Vanessa Sage, assistant curator of the Figge Art Museum, shows off a wall of paintings in the museum's new blockbuster exhibit "For America." On this wall, museum staff has paired portraits of artists with works they created. In the upper left, for example, is "Self-Portrait" by Walter Ufer and immediately below it is "Jim," which Ufer painted in 1918.
The painting in the foreground is "Self-Portrait in Overalls," by Louisa Matthiasdottir, circa 1985. The Figge's new "For America" exhibit spans 200 years of American painting, from 1809 to 2013.
In the center of this wall is "Barrel of Fun," by Reginald Marsh, 1943. The painting was once located at the ocean side entrance of the Coney Island Amusement Park. Historian John F. Kasson has noted that this huge revolving cylinder "frequently rolled patrons off their feet and brought strangers into sudden and intimate contact."
Figge visitors familiar with Martin Scorsese’s 2003 film "Gangs of New York" will have some background for this painting by George Henry Hall titled "A Dead Rabbit, or Study of an Irishman," 1858. It was painted about a year after the Dead Rabbit-Bowery Boy Riot in lower Manhattan. It depicts a mutton-chopped young man naked to the waist, cradling a brick in one hand while caught in a state of repose. It also captures an aspect of U.S. society and culture rarely shown in the era’s visual culture: the fear but also the fascination that fueled the class and ethnic conflicts of the mid-nineteenth century.
This wall of paintings on the third floor of the Figge Art Museum pairs portraits of artists with works they created. It is part of the "For America" exhibit spanning 200 years of American art and including nearly 100 works from the National Academy of Design, New York.
Mary Neil, of Rock Island, studies a painting in the new Figge Art Museum exhibition titled "For America: 200 Years of Painting from the National Academy of Design," covering the time period from 1809 to 2013.
Vanessa Sage, assistant curator of the Figge Art Museum, points out the significance of a painting in the new "For America" exhibit.
"Self-Portrait," by Walter Ufer, no date, National Academy of Design, New York.
"The Bash-Bish," by John Frederick Kensett, 1855. National Academy of Design, New York.
"Self Portrait," by Hughie Lee-Smith, 1964. National Academy of Design, New York. Photo credit, Neighboring States. Copyright, Estate of Hughie Lee-Smith.
"The Lake," by Ernest Blumenschein, circa 1923, National Academy of Design, New York.
"Jim," by Walter Ufer, 1918. National Academy of Design, New York.
"Belgian Stallions," by John Steuart Curry, 1938. National Academy of Design, New York.
"Charles Courtney Curran," by William John Whittemore, 1888-1889, National Academy of Design, New York.
"Mother Courage II," by Charles White, 1974. National Academy of Design, New York.
"Voice II," by George Tooker, 1972. National Academy of Design, New York.
"Self-Portrait," 1969, George Tooker. National Academy of Design, New York.
"Tennis Player (Self-Portrait)," by Wayne Thiebaud, 1985. National Academy of Design, New York.
"Benny Andrews, the Artist, and Big Daddy Paper Doll," By May Stevens, 1976. National Academy of Design, New York.
"Self-Portrait," by Peter Saul, 2013. National Academy of Design, New York. Photo credit, Neighboring States; copyright, Peter Saul.
"Unemployment," by Paul Starrett Sample, 1931. National Academy of Design, New York.
"Self-Portrait," by Ellen Emmet Rand Self-Portrait, 1927. National Academy of Design, New York.
"Snake Dance," by Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, 2011. National Academy of Design. Photo credit, Image by Google; copyright Jaune Quick-to-See Smith.
"Nude Torso," by Philip Pearlstein, 1963. National Academy of Design, New York. Copyright Philip Pearlstein.
"Self-Portrait," by Samuel F.B. Morse, 1809. National Academy of Design, New York.
"Self-Portrait in Overalls," by Louisa Matthiasdottir, circa 1985. National Academy of Design, New York. Copyright, Estate of Louisa Matthiasdottir.
"Eliza Greatorex," by Ferdinand Thomas Lee Boyle, 1869. National Academy of Design, New York.
"Babs with Ribbons," by Ann Gale, 2007. National Academy of Design, New York. Copyright, Ann Gale.
"Hollyhocks," by Frederick Carl Frieseke, by 1911. National Academy of Design, New York.
"Telephone Poles," by Jane Freilicher, 1963. National Academy of Design, New York.
"The Young Orphan," by William Merritt Chase, no date. The National Academy of Design, New York.
"Robert Blum," by William Merritt Chase, 1888. National Academy of Design, New York.
"Artist in Residence: Self-Portrait," by Aaron Bohrod, 1943. National Academy of Design, New York. Photo credit, Image by Google; copyright Estate of Aaron Bohrod.
