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From Shore to Shining Sea
Rivers, Sea, Shore
Reflections on Water
R. W. Norton Art Foundation
Shreveport, Louisiana
August 14 - October 28, 2007
Whether it be the the Impressionists or 19th Century American artists water based works draw in the viewer. Calming like a Monet or arresting
as a ship ready for battle, something about the sea enthralls.
The US has a long history with the importance of the sea. This is partially due to its geographic
location situated between the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans. Over the decades the importance
of the waterways have changed, something discovered with Rivers, Sea, Shore: Reflections on Water.
It has been said that America has had a love with water examined through imagery of ships, boats, seascapes,
river scenes, plus life along the shore from coast to coast.
Title: USS Constitution, 1828
Artist: John S. Blunt (American 1798-1835)
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Dimensions: 23 x 27"
Image Courtesy: R. W. Nortion Art Foundation
The U.S.S Constitution is best remembered for her victory over the British ship HMS Guerrière during the War of 1812. John S. Blunt
painted the ship just before it was put out of commission. The ship was nicknamed Old Ironsides and is on display in
Charleston, MA. The ship was launched in 1797 but wasn't put to sea until the following year.
Depending on which side does the telling either the British or the Americans won the War of 1812, much of which was set in Canada. (IATWM is based in Toronto.)
The battle with HMS Guerrière took place off the coast of Nova Scotia. The Guerrière had to be sunk after the battle given the battering
it had endured. The British during the war famously burned the White House in Washington in retaliation for the USA's successful invasion
of Ontario's city of York, now called Toronto.
The war was full of ironies. The final battle took place after the Treaty of Ghent, ending the war, was signed. The impetus
for war was that the British had enacted laws designed to imperil American sea interests. Those offensive laws were overturned before the war began.
The Americans and the Canadians both achieved their individual aims through the War of 1812 which leads each to view the war as a victory.
A boundary commission was set up as one of the tenets of the Treaty of Ghent, creating the "longest undefended border" in the world: The Canadian-American border.
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Philadelphia native Charles Morgan McIIhenney, preferred to paint landscapes, usually set at sea or shore. McIIhenney
was a student of fellow maritime painter Frank Briscoe at the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts. He was a member of the New York Water Color Society.
Childe Hassam was among it's founders.
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Title: Steamboat at Night, Mississippi River, ca. 1885
Artist: Charles Morgan McIlhenney (American 1858-1904)
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Image Courtesy: R. W. Nortion Art Foundation
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Title: Children Playing on the Beach, ca 1890
Artist: Edward Percy Moran (American 1862-1935)
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Image Courtesy: R. W. Nortion Art Foundation
Edward Percy Moran, like Charles Morgan McIIhenney, learned from Frank Briscoe, and the two studied together. He was the son
of British born Edward Moran who came to the USA with three artist brothers: John, Thomas and Peter. To differentiate himself from his father he
preferred the name Percy Moran.
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Title: Industrial Waterfront - Great Lakes, ca. 1930
Artist: Richard Fayerweather Babcock (American 1887-1954)
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Image Courtesy: R. W. Nortion Art Foundation
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Richard Fayerweather Babcock's image investigates the business of the sea. The activities
that occur before a supply ship is able to leave port.
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For over 40 years Arthur J. Phelan of Chevy Chase, Maryland, collected
the artworks featured in this exhibit. They reflect Phelan's passion for seascape imagery
He summered in Connecticut where he raced sailboats and watched large
commercial sailing ships pass through Long Island Sound.
River Sea Shore: Reflections on Water
R. W. Nortion Art Foundation, Shreveport Louisiana
August 14 - October 28, 2007
Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, Wisconsin
November 17 – January 20, 2008
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