: A group of 75 rare watercolors, pastels and drawings, made from
the 1860s through the 1990s by some of America's greatest
artists, will be on view from July 10 through September 5 at
Vassar College's Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, in the traveling
exhibition "Graphic Masters: Highlights from the Smithsonian
American Art Museum."
Revealing the central importance to American artists of work on
paper, both as studies for creations in other media and as
finished works of art in their own right, the exhibition ranges
in period from Nineteenth Century masters such as Winslow Homer,
John LaFarge and Thomas Moran to modern virtuosos of color such
as William H. Johnson and Stuart Davis to contemporary artists
Wayne Thiebaud, Jennifer Bartlett and April Gornik.
"Graphic Masters" is one of five exhibitions featuring the
museum's collections that are touring the nation through 2005.
The exhibit includes bold designs for stage settings, book
illustrations, studies for paintings and spontaneous creations
that reveal the artist's though processes and working methods.
Works range from Thomas Moran's dramatic views of Yellowstone
Park, to Charles Burchfield's intense interpretations of the
American landscape, to Carolyn Brady's image of a flower-bedecked
breakfast table in summertime Maine.
Vivid images in glowing color by Stuart Davis and William H.
Johnson, as well as bold, black and white abstractions by Willem
de Kooning and Mel Bochner show the diversity of approaches that
America's most accomplished artists have taken in their drawings.
Admission to the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center is free. The
center is open Tuesday-Saturday, 10 am to 5 pm, and Sunday, 1 to
5 pm. For information, 845-437-5632 or www.fllac.Vassar.edu.
