, 1839
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69.24 |
Charles Octavius Cole
Imperial Knob and Gorge: White Mountains of New Hampshire, 1853
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72.46 |
Henry Pember Smith
Old Homestead, ca. 1877
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82.246.1 |
William Louis Sonntag
Mountain View, ca. 1850
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87.139.2 |
Joseph Rusling Meeker
Lake Mendota, Madison, Wisconsin, 1870-1871
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X521 |
George L. Clough
Fort Dumpling, Rhode Island, ca. 1870
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| Visible Storage: Case 15, Screen M (Paintings) |
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15.287 |
John Francis Murphy
Landscape, 1895
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27.736 |
Oscar Gieberich
Fishermen's Houses, ca. 1927
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.JPG) |
27.800 |
William Keith
Mount Hood, Oregon, ca. 1881-1883
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32.120 |
Lionel Walden
The White Bark, Evening Effect, ca. 1900-1915?
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42.6 |
Everett Shinn
Keith's Union Square, ca. 1903 - 1906
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60.35 |
Glenn O. Coleman
Bridge Tower, 1929
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| Visible Storage: Case 15, Screen N (Paintings) |
.JPG) |
05.85 |
Victor Gifford Audubon
Startled Deer--A Prairie Scene, ca. 1847
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11.511 |
John La Farge
Centauress, 1887
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.JPG) |
15.326 |
Asher B. Durand
Landscape (Birch and Oaks), ca. 1855-1857
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28.6 |
James McDougal Hart
Midsummer, 1870
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34.1199 |
Clarence K. Chatterton
House on the Cliff, n.d.
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40.686 |
Unknown
Warwick Castle, ca. 1850s-1860s
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53.23 |
Johann Hermann Carmiencke
Landscape, Hyde Park, New York, 1859
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.JPG) |
1996.150.1 |
Thomas Pollack Anshutz
House and Tree (The Artist's House), after 1895
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