What IS American Art? Is it an 18th century portrait that captures the pride of a citizen in the newly formed United States? Is it a magnificent landscape that presents a stunning vista of the American West? Perhaps it is a lavish still life that flaunts the wealth of the Gilded Age, or an abstract composition that challenges the eye to dance with it across the canvas.

American art is all of this and much more: a rich and varied visual expression of America’s history and the people and ideas that shaped it. The works represented in American Art at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts are just a small sampling of the museum’s collection of our nation’s creative heritage. A close and careful look may reveal aspects of the American Experience that will surprise you.

This educational exhibition presents a wide variety of American artists ranging from Charles Willson Peale to Eastman Johnson to Mary Cassatt to Georgia O’Keeffe to Stuart Davis. The works are selected from the permanent collections at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. The twelve photographic reproductions plus text panel and wall labels are easy to hang. While this exhibition is perfect for K-12 students, anyone interested in art history and United States history will find the diversity of works fascinating.

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts has a variety of exhibitions available for statewide travel. For additional information on VMFA and its statewide resources, please phone 804.204.2681.

LIMITED Security
Loan Period: 4 to 6 Weeks
Fee: Free

Code Number: GA-107
Panel sizes: Varies up to 16″ X 20″
Running Feet: 21′
Boxed weight: 60 lbs.

MEDIA RESOURCES

DVDs:
Against the Odds
American Time Capsule & The Sixties
Andrew Wyeth Self-Portrait: Snow Hill
Andy Warhol: The Complete Picture
Ansel Adams
Art of Romare Bearden
Betye and Alison Saar: Conjure Women of the Arts
Chuck Close: Portrait in Progress
Chuck Close: Close Up
Ed Ruscha: Four Decades
Edward Hopper
Ellsworth Kelly: Fragments
Faith Ringgold: The Last Story Quilt
Faith Ringgold Paints Crown Heights
George Caleb Bingham
Horace Pippin: There Will Be Peace
Jacob Lawrence: The Glory of Expression
Kiki Smith: Squatting the Palace
Life and Art of William H. Johnson
Mary Cassatt: A Brush with Independence
The Natural Palette: The Hudson River Artists and the Land
Painters Painting
Red Grooms: Sculptopicturamatist
Romare Bearden: Visual Jazz
Rothko: An Abstract Humanist
Roy Lichtenstein: Reflections
Sol Lewitt: Four Decades
Thomas Eakins: Scenes from Modern Life
Wayne Thiebaud: Line

VHS Cassettes:
American Visions series
Ben Shahn: A Passion for Justice
George Segal: American Still Life
The Hudson River and its Painters
John Singer Sargent
The Landscapes of Frederick Edwin Church
Norman Rockwell
Thomas Hart Benton’s Missouri

Educator Resource Kits:
Art by African-American Artists: Selections from the Twentieth-Century
20th Century Art

Virginia emerged from the American Revolution battle-scarred and debt-ridden. Tidewater planters could no longer afford to construct many fine buildings, as they had done in the decades before. Population and power began to shift toward the central and western areas of the state, a movement symbolized by the transfer of Virginia’s capital inland, from Williamsburg to Richmond, in 1780.

Even before the Revolution, Thomas Jefferson had begun an elegant plantation house on his estate at Monticello in Albemarle County, inspired by architectural designs from Italian and English books in his vast reference library. In 1785, Jefferson was asked to design a capital building for Virginia’s new center of government in Richmond. His design, based on the famous Maison Carrée, a Roman temple in France, inaugurated the Roman Neoclassical style in America.

Alongside this monumental, Roman-inspired architecture, many Virginia structures of the late 18th century were built in the simpler Federal style. By the 1820s, however, the stately Neoclassical style was favored for most important houses and public buildings. European archaeologists and writers had created a taste for the styles of ancient Greece, and so a Greek Revival grew alongside the Roman style favored by Jefferson. This exhibition presents photographs and descriptions of 24 significant examples of Virginia architecture, built primarily between 1780 and 1861. The text is based on Architecture in Virginia, a popular guidebook by Virginia architectural historian William B. O’Neal.

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts has a variety of exhibitions available for statewide travel. For additional information on VMFA and its statewide resources, please phone 804.204.2681.

LIMITED Security
Loan Period: 4 to 6 Weeks
Fee: Free

Code Number: AF-12
Framed Size: 18″ x 22″
Running Feet: 43′
Boxed Weight: #1, 118 pounds; #2, 113 pounds

To supplement the exhibition, we recommend the following related resources available through the Statewide Program. For more information or to schedule a speaker, workshop or media resource, call 804.204.2681or email edpartner@vmfa.museum.

MEDIA RESOURCES

VHS Cassettes:
New World Visions II
Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello

What can the visual arts tell us about an individual or community? This exhibition explores the concept of identity in traditional African art and culture by focusing on objects that speak to various roles and personal status within a society. Featuring twelve high-quality photographic reproductions of objects in VMFA’s African collection, this display exposes the union between art and life in Africa.
The images chosen for this exhibition vary in medium, size, function, geographic region, and cultural group, demonstrating the diversity that exists on the vast continent of Africa. “I Am: Identity in African Art” characterizes the expanse of VMFA’s African collection, which spans 2,000 years and represents over 100 different cultures.