"Two Idlers," by Robert Frederick Blum, 1888-1889. National Academy of Design, New York.
"Self-Portrait," by Rosemarie Beck, 1975. National Academy of Design, New York. Photo credit, Image by Google; copyright The Rosemarie Beck Foundation.
"Self-Portrait" by Will Barnet, 1981. National Academy of Design, New York. Copyright, Will Barnet Trust.
"Self-Portrait," Ivan Albright, 1948. National Academy of Design, New York. Copyright, estate of Ivan Le Lorrain Albright.
Step off the elevator onto the third floor of the Figge Art Museum, Davenport, and you'll be face-to-face with a star of the museum's newest "blockbuster" exhibit spanning 200 years of American art.
Titled "The Bash Bish," the painting is of a small waterfall in the Bash Bish River in western Massachusetts, painted in 1855 by John Frederick Kensett.
The subject matter and style — a romanticized landscape of the Hudson River Valley and surrounding area — is regarded as the country's first distinctive American look.
The work is one of about 100 in the exhibit titled "For America: 200 Years of Painting from the National Academy of Design," covering the time period from 1809 to 2013.
The exhibit opens to the public on Tuesday, Feb. 23, and continues to May 16. To allow for social distancing, the works are spread out across three of the museum's four floors, providing not only safety but a "VIP experience" in that visitors should not feel rushed or crowded because of gallery capacity limits, Michelle Hargrave, the Figge's executive director and CEO, said.
The exhibition explores how artists have represented themselves and their country, including its shifting diversity, and the complexities of what it means to be an American. Portraits are a key component.
Asked to pick a work and explain how it reflects America, Hargrave cites a self-portrait done in 1964 by Hughie Lee-Smith, the second African American artist to be admitted to the highest level of the academy.
"It's a beautiful work," Hargrave said. "It shows this self-assured, serious man in a dress shirt and tie with a penetrating, attentive look. It's almost an upward image, as though he is looking down, studying us. One can speculate that he's making a point; he could be challenging the established racial stereotypes."
For context, 1964 was the year in which President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act making segregation in public facilities and discrimination in employment illegal. Also, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. won the Nobel Peace Prize.
"For America" is the Figge's second "blockbuster"; the first was "French Moderns: Monet to Matisse 1850-1950" that was on display during the fall of 2018 to January 2019, drawing 36,112 visitors.
While many Americans may recognize the names of Monet and Matisse more readily than William Merritt Chase or Cecilia Beaux, "For America" offers an opportunity to become acquainted with American artists and art.
And the Figge will help further that understanding with programs, both online and in-person.
"This is an unprecedented look at the history of American painting — written by its makers," Hargrave says in a news release. "We've never seen anything like this before, and we're honored to be hosting such an extraordinary exhibition."
At a time when the United States is so divided, the exhibit explores "our commonalities as well as our differences" and provides an opportunity to talk about what we have in common: our country, Hargrave said.
The works are organized into five sections, representing different time periods.
After the initial "Founding an American School" comes "New Internationalism" in which American artists traveled to Europe and were influenced by what was happening there, primarily the development of the Impressionistic style.
Third is "Painting America" in which artists depict more everyday scenes, such as streetscapes, and include the work of the first African-American artist admitted into the National Academy, Henry Ossawa Tanner.
Fourth is "Postwar Realisms," including the growth of abstractionism and "For America," featuring contemporary works.
The traveling exhibit was organized by the American Federation of Arts and the national academy. It is being made possible by the Major Exhibitions Endowment that was started by individuals, families, businesses and organizations in the Quad-Cities. The endowment is also sponsoring the exhibit, along with Estes Construction, the Harris Family Charitable Gift Fund, US Bank, Alan and Julie Renken, Mark and Rita Bawden and BITCO Insurance Cos.
The exhibition came here from Sante Fe and will go to Sacramento.
"Self-Portrait," Ivan Albright, 1948. National Academy of Design, New York. Copyright, estate of Ivan Le Lorrain Albright.
"Self-Portrait" by Will Barnet, 1981. National Academy of Design, New York. Copyright, Will Barnet Trust.
"Two Idlers," by Robert Frederick Blum, 1888-1889. National Academy of Design, New York.
"Self-Portrait," by Rosemarie Beck, 1975. National Academy of Design, New York. Photo credit, Image by Google; copyright The Rosemarie Beck Foundation.
"The Young Orphan," by William Merritt Chase, no date. The National Academy of Design, New York.
"Robert Blum," by William Merritt Chase, 1888. National Academy of Design, New York.
