This exhibition explores images of rural southeastern Pennsylvania —prints, watercolors, photographs, and paintings —focusing on nineteenth-century barns. The traditional subject was enlisted by a group of American artists who embraced Modernism in the early decades of the twentieth century.  For artists such as George Sotter, Charles Sheeler, and others, the pastoral landscapes, charming subjects, and historic vernacular architecture of rural Pennsylvania served as inspiration for new artistic approaches for the next generation.

Hill Road, 1920, an oil on canvas by Pennsylvania Impressionist George Sotter serves as the exhibition’s centerpiece. Sotter’s painting is flanked by two works by iconic modernist Charles Sheeler, lent by the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Remarkably, Sheeler’s Bucks County Barn, 1915, a gelatin silver print, captures the same barn depicted in Sotter’s painting and from nearly the same angle. Sheeler’s Pennsylvania Landscape, a luminous work painted seven years later rounds out the grouping. The works underscore the importance of place for these artists and the universality of rural subjects. Sheeler biographer Constance Rourke argued that barns represented for the artist “a simple poetry of surfaces, light, line, and volume.”

The exhibition also features works by R.A.D. Miller, Walter Reinsel, Ranulph Bye, and Elizabeth Hurwitz, among others, from RPM’s collection, which will help tell the story of the intersection of tradition and modernism in American art.

This is one in a series of American art exhibitions created through a multi-year, multi-institutional partnership formed by the Philadelphia Museum of Art as part of the Art Bridges + Terra Foundation Initiative.

About Art Bridges

Art Bridges is a pioneering new foundation dedicated to dramatically expanding access to American art across the country. Founded by collector and philanthropist Alice Walton in 2017, Art Bridges strives to bring great works of American art out of storage and into communities across America. Through financial and planning support, Art Bridges helps organizations of all sizes build exhibitions and programs that deeply engage audiences.

About the Terra Foundation

Since it was established in 1978, the Terra Foundation for American Art has been one of the leading foundations focused on the historical art of the United States. Headquartered in Chicago, it is committed to fostering exploration, understanding, and enjoyment of American art among national and international audiences. To further cross-cultural dialogue on American art, the foundation supports and collaborates on innovative exhibitions, research, and educational programs. Implicit in such activities is the belief that art has the potential both to distinguish cultures and to unite them. Recognizing the importance of experiencing original works of art, the foundation also provides opportunities for interaction and study through the presentation and ongoing development of its own art collection in Chicago.