For centuries, American artists have traveled to Paris and visited the Louvre, often setting up their easels in the galleries to paint copies of its masterworks. This exhibition and its accompanying publication offered the first in-depth consideration of the role of the Louvre—the hub of artistic Paris—within a richly textured account of Americans in France. A headlining exhibition in the Musée du Louvre’s 2006 program “American Summer at the Louvre,” American Artists at the Louvre explored the important role played by the Louvre and its collection in the development of American art from the mid-eighteenth to the early twentieth century, showcasing treasures from the collection of the Terra Foundation for American Art and loans from other American museums. The artworks presented in American Artists and the Louvre demonstrated the myriad associations between the renowned art museum and American art and underscore the complexity of the longstanding Franco-American artistic conversation. Moreover, American Artists and the Louvre also showed how influence is a two-way street, as early American artists and their work provided inspiration and stimulus for French art and culture.
Dates & Venue
June 14–September 18, 2006
Musée du Louvre, Paris, France
Works of Art from the Terra Foundation Collection
- Thomas Hart Benton, Slaves, 1925
- Childe Hassam, Une Averse—rue Bonaparte, 1887
- Edward Hopper, Dawn in Pennsylvania, 1942
- Walt Kuhn, Clown with Drum, 1942
- Samuel F. B. Morse, Gallery of the Louvre, 1831-33
- Maurice Brazil Prendergast, Salem Willows, 1904
Publication
Kennedy, Elizabeth and Oliver Meslay, eds. American Artists and the Louvre. Chicago: Terra Foundation for American Art; Paris: Éditions Hazan; Paris: Musée du Louvre Éditions, 2006.
Related Content
Press release: American Artists and the Louvre, Musée du Louvre, Paris, France
