The Sea in American Painting: Some New Perspectives
The PMA is excited to welcome Daniel T. Finamore, Associate Director–Exhibitions and the Russell W. Knight Curator of Maritime Art and History at the Peabody Essex Museum, as the 2021’s Fall Barnet Scholar. Finamore was one of the co-curators for the groundbreaking exhibition In American Waters: The Sea in American Painting that was organized by the Peabody Essex Museum and the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.
As one of the PMA’s marquee programs, Barnet Scholars Weekend is designed to have an established scholar lead conversations with museum colleagues on topics related to 20th-century American art.
The sea shapes America and its painters. It has been integral to national identity and pervasive in American painting from the earliest colonial settlement to the present day. American artists have captured the beauty, violence, poetry, and transformative power of the sea, whether they are depicting the open ocean or waves crashing on shore, a ship in the midst of battle, or a yacht in racing splendor. Physically and symbolically, maritime themes pervade American art well beyond the perceived boundaries of what we traditionally think of as constituting true marine painting. By expanding that definition and casting a wider net, we see how American painting reflects a broader diversity of American perspectives and experiences of the sea, while deepening our understanding of it as a symbol of national opportunity and invention, as well as its emotional resonance in American life and imagination.
Click here for additional information on Finamore's exhibition In American Waters: The Sea In American Painting.
Daniel Finamore is Associate Director–Exhibitions and the Russell W. Knight Curator of Maritime Art and History at the Peabody Essex Museum. He has organized over 15 exhibitions on an international range of maritime subjects. He was curator for Ocean Liners: Glamour, Speed and Style, which appeared at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London and as the inaugural exhibition at the new V&A museum in Dundee, Scotland. A graduate of Vassar College and Boston University, Finamore has written over 40 articles and chapters for academic and popular publications. He is the author and/or editor of six books, including Maritime History as World History, Fiery Pool: The Maya and the Mythic Sea, and most recently, the companion publication for the exhibition In American Waters: The Sea in American Painting.
Missed it live? Watch it here.
THIS PROGRAM IS GENEROUSLY FUNDED BY THE WILL BARNET FOUNDATION