USA Naturalism
Robert Adams is an acclaimed American photographer known for his profound exploration of the American West's changing landscapes. His work, which gained prominence in the mid-1970s, delves into the tension between the natural beauty of the land and the marks of human encroachment. Adams's photography is a reflection on humanity's relationship with the environment, offering both a critique and a celebration of the landscape.
Robert Adams's notable series, such as "Turning Back" and "The New West," showcase his unique perspective on environmental and urban development issues. His work extends beyond just capturing images; it is a thoughtful commentary on the balance between nature and industrialization. His photographs, often devoid of people, focus on the land itself, telling a story of alteration and resilience.
Exhibitions of Adams's work, such as "American Silence: The Photographs of Robert Adams" at the National Gallery of Art, provide insight into his 50-year career and his ability to capture the silent yet profound narratives of the American landscape. His pieces are part of major collections and have been featured in numerous retrospectives, underlining his influence and significance in the world of photography.
For art collectors and enthusiasts, Robert Adams's work offers a poignant perspective on the American West, blending aesthetic beauty with critical environmental commentary. Engaging with his work invites reflection on our interaction with the landscape and our role in shaping the environment.
If you're interested in staying updated on Robert Adams's work and exhibitions, consider subscribing to newsletters from galleries and museums that feature his art. This way, you'll be informed about new displays of his work and opportunities to engage with his insightful perspectives on the American West.
John James Audubon was a French-American ornithologist and painter, renowned for his groundbreaking illustrations of American birds. Born in 1785 in Les Cayes, Saint-Domingue (now Haiti), Audubon is remembered for his keen observation skills and innovative artistic techniques.
Audubon's most famous work, "The Birds of America," transformed the field of ornithology by presenting birds in lifelike poses and detailed backgrounds. Published between 1827 and 1838, it contained 435 hand-colored engravings, showcasing over 489 bird species. His unique approach to illustrating birds in their natural habitats was a departure from traditional methods, which often portrayed birds in rigid poses.
Audubon used a wire armature to position freshly-killed specimens, allowing him to depict birds with a sense of movement and vitality. This innovative technique was truly revolutionary and set him apart from his contemporaries. Additionally, Audubon's artistic skill and attention to detail made his illustrations highly sought after, with surviving copies of "The Birds of America" considered valuable collectibles today.
For art collectors and enthusiasts, Audubon's work continues to be a source of inspiration and admiration. His legacy endures through his contributions to ornithology and the art world, with museums and galleries showcasing his work. If you're interested in learning more about John James Audubon and his famous illustrations, consider subscribing to our newsletter for updates on new product sales and auction events related to his work.
Thomas Birch was an English-born American portrait and marine painter.
He exhibited regularly at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts for forty years, beginning in 1811, and managed the museum, 1812-1817. His work is collected at PAFA, the Library Company of Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the U.S. Naval Academy, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, among others. In 1833, he was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Honorary member.
Alfred Thompson Bricher was a painter associated with White Mountain art and the Hudson River School.
In the 1870s, he primarily did maritime themed paintings, with attention to watercolor paintings of landscape, marine, and coastwise scenery. He often spent summers in Grand Manan, where he produced such notable works as Morning at Grand Manan (1878). In 1879, Bricher was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Associate member.
Charles Courtney Curran is an American impressionist painter.
He was educated at the National Academy of Design (New York), then studied at the Académie Julian in Paris.
Curran is known for his romantic depictions of young women in nature, where they are walking, playing sports or just admiring flowers. The artist also painted plein air, experimenting with a variety of artistic styles, including Impressionism, Symbolism, Tonalism and Naturalism.
Walton Ford is an American artist. He is known for his large-scale, highly detailed paintings that depict natural history subjects and explore the relationships between humans and animals.
Ford studied at the Rhode Island School of Design and later from Yale University. His work is inspired by the tradition of natural history painting, but he subverts this tradition by using his paintings to critique colonialism, environmental degradation, and the ways in which humans have interacted with the natural world.
Ford's paintings are highly detailed and often include multiple narratives within a single image. He uses a combination of watercolor, gouache, and ink to create his large-scale works, which can be several feet in height and width. His paintings are also highly stylized, featuring elements of graphic design and pop culture.
Ford has exhibited his work extensively, including at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the Hamburger Bahnhof Museum in Berlin, and the Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature in Paris. His work is also held in the collections of several major museums, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C.
Herbert Chevalier Haseltine was an Italian-born French/American animalier sculptor, most known as an Equestrian sculptor.
He replicated many of his large works in table-top sizes. The author of a number of books on animalier art, Haseltine was well connected in American upper class society and did a three-year project to create a work for heiress Barbara Hutton. This project included two horses heads which were gilded bronze, with precious and semi precious stones. After her death the heads disappeared and resurfaced a few years ago at an auction in New York.
Martin Johnson Heade was an American painter known for his salt marsh landscapes, seascapes, and depictions of tropical birds (such as hummingbirds), as well as lotus blossoms and other still lifes. His painting style and subject matter, while derived from the romanticism of the time, are regarded by art historians as a significant departure from those of his peers.
Winslow Homer was an American landscape painter and printmaker, renowned for his mastery of marine subjects and considered a preeminent figure in 19th-century American art. Born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1836, Homer was largely self-taught, starting his career as a commercial illustrator before venturing into oil painting and watercolors.
