How Samuel Morse Telegraphed a New Direction for American Art

When you hear the name Samuel F. B. Morse you most likely think about Morse code or the telegraph. In reality, Morse only co-invented the code that bears his name and simply contributed to the already developing technology of the telegraph. But nobody can take any credit away from Morse for his first love of and forgotten gift for painting. In A New Look: Samuel F. B. Morse's Gallery of the Louvre, which runs at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, through July 8, 2012, Morse’s talents as painter and teacher of painting are fully on display with the newly restored painting Gallery of the Louvre (shown above). In this exhibit we see just how Morse telegraphed a new direction for American art away from the unappealing alternatives of slavish devotion to the Western canon or awkward backwoods folk art and towards an appropriation of the best in art history tailored to fit the newly rising American nation. Please come over to Picture This at Big Think to read more of "How Samuel Morse Telegraphed a New Direction for American Art."

[Image: Samuel F. B. Morse, Gallery of the Louvre, 1831–1833, oil on canvas, Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection.]

[Many thanks to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, for the image above and other press materials for A New Look: Samuel F. B. Morse's Gallery of the Louvre, which runs through July 8, 2012.]

Hitting the Trail: On the Heels of the Hudson River School

Experts commonly accept the Hudson River School, led by Thomas Cole, as the first true American art school and movement. They looked at the American landscape and saw something the natural settings of England and Europe did not offer. That natural newness fit in beautifully with the uniqueness of the American democratic experiment. Thanks to the Thomas Cole National Historic Site, we can now walk in the footsteps and see what the Hudson River School painters once saw, or at least as close an approximation as modernity allows. The Hudson River School Art Trail takes us back in time to when the land was pristine and the American democratic dream still seemed attainable. Please come over to Picture This at Big Think to read more of "Hitting the Trail."

Go Tell It on the Mountain: Ansel Adams at the Amon Carter Museum

Photographer Ansel Adams claimed that the goal of his art was “to rekindle an appreciation of the marvelous.” Ansel Adams: Eloquent Light at the Amon Carter Museum rekindles the marvelous aspects of the artist that over-familiarity threatens to extinguish. Through 40 photographs representative of different themes and periods of development in Adams’ career, this exhibition distills the essence of his work into one bright shining moment of clarity and, yes, eloquence. Please come over to Picture This at Big Think to read more of "Go Tell It on the Mountain."

[Image: Ansel Adams (1902–1984). Clearing Winter Storm, Yosemite National Park, 1944.Gelatin silver print, before 1975. ©2010 The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust. Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, Texas Anonymous gift. P2008.5.]

[Many thanks to the Amon Carter Museum for providing the image above and press materials from Ansel Adams: Eloquent Light, which runs through November 7, 2010.]