A regular rendezvous for Impressionists: The Cos Cob art colony, 1882-1920.
Item
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Title
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A regular rendezvous for Impressionists: The Cos Cob art colony, 1882-1920.
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Identifier
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AAI9707121
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identifier
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9707121
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Creator
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Larkin, Susan G.
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Contributor
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Adviser: William H. Gerdts
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Date
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1996
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Art History | American Studies | Literature, American
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Abstract
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From 1882 until shortly after the First World War, the Cos Cob section of Greenwich, Connecticut, was the focus of a lively art colony. American Impressionists John Twachtman, Childe Hassam and Theodore Robinson produced major works in the area. Summer classes conducted by Twachtman, J. Alden Weir and Leonard Ochtman introduced younger artists to plein-air painting. Among the colony's second generation were Ernest Lawson, Allen Tucker, D. Putnam Brinley, Charles Ebert and Elmer MacRae. During the art-colony period, Greenwich was undergoing the transition from a farming and fishing community to a prosperous suburb of New York. In their choice of subject matter, artists reflected the tensions between tradition and modernity, nature and technology, country and city. The colony's boldly independent spirit inspired artists to try new themes, new media and new styles.;The dissertation is divided into two parts, the first primarily documentary, the second interpretative. Part One is a narrative history of the art colony, organized chronologically. Its three chapters trace the involvement of various artists and writers, including Lincoln Steffens and Willa Cather; the summer schools; the colony's shifting relations with the larger community; its role in the Armory Show; the establishment of the Greenwich Society of Artists, and the early years of the Bruce Museum. In addition, this section analyzes the impact of such trends as Japanism and the Colonial Revival.;Part Two is an iconological analysis of the five themes favored by Cos Cob's artists: boating, the railroad bridge architecture, the female figure, and home ground. In these five chapters, each devoted to one theme, materials as diverse as reports on shellfishing and Sears Roebuck catalogues are employed to illuminate the meaning the subjects held for the artists' contemporaries. The Conclusion analyzes the significance of the Cos Cob art colony. Appendices 1 through 5 list the colony's artists and writers, the summer students, and the Greenwich Society of Artists' members and guest exhibitors. Appendix 6 contains the transcripts of five previously unpublished letters from John Twachtman.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
