Masterworks of American Art

October 24 to November 29, 2024
Masterworks of American Art
Concurrent with our exhibition "Philadelphia Freedom," we have a selection of truly extraordinary masterworks of American Art on view in our Bryn Mawr gallery location. This curated selection of exceptional paintings ranges from watercolors by the iconic American artist, Winslow Homer to a rare modern masterpiece by the celebrated surrealist, Kay Sage. For more information about these artworks, please browse our online viewing room, and visit our gallery now through November 29th to see this incredible collection in person!
  • This watercolor titled Looking Over the Cliffs was painted in 1882, during the period when Homer travelled abroad to England...
    Winslow Homer, Looking Over the Cliff, 1882

    This watercolor titled Looking Over the Cliffs was painted in 1882, during the period when Homer travelled abroad to England and lived for a year and a half in the village of Cullercoats, Northumberland, near the fishing port of Tynemouth on the stormy North Sea. Here his subjects were the sea and the hardy men and women who made their living on it. These fishwives were women who did men’s work in unloading the boats and mending nets, and in this watercolor, these women stand on the cliffs watching for the boats to return. 

  • This colorful beach scene demonstrates the influence of the Post-Impressionists on Prendergast's mature style. The innovations of artists such as...
    Maurice Prendergast, Study St. Malo, c. 1907

    This colorful beach scene demonstrates the influence of the Post-Impressionists on Prendergast's mature style. The innovations of artists such as Paul Gauguin and Edouard Vuillard liberated Prendergast from a strictly representational approach in his work. He replaced nature with his own imagination, painting whimsical patterns in bold colors to create charming and sophisticated views of leisure – such as this depiction of bathers at St. Malo in France.

  • Kay Sage’s “Composizione bianca e grigio-verde” is an exceptionally rare abstract work by the celebrated Surrealist master. This work is...
    Kay Sage, Composizione bianca e grigio-verde, c. 1935-36
    Kay Sage’s “Composizione bianca e grigio-verde” is an exceptionally rare abstract work by the celebrated Surrealist master. This work is one of only eight known examples of Sage’s abstract paintingss, and one of only three existing ones, according to a recent catalogue raisonné with a chronology by Stephen Robeson Miller. This example is arguably the earliest existing "modern" work that she painted in Italy prior to moving to Paris in 1937. This paintings provides vital insight into how Sage’s practice evolved over time, and how her rare abstract works, such as this one, forms the bridge to her later Surrealist works.