Sublime Landscapes is organized by Phoenix Art Museum. It is made possible through the generosity of the Henry Luce Foundation, with additional support from the Museum’s Circles of Support and Museum Members.
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
Spurred by the artists from the North East who comprised the Hudson River School, landscape painting became one of the most popular subjects in 19th-century America. Settlers moved westward due to Manifest Destiny, a Christian belief that territorial expansion was inevitable and pre-ordained. Painters were also part of government initiatives to survey the vast region, particularly in regards to potential railroad routes and to learn about the Indigenous populations they encountered.
IMAGE CREDIT
Maynard Dixon, Home of the Desert Rat (Hogar de la rata del desierto), 1944-1945. Oil on canvas. Bequest of Leon H. Woolsey.
Other artists sought landscape subjects beyond the continental United States, some traveling to the Arctic where they found immense icebergs and the Aurora Borealis. Artists visited equatorial South America where they encountered sublime vistas and smoldering volcanos, and the Amazon and the Andes served as significant sources of inspiration as well.
Sublime Landscapes celebrates this tradition of landscape painting with works drawn exclusively from the American art collection of Phoenix Art Museum.
IMAGE CREDIT
John Mix Stanley, Chain of Spires Along the Gila River (Cadena de chapiteles a lo largo del río Gila), 1855. Oil on canvas. Museum purchase.
EXHIBITION SPONSORS
FEATURED WORKS IN THE COLLECTION
El Capitan and Bridal Veil Falls, Yosemite Valley (El Capitán y el salto “Bridalveil”, Valle de Yosemite)
Thomas Hill, American, born in England, 1829 - 1908, not dated, painting, oil on canvas, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John B. Mills, by exchange
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Chain of Spires Along the Gila River (Cadena de chapiteles a lo largo del río Gila)
John Mix Stanley, American, 1814 - 1872, 1855, painting, oil on canvas, Museum purchase
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Home of the Desert Rat (Hogar de la rata del desierto)
Maynard Dixon, American, 1875 - 1946, 1944-1945, painting, oil on canvas, Bequest of Leon H. Woolsey
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On view for a limited time, exhibitions present art from across the centuries and the globe, from iconic fashion to Old Master paintings, contemporary photography to historical objects of Asia.
MORECOLLECTIONS
Featuring more than 20,000 objects, the collection spans the globe, bringing the world to our city, and our city to the world.
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