"Artist in Residence: Self-Portrait," by Aaron Bohrod, 1943. National Academy of Design, New York. Photo credit, Image by Google; copyright Estate of Aaron Bohrod.
"Hollyhocks," by Frederick Carl Frieseke, by 1911. National Academy of Design, New York.
"Telephone Poles," by Jane Freilicher, 1963. National Academy of Design, New York.
"Babs with Ribbons," by Ann Gale, 2007. National Academy of Design, New York. Copyright, Ann Gale.
"Eliza Greatorex," by Ferdinand Thomas Lee Boyle, 1869. National Academy of Design, New York.
"The Bash-Bish," by John Frederick Kensett, 1855. National Academy of Design, New York.
"Self Portrait," by Hughie Lee-Smith, 1964. National Academy of Design, New York. Photo credit, Neighboring States. Copyright, Estate of Hughie Lee-Smith.
"Self-Portrait in Overalls," by Louisa Matthiasdottir, circa 1985. National Academy of Design, New York. Copyright, Estate of Louisa Matthiasdottir.
"Nude Torso," by Philip Pearlstein, 1963. National Academy of Design, New York. Copyright Philip Pearlstein.
"Self-Portrait," by Samuel F.B. Morse, 1809. National Academy of Design, New York.
"Snake Dance," by Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, 2011. National Academy of Design. Photo credit, Image by Google; copyright Jaune Quick-to-See Smith.
"Unemployment," by Paul Starrett Sample, 1931. National Academy of Design, New York.
"Self-Portrait," by Ellen Emmet Rand Self-Portrait, 1927. National Academy of Design, New York.
"Self-Portrait," by Peter Saul, 2013. National Academy of Design, New York. Photo credit, Neighboring States; copyright, Peter Saul.
"Benny Andrews, the Artist, and Big Daddy Paper Doll," By May Stevens, 1976. National Academy of Design, New York.
"Self-Portrait," 1969, George Tooker. National Academy of Design, New York.
"Tennis Player (Self-Portrait)," by Wayne Thiebaud, 1985. National Academy of Design, New York.
"Mother Courage II," by Charles White, 1974. National Academy of Design, New York.
"Jim," by Walter Ufer, 1918. National Academy of Design, New York.
"Voice II," by George Tooker, 1972. National Academy of Design, New York.
"Charles Courtney Curran," by William John Whittemore, 1888-1889, National Academy of Design, New York.
"Self-Portrait," by Walter Ufer, no date, National Academy of Design, New York.
"The Lake," by Ernest Blumenschein, circa 1923, National Academy of Design, New York.
The painting in the foreground is "Self-Portrait in Overalls," by Louisa Matthiasdottir, circa 1985. The Figge's new "For America" exhibit spans 200 years of American painting, from 1809 to 2013.
In the center of this wall is "Barrel of Fun," by Reginald Marsh, 1943. The painting was once located at the ocean side entrance of the Coney Island Amusement Park. Historian John F. Kasson has noted that this huge revolving cylinder "frequently rolled patrons off their feet and brought strangers into sudden and intimate contact."
Vanessa Sage, assistant curator of the Figge Art Museum, shows off a wall of paintings in the museum's new blockbuster exhibit "For America." On this wall, museum staff has paired portraits of artists with works they created. In the upper left, for example, is "Self-Portrait" by Walter Ufer and immediately below it is "Jim," which Ufer painted in 1918.
Figge visitors familiar with Martin Scorsese’s 2003 film "Gangs of New York" will have some background for this painting by George Henry Hall titled "A Dead Rabbit, or Study of an Irishman," 1858. It was painted about a year after the Dead Rabbit-Bowery Boy Riot in lower Manhattan. It depicts a mutton-chopped young man naked to the waist, cradling a brick in one hand while caught in a state of repose. It also captures an aspect of U.S. society and culture rarely shown in the era’s visual culture: the fear but also the fascination that fueled the class and ethnic conflicts of the mid-nineteenth century.
This wall of paintings on the third floor of the Figge Art Museum pairs portraits of artists with works they created. It is part of the "For America" exhibit spanning 200 years of American art and including nearly 100 works from the National Academy of Design, New York.
Mary Neil, of Rock Island, studies a painting in the new Figge Art Museum exhibition titled "For America: 200 Years of Painting from the National Academy of Design," covering the time period from 1809 to 2013.
Vanessa Sage, assistant curator of the Figge Art Museum, points out the significance of a painting in the new "For America" exhibit.
Melissa Mohr, Director of Education at Figge Art Museum, shows some paintings from the exhibit "For America" which has arrived and is on the walls of the Figge Art Museum, Wednesday, February, 17, 2021.
