Alone Together: Encounters in American Realism

Guest curated by Alex J. Taylor, Assistant Professor, University of Pittsburgh History of Art and Architecture Department.

In the early-to-mid twentieth century, American realist painters produced evocative images of human connection and disconnection that processed the traumas of war, civil unrest, economic depression, and many other upheavals large and small. Their works pursue an experimental approach to realism that captures the uneasiness of a modern world in turmoil, of lonely crowds and isolating spaces, of intimate relationships that seem strangely distant.

Long overlooked in favor of more obviously modern styles, Magic Realism and other similarly innovative approaches to representational painting have recently enjoyed a resurgence of attention. This renewed interest has resulted in contemporary painters embracing this realist approach to grapple with what it feels like to live in the world right now. This exhibition stages new encounters between art separated by almost a century to consider how these works are bound together by the shared experience of living and working in difficult times.

Alone Together: Encounters in American Realism is also generously supported by The Heinz Endowments and the Hillman Exhibition Fund of The Westmoreland Museum of American Art.