American Impressionism: An Arcadian Vision, Paintings from the Akron Art Museum examines American art at the end of the nineteenth century, when many American artists retreated from the realities of the early modern era - with its burgeoning industry and crowded cities - and envisioned instead an American Eden. They painted tranquil landscapes and dreamy portraits of women, aiming to fulfill the widely held belief that art should delight the senses and elevate the spirit.

American artists and collectors at the turn of the last century believed Europe to be the standard of cultural achievement. Nearly every artist featured in this exhibition traveled to Europe for instruction and inspiration. Painters,such as Childe Hassam and Frederick Frieseke, were influenced by impressionistic techniques, and employed strokes of bold color to capture the play of sun and wind. Other American landscapists drew inspiration from the Barbizon painters, a group of French artists who lived and worked in a rural community outside of Paris. Artists, such as Dwight W. Tryon and George Inness, sought to express mood and subjective feelings in their paintings through a limited range of colors.

The exhibition features 35 first-class paintings from the collection of the Akron Art Museum including works by such important painters as Ralph Blakelock, William Merritt Chase, Thomas Wilmer Dewing, Frederick Frieseke, Childe Hassam, William Morris Hunt, George Innes, Willard Metcalf, Elihu Vedder and Julian Weir.

Discussion