The Studio of Nature, 1860–1910. The Terra Collection in Context Context (L’atelier de la nature, 1860–1910. Invitation à la collection Terra) explored the depiction of landscape by American artists over a fifty-year period. Through a selection of 62 paintings and prints from the Terra Foundation collection, and important loans from public collections in Paris, this exhibition traced the evolution of landscape through five chronological sections. The relationship between landscape photography and painting was explored in the first gallery, followed by the radical re-invention of landscape by Whistler and the poetic landscapes of the 1880s. The exhibition closed with the brightly colored impressionism of Giverny and the myriad approaches to nature by artists working on the eastern coast of the United States during the early twentieth century.
Between 1860 and 1910, the representation of landscape by American artists evolved constantly, from meticulous imitation to subjective expressivity, from panoramas to more intimate scenes. The exhibition raised questions about several themes, such as artistic influence, national identity, and the relationship between humans and nature.
The Studio of Nature, 1860–1910: The Terra Collection in Context was co-organized by the Musée des impressionnisme Giverny and the Terra Foundation for American Art. Alongside archival material, the exhibition assembled 89 paintings, prints, and photographs, including 62 works from the Terra Foundation collection and works from the collections of the Musée des impressionnisme Giverny, the Musée d’Orsay, the Bibliothèque nationale de France, and the Société de Géographie, Paris.
Co-organized by Musée des impressionnisme Giverny and the Terra Foundation for American Art.
September 12, 2020–January 3, 2021
Musée des impressionnismes Giverny, France
James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Nocturne (The River at Battersea), 1878. Lithotint on blue-gray paper laid down on ivory plate paper, image: 6 3/4 x 10 1/4 in. (17.1 x 26.0 cm), sheet: 13 1/8 x 15 5/8 in. (33.3 x 39.7 cm), mat: 16 x 20 in. (40.6 x 50.8 cm), Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection, 1994.7.
George Bellows, The Palisades, 1909. Oil on canvas, image: 30 x 38 1/8 in. (76.2 x 96.8 cm), frame: 38 1/2 x 46 7/16 in. (97.8 x 118.0 cm), Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection, 1999.10.
Dennis Miller Bunker, Brittany Town Morning, Larmor, 1884. Oil on canvas, image: 14 x 22 in. (36.6 x 55.9 cm), frame: 25 x 33 1/8 in. (63.5 x 84.1 cm), Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Art Acquisition Endowment Fund, 1991.1.
Sanford Robinson Gifford, Hunter Mountain, Twilight, 1866. Oil on canvas, image: 30 5/8 x 54 1/8 in. (77.8 x 137.5 cm), frame: 44 1/2 x 68 3/16 x 5 in. (113 x 173.2 x 12.7 cm). Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection, 1999.57.
John Leslie Breck, Studies of an Autumn Day, 1891. Oil on canvas, image: 12 7/8 x 16 3/16 in. (32.7 x 41.1 cm), frame: 16 1/2 x 19 9/16 in. (41.9 x 49.7 cm), Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection, 1989.4.2.
Martin Johnson Heade, Newburyport Marshes: Approaching Storm, c. 1871. Oil on canvas, image: 15 1/4 × 30 1/8 in. (38.7 × 76.5 cm), frame: 26 × 41 1/8 × 5 1/4 in. (66 × 104.5 × 13.3 cm), Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection, 1999.68.
Bourguignon, Katherine, Cyrille Sciama, and Pierre Wat. L’atelier de la Nature, 1860-1910. Invitation à la Terra Collection. Paris: RMN and Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny, 2020.
