The Butler Institute of American Art Hosts the 75th National Midyear Exhibition

Written by Colin Charteris Wednesday, 21 March 2012 21:40

Youngstown, OH.- Now on exhibit at the Butler Institute of American Art are 100 works of art selected to be included in the 75th National Midyear Exhibition from over 1000 entries. This annual juried exhibition is open to artists over 18 years of age who reside within the United States and/or its territories, artists from 24 States are represented in the exhibition. The 2011 show has now been judged and visitors can the results for themselves. The exhibition runs through August 28th.

The Butler is located in Youngstown, Ohio, in Mahoning County, and receives no revenues from the city or county. The Butler charges no admission fee at the main location or at its branch museums, and relies on contributions from the community and the nation to meet its cultural mission. The Beecher Center, housed in the south wing of the Butler's Youngstown location, is the first museum addition dedicated solely to new media and electronic art.

The facility regularly displays works of art that utilize computers, holography, lasers and other digital media. The Beecher Center houses the Zona Auditorium, a digital media theater designed for performance art and high-definition film presentations. The Butler also operates two satellite facilities in nearby Columbiana and Trumbull Counties. The Salem branch, funded by The Salem Community Foundation, presents selections from the Butler's permanent collection, exhibitions by nationally-known contemporary and historic artists, and the best of regional art talent. The Butler's Trumbull branch, funded in part by Foundation Medici, focuses on important international artists whose works have profoundly influenced America, as well as exhibitions of works by contemporary master painters and sculptors. It was the first museum in the world to focus exclusively on American Art. Founded in 1919, the museum’s centerpiece in its permanent collection is "Crack the Whip" by Winslow Homer, called by some the American Mona Lisa. The museum also features works by John Singer Sargent, William Merritt Chase, Mary Cassatt, Romare Bearden, and Robert Rauschenberg, among others. The Museum recently acquired Norman Rockwell's "Lincoln, the Railspliter". "Roadside Meeting", by Albert Pynkam Ryder, "After the Hunt" by William Michael Harnett, and two magnificent portraits by American realist Thomas Eakins are a part of the Butler's 19th century holdings. Hudson River School painters are well represented in the Butler's collection with works by Seth Eastman, Thomas Cole, Asher Brown Durand and Thomas Doughty. All pay poetic tribute to a beloved American region. The Butler's Marine Collection spans four American decades, and includes paintings by Fitz Hugh Lane, Martin Johnson Heade, Edward Moran, John Marin and Arthur G. Dove.




American Impressionism is well represented in the Butler's collection with "In Flanders Field-Where Soldiers Sleep and Poppies Grow" by Robert Vonnoh taking center stage. Other American Impressionist works on view are by Edward Potthast, Theodore Robinson, John Singer Sargent, Mary Cassatt and Gari Melchers. The Institute's American Western collection includes prized works in this genre. With the Native American portraits and sensitive canvases depicting Hopi life by Elbridge Ayer Burbank, and the beautiful "Oregon Trail" by Albert Bierstadt as its core, this collection has become an historical record of the American experience. Butler paintings by members of The Eight  include "Cafe Francis" by George Luks, as well as important works by John Sloan, Robert Henri, Maurice Prendergast and Everett Shinn. Early twentieth century works by Kenneth Hayes Miller, Charles Sheeler, and Georgia O'Keeffe are also featured in this collection. Other important twentieth century works include "Pennsylvania Coal Town", a masterpiece by Edward Hopper that pays tribute to the common man, and "September Wind and Rain" a fantastic landscape by modernist master Charles Burchfield. Contemporary masters including Robert Rauschenberg, Chuck Close, and George Segal are also represented in Butler collection galleries.A tour of the Butler Institute would not be complete without a visit to the Donnell Gallery of American Sports Art. From boxing subjects by George Bellows to an Andy Warhol portrait of baseball great Pete Rose, virtually every sport can be seen in this gallery. Visit the museum's website at ... http://www.butlerart.com

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