MIAMI --The Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum FIU presents Transitional Nature: Hudson River School Paintings from the David and Laura Grey Collection (on view through May 17, 2020).

The exhibit features paintings from the New York collection of David and Laura Grey and includes masterpieces by Albert Bierstadt, Robert S. Duncanson, Asher B. Durand, and George Inness.

Cultural identity in the United States has been long intertwined with its magnificent landscapes, from the dense forests of New England to the open terrain of the West. These landscapes extol the unique beauty of this country and relate to the first significant art movement in the United States, known as the Hudson River School. The artists who painted these American landscapes worked during a time of increasing industrialization and growth of technology—not a coincidence of history but a lens on ecocritical thinking of the time.  Modern industry changed the culture and economic future of this country, but also gave rise to concerns about the preservation of a natural environment often described as a Garden of Eden.

According to Dr. Jordana Pomeroy, the museum’s director, “This spring our exhibitions engage with multiple ideas about change that affect us every day. The Grey Collection of Hudson River School paintings reminds us that our varied and magnificent landscape has always comprised an important aspect of the American identity, while Price’s photography reminds us that small communities, as well, define America.”

While much of Transitional Nature focuses on U.S. landscapes, depictions of Greenland and Ecuador exemplify the international travel undertaken by 19^th century artists in further pursuit of untrammeled terrain.

Artists working today frequently address the beauty and complexity of landscape, drawing our attention to environment and ecology. Transitional Nature also features a selection of works by contemporary artists that will connect in powerful ways the past of the Hudson River School to the present art world, including Beatriz Chachamovits, Morel Doucet, Ralph Provisero, Dawn Roe, and Fereshteh Toosi, among others.

The exhibition is curated by Dr. Katherine Manthorne, Professor of Modern Art of the Americas, Graduate Center, City University of New York, in collaboration with Dr. Amy Galpin, Chief Curator, Frost Art Museum.

About the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum FIU:

One of the largest art museums in Florida, the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum at Florida International University was founded in 1977 and is the Smithsonian Affiliate in Miami. 

The museum’s mission is three-fold: to be a campus resource for the entire FIU community; to offer interdisciplinary training in the arts for the next generation of artists and art historians; and to serve as a premier cultural destination for the residents of Miami, and visitors. The Frost is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums and is located on the FIU MMC Campus at 10975 SW 17 Street.

Open Tuesday-Saturday 10:00 a.m.- 4:45 p.m., and Sunday noon-4:45 p.m. Closed on Mondays and most legal holidays. The Sculpture Park is open every day. Admission to the museum is always free. For more information, visit frost.fiu.edu.

Highbrow Magazine