Frederic Church, Winslow Homer & Thomas Moran: Tourism and the American Landscape

“Frederic Church, Winslow Homer and Thomas Moran: Tourism and the American Landscape” explores the promotion of tourism in 19th century America through the museum’s extraordinary collections of oil paintings, drawings and watercolors by these artists. The exhibition demonstrates the role of 19th century landscape works in the broader context of design, particularly the decorative arts and graphic design, and offer a new perspective on the study of these major American artists.

Oil studies, drawings and watercolors by Church (1826-1900), Homer (1836-1910) and Moran (1837-1926) capture romanticized views of Niagara Falls, the Hudson River valley, the Adirondacks, the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone and Yosemite, among others. The artists’ works, which were disseminated through exhibitions, reproductions, popular journals, illustrated publications and guidebooks, piqued national interest in these regions and contributed to a burgeoning tourist industry. The exhibition explores such themes as: the pastoral ideal, particularly Homer’s glorification of rural life through depictions of bucolic fantasy; the role of Moran and other artists in the promotion of Western tourism through the creation of iconic images of natural wonders such as the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone; and the contradictory nature of scenic tourism, whereby overdevelopment of rural mountain and seashore retreats challenged the pristine landscape that Americans purportedly prized.