The Art of America: Celebrating Our 250th Anniversary
Instructor:
Bob Potter
Dates:
Wednesdays, September 30 - October 28 via Zoom
Times:
1:00 - 2:00 pm EST
Fee:
$125
Class Cap:
20 people
About The Course: The people and landscapes of America have been some of the most compelling subjects for artists to paint throughout our history. In timeless images, they captured new ways of seeing and recording a new country as it evolves through some of its most transformative and turbulent eras. In this 5-part series, art historian Bob Potter will celebrate the art and lives of some of America’s leading artists from the Colonial era to the mid- 20 th century through their iconic paintings, fascinating biographical details of their lives and times, and revealing videos offering unique perspectives of the art of America.
Week One: Colonial America: The Art of the Portrait in a New Nation
Wednesday, Sept.30, 1 – 2 pm via Zoom
As a new country emerges from thirteen British colonies, 18 th century American artists
like Charles Wilson Peale, Benjamin West, Gilbert Stuart, and John Singleton Copley will show us the leaders, patriots and people of this new nation in iconic portraits that have become masterworks In the history of American art. They will also seek fame and fortune as artists in two worlds: seeking portrait commissions in England among aristocrats and royal and also wealthy patrons in the colonies that will become the United States of America.
Week Two: Westward Ho! The Landscapes and People of a New Country
Wednesday, Oct. 7, 1 – 2 pm via Zoom
When Thomas Jefferson signs the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, artists like Thomas Moran and George Caleb Bingham will venture into the frontier to paint wondrous landscapes and the early pioneers that will define this new world. But with westward expansion and waves of settlers flooding the west, indigenous people will be threatened. The artist George Catlin will paint iconic portraits of native Americans that honor their lives and culture.
Week Three: A Nation Divided, A Nation Restored: The Art of Winslow Homer
Wednesday, Oct.14, 1 – 2 pm via Zoom
In the mid-19 th century, Winslow Homer would begin his career as a Civil War illustrator for New York newspapers that capture in vivid detail and powerful emotion the soldier’s life. In the post war years, he will rise to fame with his timeless paintings of American life revealing a country recovering from a war that divided our country. His art will capture the spirit of our nation and people during one of our history’s most transformative eras.
Week Four: Early 20th Century American Realism: The Art of John Sloan and George Bellows
Wednesday, Oct. 21, 1 – 2 pm via Zoom
In the first decades of the 20th century, immigrants from Europe will come to America seeking a new life on the lower East Side of New York. Artists John Sloan and George Bellows will paint their worlds in powerful and evocative paintings. From crowded streets and tenements to roof-top escapes and neighborhood boxing rings, each artist shows us this vibrant era of new Americans.
Week Five: Loneliness and Delight: The Art of Edward Hopper and Reginald Marsh
Wednesday, Oct.28, 1 – 2 pm via Zoom
Two artists will vividly capture and contrast the urban experience of life in New York before World War Two. Edward Hopper reveals in his iconic paintings a sense of loneliness and isolation in the urban landscape while Reginald Marsh captures all the gawdy sights and pleasures of Coney Island in paintings of wild exhuberance and escapism. Each artist will explore the human condition in paintings that have become visual landmarks of the American experience.
Bob has generously donated his time and talent presenting this series as a fundraiser and all proceeds will help support the Lyme Art Association’s Building Capacity for the Future Fund. Thank you for helping us so we can continue exhibiting fine art in our historic gallery and offering year-round art education programs.
About the teacher: Bob Potter
Art Lecture Presenter Bob Potter is a graduate of Syracuse University’s School of Visual and Performing Arts and the former Executive Director of the Lyme Art Association. He spent his early career as an art director and creative director for leading media companies including Scholastic Magazines, Time Warner, and National Geographic. Later, he helped create an arts therapy program for Save The Children, was a corporate development officer for the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, headed marketing and communications for Mystic Seaport and is currently a docent at the Yale Center For British Art. He and his wife Jeanne, who is a master watercolorist and art instructor at the LAA, live in Old Lyme, CT.