The Bruce Museum presents Telling American History: Realism from the Print Collection of Dr. Dorrance T. Kelly an exhibition on view August 31, 2013 – December 1, 2013, highlighting the work of nine American artists who at the beginning of the twentieth century were inspired by the world around them to realistically depict everyday scenes.
The show features more than 40 original fine art prints including lithographs and etchings that chronicle daily life – the bustle of urban streets, boisterous moments of leisure, modern modes of transportation, and bucolic rural images – by leading artists who approached their subject matter through the lens of realism: George Bellows (1882-1925), Thomas Hart Benton (1889-1975), Edward Hopper (1882-1967), Martin Lewis (1881-1962), Reginald Marsh (1898-1954), John Sloan (1871-1951), Benton Murdoch Spruance (1904-1967), Stow Wengenroth (1906-1978), and Grant Wood (1891-1942).
The artworks present visitors with a snapshot of America from 1905 through 1967. Set amid a backdrop of events such as World War I, the Great Depression, New Deal programs, and World War II, the country was experiencing changes in its cultural, geographic, and demographic nature. The nation experienced a great upheaval as citizens and immigrants alike flocked to urban areas in hopes of greater economic prospects. At the same time, advances in technology and transportation were transforming rural regions.
Telling American History: Realism from the Print Collection of Dr. Dorrance T. Kelly is the third show in the past three years that the Bruce Museum has organized from the collection Dr. Kelly, whose holdings include European prints from the 15th through 19th centuries and American prints from the 19th and 20th centuries.
For additional information, call the Bruce Museum at (203) 869-0376 or visit the website at www.brucemuseum.org