Terra Collection Initiative: America: Painting a Nation


Adapted from Art Across America, a survey of American historical art that toured South Korea in 2013, and tailored to a specifically Australian audience, America: Painting a Nation was the first major survey of American art presented in an Australian museum. Narrating the breadth of American art and cultural history through landscape, portrait, genre, and still-life paintings, the exhibition showcased the cultural and topographical diversity of the United States. Major works by John Singleton Copley, Thomas Cole, Winslow Homer, Thomas Moran, Mary Cassatt, John Singer Sargent, Georgia O’Keeffe, Arthur Dove, Marsden Hartley, Thomas Hart Benton, Edward Hopper, and Jackson Pollock among others illuminated dynamic connections between American art and national identity during a historical period in the nation’s development with which Australians are largely unfamiliar. The exhibition was accompanied by a full-color catalogue of thematic essays and an extensive range of educational programs for various audiences.

Dates & Venue

November 8, 2013–February 2, 2014
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Works of Art from the Terra Foundation Collection

Publication

McAuliffe, Chris, and Angela L. Miller. America: Painting a Nation. Sydney: Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2013.

Related Content

Lecture series: “The American way of art,” Art Gallery of New South Wales


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