MEMPHIS, TN.- The Memphis Brooks Museum of Art is pleased to present a collection of prints exploring the ways in which Americans defined themselves through their native landscape. Cityscapes and Country Views: America Through Prints, 1900-1955 will be on view through June 3, 2007.

Beginning in the 18th century, Americans began to perceive nature as a source of wonder and of national identity. Artists observed the changing landscape, exalted its pristine state, and also noted its taming and development. Rural images continued into the 20th century; views abound of peaceful, bucolic nature with humans toiling honestly, successfully extracting bounty from the land. Small towns and farms were depicted as wholesome places where the good life was lived.

With the rise of bridges and skyscrapers, the city too became a major subject. This celebration of America, however, rather than spreading westward, went upward. The excitement and energy of metropolitan life, as well as its pleasures, were detailed in a variety of artistic styles.

The prints in this exhibition present a partial view of the dynamism of experience of the first half of the 20th century, both of America and of the history of art € from the realism of Joseph Pennell's New York from Governor's Island to the abstraction of Lyonel Feininger's Manhattan 2. They also offer a sampling of many printmaking techniques and the vastly different moods that can be created, from Grant Wood's lithograph January to the linearity and energy of John Marin's etching Brooklyn Bridge and Lower Manhattan.