NEW ORLEANS – February 7, 2019 – M.S. Rau Antiques will unveil its patriotic new exhibition, From Sea to Shining Sea: 200 Years of American Art, on April 6 at its gallery located at 630 Royal Street in New Orleans, Louisiana. The show, which is free and open to the public, will run through June 8.

Since the founding of the United States, artists have sought to capture the essence of our country on canvas. From Sea to Shining Sea: 200 Years of American Art presents 80 works that span the first two centuries of the nation’s rich history, highlighting the variety and strength of American artistic achievement from the colonial era through the World Wars.

“During a time when our country appears divided, we want to celebrate our finest historic moments as a nation,” stated M.S. Rau Antiques’ President Bill Rau, a third-generation fine art dealer and expert. “The War for Independence, westward expansion, the rise of the modern age — these important times, when viewed through the canvases of America’s greatest artists, remind us that, as a nation, we have and will continue to persevere.”

The comprehensive exhibition features paintings, watercolors, and drawings from more than 70 American artists, including John Singleton Copley, Frederic Edwin Church, Winslow Homer,Thomas Eakins, Mary Cassatt and Childe Hassam.  Among the paintings is Gilbert Stuart’s Athenaeum portrait of President George Washington, which served as the basis for the engraving that appears on the one dollar bill.

The works chosen for display represent the wide variety of styles that have developed in the U.S., from colonial art to the Hudson River School and Tonalism to American Impressionism and the Ashcan School. Together, they successfully capture the cultural moment of their respective ages, perfectly defining on canvas the character and very essence of American life throughout the centuries.

Gallery hours are Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. Click to visit M.S. Rau online.

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