'Embracing Elegance': American art from the Huber Family Collection is on display

The High Museum of Art in Atlanta is hosting "Embracing Elegance, 1885-1920: American Art From the Huber Family Collection" through Nov. 27. The exhibition showcases turn-of-the-previous-century American art collected during the past 25 years by Atlanta residents Russell and Jack Huber.

With 36 paintings, pastels and drawings, the show features works by artists Cecilia Beaux, Frank W. Benson, Thomas Wilmer Dewing, Robert Henri, Lilla Cabot Perry, John Singer Sargent, Everett Shinn, John Sloan, John Henry Twachtman and J. Alden Weir.

"By focusing on the period in American art that the Hubers love best -- roughly the four decades that bracket the turn of the 20th century -- their collection as a whole provides an illuminating window into the dramatic cultural changes of the era, from the phenomenal growth of the cites and mass immigration to changing gender roles," said Stephanie Heydt, the High's Margaret and Terry Stent curator of American art.

The artists featured in "Embracing Elegance" gravitated toward intimate, informal subjects, which they captured in an expressive manner. They were influenced by the esthetic movement, impressionism, urban realism and post-impressionism. The majority of the works reflect the common tendency of these artists to retreat from social issues and instead celebrate the beauty found in timeless landscapes, still lifes and intimate images of women at leisure.

Introspective in mood and refined in taste, these works mirror the subtle shifts in cultural values, including a growing fascination with the life of the mind and appreciation of art for art's sake, rather than moralizing, didactic or political purposes.

Additionally, a select few images openly address social change, including the city scenes that depict a mix of classes and races by the artists of the Ashcan School, including Sloan and Shinn.

On view concurrently is the installation "Beaux Arts and Crafts: Masterpieces of American Frame Design 1890-1920," on loan from the noted New York frame collector Edgar O. Smith. Works of art in their own right, this selection of frames from the Arts and Crafts and Beaux Art periods perfectly embodies the spirit of turn-of-the-century esthetic in America by celebrating hand-crafted, elegant and useful design.

The display showcases how, by the late 1880s, American artists had begun to pay more attention to their frames. This was inspired by a growing appreciation for craftsmanship and redefined designs in reaction to mass production and the unrestrained ornamentation associated with Victorian taste.

The High, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E., is open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday; 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Thursday; and noon-5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $18 adults; $14 seniors, college students; $11 children 6-17; and free for children under 6. Call 404-733-4444 for more information.

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