Homer's art evolved significantly over his lifetime. During the American Civil War, he worked as a correspondent, creating sketches that conveyed both the immediacy and the human cost of the war. This experience deeply influenced his later work, particularly his powerful oil paintings depicting war and its aftermath. After the war, Homer's focus shifted towards scenes of nature and rural America, reflecting a national nostalgia for simpler times. His works from this period, such as "The Cotton Pickers" and "Snap the Whip," showcase his ability to capture everyday life with poignant realism and emotional depth.
Later in his career, Homer became renowned for his watercolors and seascapes, such as "Breezing Up (A Fair Wind)" and "The Gulf Stream," which are celebrated for their dynamic composition and vivid portrayal of human interaction with nature. His late seascapes, which often depicted the rugged coastlines of Maine, are particularly noted for their dramatic intensity and hint at modernist abstraction, capturing the formidable power and timeless beauty of the sea.
Homer's works are held in high regard and continue to be featured in major museums and galleries, providing inspiration and insight into the American experience of the 19th century.
For those interested in the works of Winslow Homer and the impact of his art, you can sign up for updates related to new product sales and auction events featuring his work. This will keep you informed on opportunities to engage more deeply with Homer's enduring legacy.
Anna Vaughn Hyatt Huntington was an American sculptor who was among New York City's most prominent sculptors in the early 20th century. At a time when very few women were successful artists, she had a thriving career. Hyatt Huntington exhibited often, traveled widely, received critical acclaim at home and abroad, and won multiple awards and commissions.
During the first two decades of the 20th century, Hyatt Huntington became famous for her animal sculptures, which combine vivid emotional depth with skillful realism. In 1915, she created the first public monument by a woman to be erected in New York City. Her Joan of Arc, located on Riverside Drive at 93rd Street, is the city's first monument dedicated to a historical woman.
Antonio Nicolo Gasparo Jacobsen was a Danish-born American maritime artist known as the "Audubon of Steam Vessels".
The public rooms of The Griswold Inn in Essex, Connecticut, the oldest continuously run tavern in the United States, features the largest privately held collection of Jacobsen's paintings.
George Cochran Lambdin was an American Victorian artist, best known for his paintings of flowers.
He was elected to the National Academy of Design in 1868, and was an academician of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
Gilbert Munger was a late 19th-century American landscape painter whose romantic yet topographically accurate landscapes helped to introduce the newly opened West to the American public.
Munger's work is in the collections of numerous regional American museums as well as museums in Paris, Berlin, Munich, and Weimar. The largest collection is at the Tweed Museum of Art, University of Minnesota Duluth. His artwork is also featured in the Utah Museum of Fine Arts collection.
Sarah Miriam Peale was an American portrait painter, considered the first American woman to succeed as a professional artist. One of a family of artists of whom her uncle Charles Willson Peale was the most illustrious, Sarah Peale painted portraits mainly of Maryland, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C. notables, politicians, and military figures. Lafayette sat for her four times.
Titian Ramsay Peale was an American artist, naturalist, and explorer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was a scientific illustrator whose paintings and drawings of wildlife are known for their beauty and accuracy.
Peale was a member of several high-profile scientific expeditions. In 1819-1820, he and Thomas Say accompanied Stephen Harriman Long on an expedition to the Rocky Mountains. He was also a member of the United States Exploring Expedition (1838-1842).
Starting around 1855 Peale became an enthusiastic amateur photographer. Many of his photographs featured buildings and landscapes in and around Washington D.C. He joined a local club with other amateur photographers and participated in field trips, photo exchanges and contests. By the end of the Civil War, his interest in photography waned and he only occasionally took pictures.
Charles Ethan Porter was an American painter who specialized in still life painting. A student at the National Academy of Design in New York City, he was one of the first African Americans to exhibit there. He was the only African-American artist at the turn of the century who painted in still life.
Severin Roesen was a Prussian-American painter known for his abundant fruit and flower still lifes, and is today recognized as one of the major American painters in that genre from the nineteenth century.
While Roesen's paintings reveal a meticulous attention to detail in their precise arrangements and close brushwork, his subject matter, even down to specific motifs, did not change throughout his career. Sometimes he made near-identical copies of paintings, but usually he merely rearranged and reassembled stock elements.
Carl Clemens Moritz Rungius was a leading American wildlife artist. He was born in Germany though he immigrated to the United States and he spent his career painting in the western United States and Canada. Active primarily in the first half of the 20th century, he earned a reputation as the most important big game painter and the first career wildlife artist in North America.
Rungius was an avid sportsman, and spent more time in the wilderness than other artists. By direct observation in nature, he was able to gain an exceptional insight into the animals and their environment. Rungius painted both landscapes and wildlife, often with both into a single picture. He situated animals in their natural environment, a practice that was new to painting in early twentieth century North America. His paintings are highly romanticized, and represent an Eden-like world without any signs of a human impact.
Among other places, his works are featured at the American National Museum of Wildlife Art (which has the largest public collection of Rungius work), the Dutch Rijksmuseum Twenthe, and Calgary's Glenbow Museum. His work was also part of the painting event in the art competition at the 1928 Summer Olympics.
Bruce Weber is an American fashion photographer and occasional filmmaker. He has made ad campaigns for Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Pirelli, Abercrombie & Fitch, Revlon, and Gianni Versace, and made work for Vogue, GQ, Vanity Fair, Elle, Life, Interview, and Rolling Stone magazines.