Impression and reality at the Mennello Museum of American Art

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IMPRESSION AND REALITY at the Mennello Museum of American Art

PAINTINGS BY AMERICAN IMPRESSIONISTS AND REALISTS FROM THE COLLECTION INCLUDING LOANS FROM DISTINGUISHED FLORIDA MUSEUM.

February 24 – June 11, 2023

Robert Henri, Ann of Achill, 1913. Oil on canvas. Collection of the Mennello Museum of American Art, Gift of Michael A. Mennello in memory of the Honorable Marilyn Logsdon Mennello, 2018-002-014.

ORLANDO, FLORIDA [April 4, 2023] — From the late 1800s through the 1920s, two important stylistic movements of early 20th century Art History coexisted – American Impressionism and Realism. These artists’ styles overlapped in time and a loose, impressionistic brushstroke, but transected in their subject matter. Today, those paintings highlight the diversity of American artists’ experiences, mentorships, training, and locations at the turn of the century, all while industrializing city centers of the United States – Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco, and New York – were exponentially expanding.

Impression and Reality presents paintings of American Impressionism and Realism from the Mennello collection alongside important works from prestigious Florida museums. It considers the dichotomy between these two cooccurring philosophies – one that highlights light, nature, and the temporary pleasures or luxuries of life and the other that emphasizes the harsh, strenuous conditions of ordinary life in the growing urban cities.

Mennello Museum of American Art is delighted to showcase 34 paintings and 3 works on paper by the most celebrated artists of early 20th-century art in the United States. Preeminent artists of their time on display include artists like John White Alexander, Frederick Carl Frieseke, and Henry Salem Hubbell alongside lesser-known, but equally important contemporaries Lydia Field Emmett, Jane Peterson, and Lilla Cabot Perry – to name a few. This exhibition brings together beloved artists from collections across Florida including the MennelloMuseum’s own collection, the Marilyn and Michael MennelloFoundation, and significant loans from the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens, the Harn Museum of Art, Museum of Florida History, Rollins Museum of Art, Tampa Museum of Art.

Lilla Cabot Perry, Le Paravent Jaune (The Yellow Screen), 1907. Oil on canvas. Courtesy of The Michael A. and The Honorable Marilyn Logsdon Mennello Foundation.

Shannon Fitzgerald, Executive Director, shares:

It is rewarding to share such compelling examples of American impressionism alongside emerging realism that was occurring in the United States nearly simultaneously. The exhibition offers a dynamic consideration ranging from intimate interior domestic scenes to increasing public enjoyment of urban parks, to the urbanization of cities and the rise of artists’ colonies and retreats from such cities. Impression and Reality compress such images to share more varied experiences with wider audiences.

The exhibition considers artists’ interests in depicting humanity’s varied experiences of life in urban and bucolic landscapes, their interest in domesticated and untamed landscapes at home and abroad, as well as the social mores and representation of women. These myriad reflections ask the viewer to consider both artistic movements in their shared time and space and highlight underrecognized women who were also creating, marketing, and participating in these movements.