Opening Party Celebrates the Arrival of American Impressions

Press Room

Opening Party Celebrates the Arrival of "American Impressions: Selections from the National Academy Museum" at Reynolda House Museum of American Art

Thursday, February 12, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Sharyn Turner
336.758.5580
sturner@reynoldahouse.org

or Sarah Mansell
336.758.5524
manselss@reynoldahouse.org

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (February 10, 2009) – Reynolda House's spring exhibition, "American Impressions: Selections from the National Academy Museum," will open with a party for the general public on Friday, February 27 at 7 p.m. Live music will be provided by a Carolina Chamber Symphony trio featuring flute, violin, and cello. The festivities will include hors d'oeuvres, a cash bar, and admission to the main floor of the historic house.

The main feature of the evening, however, will be the beautiful landscapes, still lifes, and portraits painted by American artists who were inspired by the French Impressionists.

Reynolda House is the only venue outside of the National Academy Museum to host the exhibition, which is organized by the National Academy Museum, New York. "American Impressions" will be on view through June 28.

Admission to the party is $5, free to members and students.

The late 19th and early 20th century paintings in "American Impressions" were created in response to the development of Impressionism in France and signaled a new cosmopolitanism in the nation's art following the end of the Civil War in 1865. From the unique effects of light and atmosphere, to brilliance and immediacy of color, to new and informal composition, these works illustrate the full range of Impressionist qualities that captivated artists and audiences both then and now. The exhibition includes works by such artists as George Bellows, William Merritt Chase, Thomas Wilmer Dewing, Lilian Westcott Hale, Childe Hassam, John La Farge, John Singer Sargent, and Henry Ossawa Tanner. High resolution images are available upon request.

Over the course of nearly two centuries, the National Academy has assembled one of the largest and most significant collections of American art in the country. Many works have been donated by the artists themselves as their diploma presentations, a requirement of election as a National Academician.

Reynolda House Museum of American Art is one of the nation's premier American art museums, with masterpieces by Mary Cassatt, Frederic Church, Jacob Lawrence, Georgia O'Keeffe and Gilbert Stuart among its permanent collection. Affiliated with Wake Forest University, Reynolda House features traveling and original exhibitions, concerts, lectures, classes, film screenings and other events. The museum is located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in the historic 1917 estate of Katharine Smith Reynolds and her husband, Richard Joshua Reynolds, founder of the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. Reynolda House and adjacent Reynolda Gardens and Reynolda Village feature a spectacular public garden, dining, shopping and walking trails. For more information, please visit reynoldahouse.org or call 336.758.5150.

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