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Article: Impressionists, realists, and the American city.
- Article from:
- The Magazine Antiques
- Article date:
- April 1, 1994
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1994 Brant Publications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The shift to urban culture was most remarkable in the United States, where 47 percent of the population lived in cities by 1900 compared to just 5 percent in 1800.(1)
American impressionist and realist painters (the latter principally members of the Ashcan school) were inspired by the burgeoning cities, but they almost always imposed a pastoral vision, turning their backs on the more unpleasant urban realities and avoiding the dissonant overtones that give French impressionist city views their tension (see Pl. II).(2) Perhaps the American painters were so daunted by the nation's extreme urban growth that they sought in the cities reminiscences of earlier, more ...