A rich history lesson in exhibit of early American art at SAM (Seattle Art Museum)
A sweeping exhibition of early American art from the Yale University Art Gallery visits Seattle Art Museum, bringing stories of glory, shame and shared ideals. "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness: American Art from the Yale University Art Gallery" is on view through May 25.
What comes to mind when you conjure up pictures of the early history of the United States? Washington crossing the Delaware River? Maybe some scenes from "Schoolhouse Rock" with upstart Colonists chasing Redcoats into the Atlantic Ocean? Or how about the archetypal image of the presentation of the Declaration of Independence?
Sure, you know the one: It's on the two-dollar bill and in just about every history book, showing a group of men including Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin presenting the document to John Hancock, with a gathering of Continental Congress delegates in attendance.
This famous painting, created by John Trumbull from 1786-1820, has been temporarily released from its home in the Yale Art Gallery and is now on view at the Seattle Art Museum as part of the excellent — and big — new exhibition "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness." But beware because, according to Helen Cooper, Yale Art Gallery's curator of American paintings and sculpture who organized the exhibition, while Trumbull meticulously captured the likenesses of delegates, "such a scene never took place."
Read entire article at Seattle Times
What comes to mind when you conjure up pictures of the early history of the United States? Washington crossing the Delaware River? Maybe some scenes from "Schoolhouse Rock" with upstart Colonists chasing Redcoats into the Atlantic Ocean? Or how about the archetypal image of the presentation of the Declaration of Independence?
Sure, you know the one: It's on the two-dollar bill and in just about every history book, showing a group of men including Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin presenting the document to John Hancock, with a gathering of Continental Congress delegates in attendance.
This famous painting, created by John Trumbull from 1786-1820, has been temporarily released from its home in the Yale Art Gallery and is now on view at the Seattle Art Museum as part of the excellent — and big — new exhibition "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness." But beware because, according to Helen Cooper, Yale Art Gallery's curator of American paintings and sculpture who organized the exhibition, while Trumbull meticulously captured the likenesses of delegates, "such a scene never took place."