Here’s a treat for people dreaming of summer sojourns abroad: the Hispanic Society’s new exhibit, “American Travelers,” a delightful group of watercolor paintings that capture views of Spain, Mexico and Portugal.
Perhaps the most famous artist in the show is the American impressionist Childe Hassam. In fact, the show’s inspiration was the Hispanic Society’s participation in Childe Hassam’s 2004 retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which highlighted the importance of Spain to the American artist. A work like that of Hassam Gate of the Sun, Toledo captures the strange romanticism of the view of the Iberian nation from across the Atlantic.
As the catalog for American Travelers explains:
The story of American artists’ engagement with Spain and subsequently with Portugal and Latin America is part of a larger story of the nineteenth-century fascination of northern Europeans and North Americans with what they perceived, on the one hand, as exotic. the otherness of Spanish ethnic folk culture and, on the other hand, with the notable achievements of Old Spanish master painting.
Less famous than Hassam are the other watercolorists featured in the show, although each brings something fresh. Among the highlights are the delightful images of the Alhambra by George Wharton Edwards (1859–1950); a colorful harbor scene by Orville Houghton Peets (1884–1968); and the Garden of Eden by Florence Vincent Robinson (1874–1937). To tie the show into the present, “American Traveler” features a new spin on the tradition by contemporary painter Timothy J. Clark.
Enjoy some footage of “American Travelers” below.
“American Travelers: A Watercolor Journey Through Spain, Portugal, and Mexico. Presenting Contemporary Works of Timothy J. Clark” at the Hispanic Society Museum and Society. Photo courtesy Hispanic Society Museum & Society.
Child Hassam, Outer Gate (Puerta del Sol), Toledo (1910). Image courtesy of the Hispanic Society Museum and Library.
Florence Vincent Robinson, Generalife Gardens, Alhambra (circa 1920-22). Image courtesy of the Hispanic Society Museum and Library.
Ernest C. Peixotto, Avila (1915). Image courtesy of the Hispanic Society Museum and Library.
George Wharton Edwards, Fountain and Patio of Lions,
The Alhambra, Granada (circa 1924). Image courtesy of the Hispanic Society Museum and Library.
Milan Petrovic, The Tower of the Cathedral of Toledo is visible
from a monastery (1927). Image courtesy of the Hispanic Society Museum and Library.
Orville Houghton Peet, Winter evening, Lisbon (circa 1918-1921). Image courtesy of the Hispanic Society Museum and Library.
Timothy J. Clark, Gryphons, Azores (2005). Image courtesy of the Hispanic Society Museum and Library.
“American Travelers: A Watercolor Journey Through Spain, Portugal, and Mexico. Presenting Contemporary Works of Timothy J. Clark” at the Hispanic Society Museum and Society. Photo courtesy of the Hispanic Society Museum and Society.
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