This exhibition is well suited for a wide variety of audiences including K-12 students. Students and adults alike will benefit from exploring the exhibition’s objects and themes, which speak to the joys and struggles of daily life. Viewers will encounter works that deal with agriculture, environment, leadership, spirituality, and important life stages.

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts has a variety of exhibitions available for statewide travel. For additional information on VMFA and its statewide resources, please phone 804.204.2681.
LIMITED Security
Loan Period: 4 to 6 Weeks
Fee: Free

Code Number: GA-114
Framed Size: 16″ x 20″
Approx Running Feet: 19
Approx Boxed Weight: 70 lbs.

This fascinating educational exhibition examines how the new colony in Virginia fit into the cultural, historical, and geographical context of the day — and how the story of Jamestown has continued to inspire American artists. Twelve reproductions of images from VMFA’s collection combine with explanatory text and an introductory panel to illustrate the connections between the struggling colony and the world of 1607.

At the dawn of the 17th century, exchanges of plants and animals were changing the diet of both of the world’s hemispheres. New diseases and technologies were crossing the Atlantic. Political and religious ideas and concepts were transforming societies. Economic fluctuations had worldwide effects, vast populations were relocated, and the first truly international wars were fought. These critical developments are accentuated through images as diverse as a glittering Spanish ewer and basin, portraits of Sir Thomas Dale and Queen Anne of Denmark, and the haunting image of Mount Fuji rising above the Musashino plain.

This Virginia SOL-related exhibition also reveals how the legacy of Jamestown has continued to affect art and culture in the last four hundred years through paintings by John Gadsby Chapman, Richard Norris Brooke, Thomas Hart Benton, and a sculpture by Augustus Saint-Gaudens.

Jamestown and Beyond: The World of 1607 is one of many Educational Exhibitions organized by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts for statewide travel and is supported by Jamestown 2007. For additional information on VMFA and its statewide resources, phone 804.204.2681.

LIMITED Security
Loan Period: 4 to 6 Weeks

Fee: Free

Code Number: GA-100
Framed Size: 22″ x 30″
Running Feet: 30′
Boxed Weight: 90 lbs.

For more information or to schedule a speaker, workshop or media resource, call 804.204.2681or email edpartner@vmfa.museum.

Portraits reveal much about the history and culture of the people portrayed. They can tell us who they were, how they lived, and what they thought about themselves. This exhibition focuses on the work of eleven 19th-century French painters who worked during the first era in which photography was used as a portrait medium. The twelve photographic reproductions of paintings from the VMFA Mellon Collection offer the viewer an opportunity to explore the ways in which these artists broke with tradition by depicting real people as they existed in the contemporary world.

From Gustave Courbet’s robust, realistic painting of Gustave Chaudey, Impressionist portraits by Edgar Degas and Berthe Morisot, to Paul Cézanne’s emotionally intense portrait of Victor Chocquet and Picasso’s Jester on Horsebackfrom his Rose Period, these artists created images of real people filtered through their unique artistic styles. While this exhibition is SOL-based and perfect for K-12 students, anyone interested in 19th-century French portraiture will find this colorful range of works fascinating.

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts has a variety of exhibitions available for statewide travel. For additional information on VMFA and its statewide resources call 804.204.2681.

LIMITED Security
Loan Period: 4 to 6 Weeks
Fee: Free

Code Number: GA-112
Size of panels: Varying up to 16” X 20”
Running Feet: Approx.20′
Boxed weight: 60 lbs.

To supplement the exhibition, we recommend the following related resources available through the Statewide Program. For more information or to schedule a speaker, workshop or media resource, call 804.204.2681or email edpartner@vmfa.museum.

MEDIA RESOURCES

DVDs:
Claude Monet
Courbet
Degas
Degas and the Dance
Edgar Degas
From Monet to Van Gogh: A History of Impressionism
Impressionist Paintings
The Impressionist Surface
Little Dancer Aged 14
Monet
The Mystery of Picasso
Paris 1900
Paul Cezanne
Picasso: The Man and His Work Pts. 1&2
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Portrait Drawing
Portraits: People
Renoir
13 Beautiful People: Filmed Portraits by Andy Warhol

VHS Cassettes:
Degas: Beyond Impressionism
Impression: Painting Quickly
Impressionists on the Seine
What is Impressionism?

The nineteenth-century painter George Catlin (1796-1872) recorded the appearance and customs of Native Americans for his generation and for posterity. Beginning in 1830, Catlin made numerous trips to the American West to document the “natural liberty and independence” of a disappearing culture. He often presented Native Americans in formal poses prevalent in portraits of the period. They were presented as proof of the commonalties among all people. The nine illustrations in this exhibition are taken from two editions of James Cowles Prichard’s The Natural History of Man. The prints are hand-colored etchings printed on time-toned paper. This exhibition is supported by the Paul Mellon Endowment, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts has a variety of exhibitions available for statewide travel. For additional information on VMFA and its statewide resources, please phone 804.204.2681.

