Thomas Ridgeway Gould
The West Wind, 1876
Gift of the Isaac Gordon Estate through the Lincoln Rochester Trust Company, 66.18
New Installation of the American Collection
The West Wind welcomes visitors into the new installation of the American collection at the Memorial Gallery. Seeing America is an overview of some of the finest work in the Gallery's collection of American art, featuring painting and sculpture by Winslow Homer, Thomas Eakins, Helen Frankenthaler and Augustus Saint-Gaudens. Three periods of American art are featured in three galleries: Art of a Young Nation (19th century); Controversy and Change (20th century to 1950); and Art and Ideas (1950 - the present).
Taken as a whole, the new installation reflects the major changes that occurred in American art as the young country began to loosen its European ties and expand its notions of the role of art as a reflector and creator of a developing culture. The works range from traditional portraits, such as John Singleton Copley's unfinished portrait of silversmith Nathaniel Hurd, to politically charged mixed media pieces by contemporary artists Binh Danh, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, and Christian Boltanski, raising questions about a new international flavor of American art that pushes beyond national boundaries and questions yet again the meaning of art within an international society.