ERIE, PA.- The exhibit “Artists of the Commonwealth: Realism and Its Response in Pennsylvania Painting, 1900-1950” opens in the Erie Art Museum Main Floor Gallery December 1, 2006. The show featuring works by John Sloan, Mary Cassatt, N.C. Wyeth, Maxfield Parrish and Henry Ossawa Tanner runs through April 8, 2007.

“Artists of the Commonwealth: Realism and Its Response in Pennsylvania Painting, 1900-1950” features portraiture, industrial scenes and landscapes. These paintings follow the long arc of Realism, the dominant style in Pennsylvania art during the first half the 20th century. They do not reflect a homogeneous style, but illustrate the progression of Pennsylvania artists from traditional academic training to a modern notion of social realism enlivened by the influences of avant-garde European movements ranging from Impressionism to cubist abstraction. The social and historical contexts in which the artists worked are clearly illustrated.

The second in a series of exhibitions highlighting significant Pennsylvania painters, the exhibit was organized by the Westmoreland Museum of American Art in collaboration with the Erie Art Museum and the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art. It is supported by a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Picture Pennsylvania program.