Hunter Museum Is Taking Positive Steps

"Rising Tide at Pourville," an 1882 painting of oil on canvas, is one of four works by Claude Monet that are part of the exhibition "Monet and American Impressionism" at the Hunter Museum of American Art. It was a gift by Mrs. Horace O. Havemeyer to the Brooklyn Museum.
"Rising Tide at Pourville," an 1882 painting of oil on canvas, is one of four works by Claude Monet that are part of the exhibition "Monet and American Impressionism" at the Hunter Museum of American Art. It was a gift by Mrs. Horace O. Havemeyer to the Brooklyn Museum.

The Hunter Museum of American Art has taken three steps in the last three weeks that can have an impact on its future far longer than the next three months or the next three years.

Three weeks ago, it named Virginia Anne Sharber, an attorney who has been involved with arts and other community organizations for many years, as its executive director. A week later, it opened an exhibition of 50 impressionist paintings and 20 prints that includes four landscape and water-related works by Claude Monet, the founder of French impressionist painting. A few days ago, it reopened its cafe, which offers a stunning view of the Tennessee River.

Sharber, who grew up on Signal Mountain, brings a local voice the museum hasn't had at its helm for many years. Her previous or current status as chairwoman of the Public Art Committee, co-leader of the Chattanooga Forward Art & Culture Task Force and board member of the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera should serve her well in connecting the community with the museum.

Though the museum doesn't deserve the reputation and has done a yeoman's job in trying to combat it, it has the rap of being a place exclusively for the rich, the wise and the well-born. The new executive director should be able to make great strides in changing its standing to a place for everyone.

The exhibition, "Monet and American Impressionism," runs through Sept. 20 and includes works not only by Monet but also by Americans such as Mary Cassatt, William Merit Chase, Childe Hassam, Willard Metcalf, Theodore Robinson, John Henry Twachtman and J. Alden Weir.

Monet, and impressionists in his style, painted scenes of modern life with loose brushstrokes of unblended color and often did so outdoors to take advantage of changing light effects on their subjects. Their style of painting has seen a resurgence of interest in the past half century.

"[T]hese paintings are so popular because we see ourselves in them: We see the bustle of the modern city, the rise of the suburb, a very modern concern with fashion," Nancy Locke, an associate professor of art history at Penn State, said in a Penn State publication in 2014.

The cafe, which is open for sit-down lunches or items that may be enjoyed on the museum's terrace, will be run by Mindy Benton, owner of Mindy B's Deli.

Upcoming Events