Summer School: Selections from the Archives of American Art

Exhibited in Washington, D.C. at the Lawrence A. Fleischman Gallery
inside the Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture

June 20 - September 29, 2008

Each year, as the days get longer and the weather warmer, people everywhere welcome summer and its charms. For many artists, summer offers an opportunity to concentrate fully on their work, without the constraints of teaching or the distractions of city living.

Beginning in 1891, summer programs for artists began to pop up all over the east coast of the United States. At first, schools were formed close to Manhattan, where most artists lived and worked, but soon spread up the New England coast, and beyond. Like the summer camps of childhood, these schools provided a structured yet liberal environment that allowed for unbridled creativity and collaboration. As many of the schools grew in reputation and roster, they became firmly planted in the lore of American art history, and many still operate today.

Through original letters, rare photographs, and sketchbooks from the Archives of American Art, this exhibition showcases a number of these schools and their importance to artists' lives and careers. Summer programs featured in this exhibition include the schools in Provincetown, Massachusetts; Fontainebleau, France; the Penland School of Crafts (Penland, North Carolina); the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts (Deer Isle, Maine); the Pilchuck Glass School (Stanwood, Washington); Skowhegan (Skowhegan, Maine); and Ox-Bow (Michigan).

Images from this Exhibition

[Fritz Dreisbach's comments on Penland's Resident Program], 1983.	[Diane Itter to Francis Sumner Merritt.], July 16, 1975.	[Nike Olenike and Printmaker Twins Seven-Seven at Haystack], 1974.
[Claes Oldenburg, visiting artist], 1973.	[William Brown autograph book], 1971.	[William Brown's autograph book], 1971.
[Photograph of Fritz Dreisbach at Pilchuck], 1971.	[Class discussion at Skowhegan], 1970.	[Dorothy and Roy Lichtenstein], 1968.
[Jacob Lawrence critiquing student work], 1968.	[Jane Brown and Lucy Morgan], ca. 1963-1964.	[Haystack Mountain School of Crafts summer brochure], ca. 1953.
[Class at the Hans Hofmann School of Fine Arts, Provincetown], ca. 1945.	[Class at the Hans Hofmann School of Fine Arts, Provincetown], ca. 1945.	[Female student sketching in the dunes], 1941.
[Sketching class on the beach in Provincetown], ca. 1936.	[Edwin Ambrose Webster plein air painting class, Provincetown, Mass.], 191-?.	[William Merritt Chase], ca. 1900.
[Rockwell Kent], between 1900 and 1902.	[William Merritt Chase painting], ca. 1900.	[Study for: Summer school advertisement], Between 1900 and 1935.
[Edwin Ambrose Webster summer art school brochure], between 1900 and 1935.	[Horse drawn carriage with sign for the Cape Cod School of Art], 1899.	[Advertisemant for Philip L. Hale's summer class], 1899.
[Matunuck Summer School of Painting sketchbook], ca. 1899.	[Herbert D. Hale letter to Mary E. Williams], 1897 July 6.	[About art education and my approach toward it], n.d..