If you have a hankering for all things related to American art, come to the Nelson-Atkins this weekend. On Saturday, the American Painting Symposium features seven of the nation’s top American art historians for talks on key paintings in the collection. Speakers will discuss the works of artists including John Singer Sargent, Frederic Church and Thomas Hart Benton.
Speaking of Benton, the ten panels from his American Historical Epic are scheduled to be removed from Gallery 214 next Monday. They will be reinstalled in the Museum's Atkins Auditorium by the end of November.
Among the hundreds of Benton's works owned by the Nelson-Atkins, the American Historical Epic is not only a popular favorite but a seminal work in the artist's long career. This series of paintings signaled a new aesthetic from his previous abstract paintings to a new vision of modern American art that came to be known as Regionalism.
Be sure to pay a visit before they make their temporary departure.