America’s Rome: Artists in the Eternal City, 1800-1900

The Fenimore Art Museum is organizing the first major exhibition on the topic of American artists’ depictions of 19th-century Rome, called America’s Rome: Artists in the Eternal City, 1800-1900. This project, inspired by the important interdisciplinary work of William L. Vance, will be undertaken in celebration of the 20th anniversary of Dr. Vance’s landmark book, America’s Rome. For the past 12 years, independent scholar and art historian John Fuller McGuigan, Jr. and his wife, Mary K. McGuigan, have built on Dr. Vance’s pioneering work by documenting American artists in Italy, particularly Rome. The McGuigan’s original research focuses on artists sketching en plein air in oil in Rome. Mary’s research on the depiction of the figure will be highly important in American, English and European art history. The catalogue that will accompany the exhibition represents the first publication of the McGuigan’s research, prepared in collaboration with Dr. Vance. T he exhibition America’s Rome contains approximately 80 paintings and details three themes that run throughout these paintings: The Forum examines Roman politics; The Colosseum examines the Imperial Empire; and The Campagna examines the Roman countryside.

Fenimore Art Museum
in cooperation with the Italian Academy Foundation and the office of the Hon. Vice Consul
5798 State Highway 80, Lake Road, Cooperstown, NY
888.547.1450

www.fenimoreartmuseum.org