In the 1800s, no other nation had the diversity of natural resources and seemingly boundless prospect as the young United States. Artists captured the optimism, awe, and opportunity of the landscape in paintings and popular imagery. This brief survey of American landscape painting of the 1800s will explore the major themes, styles, artists, and problematic histories that document the incredible transformation of the land. This talk will include such recognizable names as Thomas Cole and the Hudson River School, as well as important regional artists, such as New Albany’s George W. Morrison.

 

Dr. Eileen Yanoviak is the director of the Carnegie Center for Art and History, a branch of the Floyd County Library. Her expertise is nineteenth-century American art, with an emphasis in landscape. Her 2017 dissertation focused on farmstead imagery and environmental history. She is the author and editor of numerous books and essays, including the 2015 collection of essays Formations of Identity: Society, Politics and Landscape. Her essays have appeared in several scholarly journals and critical art sites including Art Inquiries, Number, and Burnaway. She is on the board of the Southeastern College Art Conference and serves on the Local Arrangement Committee of the Southeastern Museums Conference. She has been working in museums for twenty years, including the Arkansas Arts Center, KMAC, and Speed Art Museum, and teaching for more than 10 years in higher education, including the University of Louisville and University of Arkansas at Little Rock.