Anticipating a Revolution: The Preconditions of American Impressionism

Amanda C. Burdan, Ph.D., Curator, Brandywine River Museum of Art
This lecture explores the “perfect storm” of circumstances in place that enabled Impressionism to take root and flourish in the United States. The international study of young American artists, the rise in popularity of Tonalism and the work of Claude Monet in this country, and the intertwined nature of national identity and American landscape painting all combine with other factors to set the stage for the broad spread of American Impressionism over the course of many decades to follow.