Tucked away in a relatively unassuming corner, hidden behind a railroad and a parking garage, is the Tampa Museum of Art, a carefully curated collection of art from around the world, spanning ancient Greece and Rome to modern-day Haiti and Italy. However, two new collections celebrate the American branch of a very well-known art movement, Impressionism.
The collections are called “In a New Light” and “American Gaze,” both centered on American-based impressionist portraits and landscapes that exemplify the beauty and perspective of the United States.
“In a New Light” focuses on landscape and cityscape paintings of different parts of America. With labels indicating the key states these paintings come from, the collection communicates a variety of perspectives, indicative of the diversity of the American experience. There are fishermen from Boston, businessmen in New York, politicians in DC; there are boats, quaint cottages, snowy barns, and forests. The unique style allows for a greater depth of emotion and expression, placing you immediately in the scene they depict.
“American Gaze” instead focuses on the specific Impressionist style, highlighting American paintings that exemplify this ideal. Focusing on aspects like light, form, flora, and fauna, the collection is a good introduction to what exactly makes American art American besides its origin and subject matter, especially considering that Impressionism as a style was formed and shaped in europe.
For a city with a wealth of culture and history, Tampa’s more “cultured” experiences often fall strangely by the wayside. Even smaller things like the Tampa Museum of Art can be a way to “microdose” these slightly more sophisticated and educational topics and experiences to create a better understanding of “culture.”
But why bother with museums and fine arts? For the most part, these paintings can be easily seen online; however, part of the appeal of museums is that each collection, even each item in each collection, is curated and chosen for a specific reason or purpose. This helps understand the intention of the artists and the specific contexts in which their work is viewed. Additionally, as students, many of these experiences will be free or very, very reduced in price, and can aid in your understanding of historical movements or literature of a certain time period.
If you would like to have more culture in your life, or just want to see some cool paintings, the Tampa Museum of Art is there to provide that for you.