LIMITED Security
Loan Period: 4 to 6 Weeks
Fee: Free

Code Number: GA-93
Framed Size: 16″ x 20″
Running Feet: 14′
Boxed Weight: 105 lbs.

To supplement the exhibition, we recommend the following related resources available through the Statewide Program. For more information or to schedule a speaker, workshop or media resource, call 804.204.2681or email edpartner@vmfa.museum.

Speakers on the Arts:
(Mis)Perceptions: Truth, Purpose, and Beauty in American Indian Art with Barbara Rothermel
The World of George Catlin with Jeffrey W. Allison

Teacher Workshops:
American Myths of the Wild West

What’s new on Jamestown Island? Archaeologists from the Jamestown Rediscovery project at Historic Jamestowne are uncovering James Fort’s oldest artifacts, and creating a revised picture of life in the first permanent English settlement in America! This limited security exhibition is perfect for schools, libraries, and art centers.

The exhibition’s 12 panels paint a vivid picture of the struggles of the early colonists, while illustrating critical processes of historical archaeology. Research, images, text, and support materials are being developed with the guidance of Tonia Deetz Rock, Statewide Educational Coordinator for the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities (APVA).

Are you looking for ways to generate enthusiasm for SOL-related Virginia history, science, and math? Book this exhibition!

LIMITED Security
Loan Period: 4 to 6 Weeks
Fee: Free

Code Number: GA-99
Panels Size: 22″ x 30″
Running Feet: 26′
Boxed Weight: 130 lbs.

Programming Recommendations
To supplement the exhibition, we recommend the following related resources available through the Statewide Program. For more information or to schedule a speaker, workshop or media resource, call 804.204.2681or email edpartner@vmfa.museum.

Media Resources
DVD:
Life After Île Ste-Croix

Videotapes:
An Englishman’s Home #s: 1. Arundel Castle; 2. Goodwood House; 4. Wilton
The Real Story of Jamestown
The Royal Collection #s: 1. The Collectors; 2. The Kingdom of Nature; 3. Private View; 4. Sword and Scepter; 5. The Genius of Italy; 6. The Regal Image
Sister Wendy’s Story of Painting #3 Baroque to Romanticism

CD-ROMs:
English Architecture
Life in Tudor Times

The word “Impressionism” makes most people think of beautiful, sunlit paintings of the French countryside, glorious gardens and lily ponds, and fashionable Parisians enjoining life in charming cafes. But in 1874, when the men and women who came to be known as the Impressionists first exhibited their work, it was considered shocking and outrageous by all but the most to forward-thinking viewers. Why did these young artists cause such an uproar?

The exhibition and its accompanying classroom educational guide show how their radical ideas, techniques, and subjects broke time-honored rules and traditions of art in late 19th-century France. The exhibitions features twelve large-scale photo reproductions of works from the VMFA collection. Paintings by Eugène Boudin, Paul Cezanne, Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, Berthe Morisot, Pierre August Renoir, Alfred Sisley, and Vincent van Gogh are contrasted with an earlier, more traditional style as examplified by Nicholas Poussin.

The classroom educational guide, Outside and Out of the Box: A Guide to Impressionism, accompanies the exhibition and provides educators with lesson plans, additional background information, and six posters to use in the classroom. While this exhibition is SOL-based and perfect for K-12 students, anyone interested in the art of the Impressionists will enjoy the selection of works. The creation and distribution of this exhibition is supported by the Paul Mellon Fund.

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts has a variety of exhibitions available for statewide travel. For additional information on VMFA and its statewide resources, please phone 804.204.2681 or e-mail edpartner@vmfa.museum

LIMITED Security
Loan Period: 4 to 6 Weeks
Fee: Free

Code Number: GA-110
Size of panels: 16” X 20”
Running Feet: Approx. 20′

To supplement the exhibition, the following related resources available through the Statewide Partnership Program are recommended. For more information or to schedule a speaker, workshop or media resource, call 804.204.2681or email edpartner@vmfa.museum.

Teacher Workshops: They All Came to Paris: An American Fascination

MEDIA RESOURCES

DVDs:
Cezanne in Provence
Claude Monet
Degas
Degas and the Dance
Edgar Degas
Edouard Manet
From Monet to Van Gogh: A History of Impressionism
Henri Toulouse-Lautrec
Impressionist Paintings
The Impressionist Surface
Linnea in Monet’s Garden
Little Dancer Aged 14
Manet
Mary Cassatt: A Brush with Independence
Monet
Paris 1900
Paul Cezanne
Paul Gauguin
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Pisarro
Renoir
Seurat
Toulouse-Lautrec and Montmartre
Vincent Van Gogh

VHS Cassettes:
American Impressionists and Realists
A Day in the Country
Degas: Beyond Impressionism
Impression: Painting Quickly
Impressionists on the Seine
In a Brilliant Light: Van Gogh
In Open Air: American Impressionists
Monet’s Garden at Giverny
Van Gogh: A Stroke of Genius
Van Gogh’s Van Goghs
What is Impressionism?

Outside and Out of the Box: A Guide to Impressionism resource portfolios (while supplies last)