(Un)Settled: The Landscape in American Art

From natural wonders to the open road, the landscape has long been a muse in American art. (Un)Settled questions the shaping of national identity through objects from the colonial era to present. The variety of media and makers helps to redefine whose view is considered and expands on landscape’s relevance and resonance in art. 

(Un)Settled explores the rich, complicated, and evolving topic of what it means to be American. The exhibition presents historic artworks in conversation with modern and contemporary pieces to examine ideas such as defining national identity, the question of land preservation, the meaning of boundaries, the complexity of cultural landscapes, and how location shapes our sense of self.

Building upon noted Hudson River School paintings, (Un)Settled features works by artists including Fidelia Bridges, Marsden Hartley, Georgia O’Keeffe, Benny Andrews, William Christenberry, Ana Mendieta, Ed Ruscha, Jeffrey Gibson, and Jacqueline Bishop. Through 40 artworks including examples of material culture such as furniture, glass, ceramics, and baskets, the exhibition highlights the evolving conversations around landscape and its relationship to establishing cultural and national identity over the last two centuries.

This is one in a series of American art exhibitions created through a multi-year, multi-institutional partnership formed by the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art as part of the Art Bridges Cohort Program. Led by the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art (CT), the cohort includes three partners: the Columbia Museum of Art (Columbia, SC), the Mobile Museum of Art (Mobile, AL), and the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts (AL). This innovative cross-regional partnership explores new ways of interpreting art and the American experience through dynamic exhibitions and an array of complimentary public programs. 

This multi-year, multi-institutional exhibition partnership was formed by the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art as part of the Art Bridges Cohort Program.