"Manifest Destiny: American Art of the 19th Century" talk with Ruth Grim

Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025 | 2:00 - 3:00pm

America expanded dramatically throughout the 19th Century with a good deal of that progress focused on expanding the country’s westward boundaries. “Manifest Destiny” was the phrase coined to describe this as settlers followed their dreams west from eastern port towns such as New York and Boston. The prevailing feeling was that the western territories were theirs for the taking. Indeed, it was often thought of as their duty to settle this great land as far west as they dared. American art of this period reflects much of this spirit of expansionism, as well as the newfound wealth of the growing upper middle classes still occupying the cities.

This lecture will look at the many different movements and great artists that came out of this period as America grew to rival the great artistic traditions in Europe. Landscape artists, such as Thomas Moran, Thomas Cole, and Albert Bierstadt, will join New Englanders, such as Winslow Homer, James McNeil Whistler, and Impressionists Mary Cassat and John Singer Sargent, as we look at the breadth and strength of the growing American tradition in art of this period.

Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Realism and the other art movements that swept Europe in this century were also influencing artists in the United States. Ruth's lecture also looks at how Americans brought unique sensibilities and approaches to these trends and brought about a new style for a new country. From expansive views of the great American West to elegant portraits of the Gilded Age upper classes, many of your favorite artists and works of art will be discussed in a celebration of the American spirit.

This lecture is free, but registration is requested as seats are limited. The program will last approximately one hour.

Registration will close when talk is full.

About the Speaker

Ruth Grim has a Master of Arts from the New York University Institute of Fine Arts with a specialization in 18th and 19th century European art. Her museum career spans 32 years of curatorial work throughout the state including 18 years at the Bass Museum in Miami Beach, seven years at the Appleton Museum of Art in Ocala, and more than six years as chief curator at the Museum of Arts & Sciences in Daytona Beach.

ARTWORK, from left: John Singer Sargent, Madame X, c. 1883; Winslow Homer, Snap the Whip, 1872; Mary Cassat, Mother And Child, c.1890