America: painting a nation
Have fun exploring the exhibition America: painting a nation and make some art of your own.
You probably already know quite a bit about America from TV and movies, but this may be the first time you have seen American art.
Artists had to decide how they wanted to show their developing nation – its land and its people. This exhibition will take you on a journey through time, watching the American landscape change and cities grow. You will see the sorts of clothes people wore, how they behaved, how they travelled and what they did in their spare time. You will also see how the new colonists were establishing their own American way of life that suited their new country.
Works in this children’s trail
- Charles Willson Peale Portrait of John and Elizabeth Lloyd Cadwalader and their daughter Anne 1772
- Unknown artist He that tileth his land shall be satisfied 1850
- William Keith Yosemite Valley 1875
- Allen Smith Jr The young mechanic 1848
- Frederic Remington The herd boy c1905
- Joseph H Boston From shore to shore 1885
- Georgia O’Keeffe Red and orange streak 1919
- Edward Hopper House at dusk 1935
- Reginald Marsh Third Avenue El 1931
- Stuart Davis Something on the eight ball 1953–54
About our children’s trails
Our children’s trails are available online or as free printed booklets/sheets at the Gallery. They are designed to engage young children aged 6-12 with selected objects and images in the Gallery and our exhibitions. They present looking and interpreting, drawing and writing activities for children to do in front of the art with extension ideas for activities away from the Gallery.
Many of these suggestions can be adapted for use at home or in the classroom, even if you can’t visit or the particular artworks are not on display.