The Michele & Donald D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts will host the American Watercolor Society 142nd Annual International Exhibition through May 23 at The Michele & Donald D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts. Each year since 1867, the American Watercolor Society (AWS) has hosted a juried exhibition of outstanding watercolors by artist members of the organization.
The Society’s 142nd traveling exhibition, selected from a larger New York show, features 33 artists from throughout the United States, plus Canada, Singapore and Uruguay. Portraits, cityscapes, still life paintings and abstract works will be featured. The paintings in the exhibition illustrate the fine detail and depth of color that can be rendered in this challenging and striking medium.
The founding members of the New York-based AWS joined forces shortly after the end of the Civil War to promote the art of watercolor painting which previously had been viewed as purely a sketching medium. Traveling shows, then called “rotary shows,” were instituted in 1905. The organization boasts such past members as the artists Winslow Homer, Childe Hassam, J.G. Brown, John LaFarge, and Andrew Wyeth. The exhibition catalogue features a memoriam to Wyeth, who died last year.
The D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts is located on the Quadrangle at 21 Edwards Street in downtown Springfield. Free parking is available in the Edwards Street parking lots. Hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Admission is $12.50 for adults, $9 for seniors and college students, $6.50 for children 3-17, and free for children under three and museum members. Springfield residents are free with proof of address. The fee provides admission to all four Springfield Museums, including the new Museum of Springfield History.
For information, call 413-263-6800 or visit www.springfieldmuseums.org