George Benjamin Luks (American, 1867–1933), "Sunset,” circa 1928–32; watercolor on paper, 14½ by 18 inches. Gift of Olga H. Knoepke. Courtesy New Britain Museum of American Art.
:From three fine public collections of their work, more than 80 paintings by the group of American artists dubbed The Eight — Arthur B. Davies, William Glackens, Robert Henri, Ernest Lawson, George Luks, Maurice B. Prendergast, Everett Shinn and John Sloan — are joined together for the first time in "The Eight and American Modernisms," on view at the Milwaukee Art Museum June 6–August 23.
The exhibition examines the distinct aesthetic agendas of The Eight artists from 1908 to the end of their careers. The conventional assessment of The Eight's artistic partnership has focused primarily on themes of urban "realism" — to the exclusion of exploring their artistic individuality.
"The Eight" explores through more than 50 paintings and approximately 30 works on paper the underappreciated stylistic complexities of the eight artists.
Past scholarship has not considered the legacy of the group's creative diversity, which Henri (1865–1929) praised as an imaginative freedom that follows "no unity in any cult of painting." "The Eight and American Modernisms" shows that Henri and his colleagues were "anti-realist" or Expressionist, painting from memory and imagination.
This exhibition is organized by the Milwaukee Art Museum, the New Britain Museum of American Art and the Terra Foundation for American Art.
A symposium, "What's Modern about American Art, 1900–1930?," will take place June 19–20 in Chicago and Milwaukee. Convened by the Terra Foundation, the forum will address the questions of American Modernism through a series of brief "keyword" talks and panel discussions.
Michael Kammen, the Newton C. Farr Professor Emeritus of American History and Culture at Cornell University, delivers the keynote lecture on Friday in Chicago, while exhibition curator Elizabeth Kennedy of the Terra Foundation joins others in Milwaukee for a second full program on Saturday. For information or to register, 312-654-2278 or
http://terraamericanart.org/modernism-symposium
.
The Milwaukee Art Museum is at 700 North Art Museum Drive. For information, 414-224-3200 or
www.mam.org
.
