Engaging Nature: American and Native American Artists (A.D. 1200 - 2004)

May 15, 2010 - August 7, 2011.

This is the first exhibition ever presented by the Museum to integrate American and Native American art from the collection from all time periods and around a central theme. More than half of the nearly 40 works have never or rarely been displayed.

The works in the exhibition encompass an astonishing vareity of art and artifacts, from prehistoric Native American ceramics to historical 19th century landscape paintings to contemporary staged photographs, suggesting various conceptions of landscape and nature.

America's diverse geography is evoked in western landscapes by Thomas Moran, Philip Pearlstein, Charles Simmonds, and Albert Lorey Groll, while New Jersey and the East are subjects of works by Charles Warren Eaton, Charles Burchfield, Dennis Oppenheim, and Montclair-born Lois Dodd. Also included are Native American works created from the land and plants that are often depicted in landscapes. Ancient vessels from the Puebloan cultures in the Southwest offer fine examples of prehistoric ceramics made for everyday use.

To read more, click here to access the press release.

Click here to read an review of Engaging Nature from the Star-Ledger.

Click here to read a review of Engaging Nature on Montclair Patch.