Alone Together: Encounters in American Realism

The exhibition is guest curated by Alex J. Taylor, Assistant Professor in the Department of History of Art and Architecture at the University of Pittsburgh, and includes major magic realist and American scene painting from the collection of Jason Schoen, one of the most important privately-owned holdings of such work. The works from the Schoen collection are supplemented with key loans from other institutions, including Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, as well as with selections from The Westmoreland’s own permanent collection. Alongside these historical paintings and prints, which are predominantly from the 1930s through 1950s, the exhibition stages encounters with works by five contemporary artists to capture shared experiences across time.

Martin Lewis (1881–1962), Night in New York, n.d. Etching on paper, 8 1/4 x 9 3/4 inches Collection: The Westmoreland Museum of American Art, Gift of the Thomas Lynch Fund and Friends of the Museum, 1979.22

Many of the works in the exhibition are characterized by their dream-like vision of the social realm rendered with precise technical skill. Some of the historical works present images of civil unrest in ways that are startlingly contemporary, including several that unfold in the shadow of monuments, or capture violent struggles in public space. While the exhibition emphasizes works associated with social realism and the often surrealist-inflected imagery of magic realism in the United States, it draws works from across a variety of styles to explore varied approaches to the human subject.

“Alone Together uses the collective space of the exhibition to reflect on shared experiences across time,” Taylor offered. “Feelings of connection and disconnection define many images of modern life, and this exhibition invites visitors to The Westmoreland to draw connections between the social conditions of the past and the present, and to dream their way into the untold stories that these human subjects contain.”

In the early-to-mid twentieth century, American realist painters produced evocative images of human connection and disconnection tied to the traumas of war, civil unrest, economic depression, and other societal upheavals. Such works pursued a compelling approach to realism that captures the uneasiness of a modern world in turmoil. Long overlooked in favor of more obviously modern styles, the work of such artists has recently enjoyed a resurgence of attention. One result of this interest is that contemporary painters can be seen to pursue similarly innovative approaches to representational painting that grapple with what it feels like to live in the world right now.

“The concept for this exhibition was conceived during the pandemic, and it presents us all with images that now resonate in different ways, having collectively experienced the past two years,” stated Anne Kraybill, the Richard M. Scaife Director/CEO. “Bringing forth a sense of shared human experience and connection to the past, I think our visitors will particularly find the encounters Dr. Taylor has created between the historical works and those by the contemporary artists in the exhibition to be compelling and thought-provoking.”

Alone Together: Encounters in American Realism will be on view at The Westmoreland from May 29 -September 25, 2022. A schedule of public programming related to the exhibition, including a panel discussion, artist talk, culinary experience, and film screening, will be announced soon in the Museum’s Spring/Summer 2022 Perspectives newsletter and posted at thewestmoreland.org/events for registration.