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"Treasures to Go" is a series of traveling exhibitions that brings the Smithsonian American Art Mueum's rich collection to your hometown!
Two shows open today in two cities! Young America: Treasures from the Smithsonian American Art Museum opens at Terra Museum of American Art in Chicago, while The Gilded Age: Treasures from the Smithsonian American Art Museum opens at the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento. The independent spirit of Young America touches viewers of this painting! In Frank Mayer's portrait, Squire Jack Porter lounges on the porch of his farm, "Rose Meadows," near Eckhart, Maryland. Seventy-five years old at the time, he was widely known for opening the first coal mines for domestic use in Allegheny County. Porter also served as a captain in the War of 1812. Titling the work Independence, the artist aptly evokes Porter's leisure years, financial well-being, and strength of character.
The romanticism of the Gilded Age is evident in the artwork below. Elizabeth Nourse's coarse-featured peasant girl and her little brother stand atop a dune. She wears a sand-colored skirt, and her reddened face, arms, and hands betray her hardy, outdoor existence. Heroically posed to resemble a ship's figurehead, the fisher girl is noble, strong, protective, and independent.
Source: Gwen Everett. Young America: Treasures from the Smithsonian American Art Museum (exhibition text, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 1999). Richard Murray. The Gilded Age: Treasures from the Smithsonian American Art Museum (exhibition text, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 1999).
Pictured top: Frank Blackwell Mayer, 1827–1899, Independence (Squire Jack Porter), 1858, oil on paperboard, 12 x 15 7/8 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Harriet Lane Johnston Collection.
Pictured bottom: Elizabeth Nourse, 1859 USA-1938 France, Fisher Girl of Picardy, 1889, oil, 46 3/4 x 32 3/8 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Elizabeth Pilling.
"Treasures to Go" is a series of traveling exhibitions that brings the Smithsonian American Art Mueum's rich collection to your hometown!
Two shows open today in two cities! Young America: Treasures from the Smithsonian American Art Museum opens at Terra Museum of American Art in Chicago, while The Gilded Age: Treasures from the Smithsonian American Art Museum opens at the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento. The independent spirit of Young America touches viewers of this painting! In Frank Mayer's portrait, Squire Jack Porter lounges on the porch of his farm, "Rose Meadows," near Eckhart, Maryland. Seventy-five years old at the time, he was widely known for opening the first coal mines for domestic use in Allegheny County. Porter also served as a captain in the War of 1812. Titling the work Independence, the artist aptly evokes Porter's leisure years, financial well-being, and strength of character.