New Terrains: American Paintings

The exhibition showcases paintings by artists that are new to the collection, such as Hudson River School painters Martin Johnson Heade, John Kensett, and Albert Bierstadt, whose luminous, contemplative views of nature influenced the grand tradition of mid-nineteenth-century landscape painting in America. Other exciting introductions to the collection through the Scaife bequest are works by American impressionists William Merritt Chase, Theodore Robinson, and Edward Redfield, Julian Alden Weir and others. 

These late-nineteenth and early twentieth-century artists changed the course of American landscape painting through their adaptation of trends in European art. Their interpretive approach to rendering their surroundings with vibrant color and energetic brushwork is amply demonstrated in the exhibition. These paintings and more featured in New Terrains honor Richard Scaife and his generous vision for the Brandywine and represents a milestone in the museum’s collection of American art.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website