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Man And Nature Coexist At The Newman
  
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By John P. Connolly, The Bulletin
Newman Galleries in Center City announced a February exhibition of 19th century American and European paintings last week, showcasing artists such as James Buttersworth, John Frederick Peto, George Inness, Colin Campbell Cooper and Robert Street.
The 19th century was a changing time for art, when groups begin to splinter and artists began to truly follow their own intuitions for expression. This collection contains some rich landscapes of the American Northeast, prominently featuring the Hudson and Delaware rivers.
While many of the European paintings in the collection are darker, interior images or portraits, the American artists explode in verdant landscapes filled with soft color.
Greens, oranges and browns combine to display vast landscapes of a nation still in love with the mysteries of its land. Towering trees dominate the foregrounds, and expansive skies extend outward to distant mountains, rivers and fields.
The paintings in this collection offer a snapshot of American life in the 19th century, a life that was lived primarily outdoors, but that still retained the romance of a new continent.
The turning point of the gallery is the human element: In every landscape, no matter large or majestic, there is a trace of man. Native Americans rest near a towering waterfall, an abandoned mill offsets the rushing river, and two dwarfed human figures walk in the shade of expansive beech trees.
The 19th century paintings provide the viewer with an insight into an art world — and a physical world — in change.
While artists blended classical and romantic elements into their paintings, they captured the spirit of a land where farms, towns and railroads shared space with pristine natural treasures.
The exhibition will remain on view through the end of February. The hours for the gallery are 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday; and 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Saturday.
John P. Connolly can be reached at jconnolly@thebulletin.us
The 19th century was a changing time for art, when groups begin to splinter and artists began to truly follow their own intuitions for expression. This collection contains some rich landscapes of the American Northeast, prominently featuring the Hudson and Delaware rivers.
While many of the European paintings in the collection are darker, interior images or portraits, the American artists explode in verdant landscapes filled with soft color.
Greens, oranges and browns combine to display vast landscapes of a nation still in love with the mysteries of its land. Towering trees dominate the foregrounds, and expansive skies extend outward to distant mountains, rivers and fields.
The paintings in this collection offer a snapshot of American life in the 19th century, a life that was lived primarily outdoors, but that still retained the romance of a new continent.
The turning point of the gallery is the human element: In every landscape, no matter large or majestic, there is a trace of man. Native Americans rest near a towering waterfall, an abandoned mill offsets the rushing river, and two dwarfed human figures walk in the shade of expansive beech trees.
The 19th century paintings provide the viewer with an insight into an art world — and a physical world — in change.
While artists blended classical and romantic elements into their paintings, they captured the spirit of a land where farms, towns and railroads shared space with pristine natural treasures.
The exhibition will remain on view through the end of February. The hours for the gallery are 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday; and 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Saturday.
John P. Connolly can be reached at jconnolly@thebulletin.us
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