The North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA) will open two exhibitions on March 19: American Impressionist: Childe Hassam and the Isles of Shoals and Marks of Genius: 100 Extraordinary Drawings from the Minneapolis Institute of Art.
American Impressionist features 39 oil and watercolor paintings created by Childe Hassam on the Isles of Shoals, while Marks of Genius includes drawings, watercolors, gouaches, and pastels dating from the Middle Ages to the present.
(Left) Childe Hassam, Flower Garden, circa 1892, watercolor on paper, 19 5/8 × 13 7/8 in., George M. and Linda H. Kaufman
(Right) Romare Howard Bearden, Factory Workers, 1942, gouache and casein on brown kraft paper mounted on board, 37-3/8″ x 33-1/2″, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Art © Romare Bearden Foundation/Licensed by VAGA, NY
“This spring the NCMA will be illuminated by Childe Hassam’s breathtaking impressionist landscape paintings and by the incredible skill and diversity showcased in 100 exquisite master drawings,” said NCMA Director Lawrence J. Wheeler. “We are thrilled to present these two exhibitions side-by-side through June 19—one featuring bold, colorful paintings of one artist’s singular place of inspiration, and the other highlighting diverse types of drawings by a variety of masters.”
Childe Hassam is celebrated as the foremost American impressionist painter. Among his greatest achievements are the hundreds of paintings he created over nearly 30 summers on Appledore Island in the Isles of Shoals, a cluster of rocky islands off the coast of Maine and New Hampshire.
This exhibition will feature 39 of Hassam’s finest Shoals paintings in oil and watercolor, borrowed from major public and private collections. The paintings in American Impressionist will be arranged as if one were walking around the island—emphasizing that the place is as interesting as the artist.
Marks of Genius features 100 of the most important drawings from the Minneapolis Institute of Art collection. The selection of drawings, watercolors, gouaches, and pastels dating from the Middle Ages to the present includes examples by such masters as Guercino, Annibale Carracci, Romare Bearden, Edgar Degas, Egon Schiele, Emil Nolde, Henri Matisse, Roy Lichtenstein, Vincent Van Gogh, and Ed Ruscha.
The exhibition illuminates the historical and ongoing role of drawing as a means of study, observation, and problem solving; as an outpouring of the artist’s imagination; and as a method of realizing a finished work of art. Including such diverse drawings as illuminated manuscripts and modern preparatory sketches, Marks of Genius presents a glimpse into artists’ minds.
“Whether in a preparatory sketch, documentary rendering, figure study, or fully realized work in its own right, the immediacy and vibrancy of a drawing make it a pleasure to behold,” said Dennis Weller, NCMA curator of Northern European Art and curator in charge of this exhibition. “The works featured in Marks of Genius demonstrate not only these qualities but showcase the tremendous skill and discipline of the artists represented.”