Object Lessons in American Art: Selections from the Princeton University Art Museum
Object Lessons in American Art featured four centuries of works from the Princeton University Art Museum that collectively explore American history, culture, and society. Inspired by the concept of the object lesson—the study of a material thing to communicate a larger idea—the exhibition brought groups of objects together to ask fundamental questions about artistic significance, materials, and how meaning changes across time and contexts.
With a focus on race, gender, and the environment, these pairings demonstrate the value of juxtaposing diverse objects to generate new understanding. Object Lessons presented Euro-American, Native American, and African American art from contemporary perspectives, illustrating how fresh investigations can inform and enrich its meaning, affording new insights into the American past and present.
An accompanying catalogue expands upon the exhibition through focused analyses that situate these important works within current social, cultural, and artistic concerns and debates.
Minor White (1908–1976; born Minneapolis, MN; died Boston, MA; active Portland, OR, Rochester, NY), Tom Murphy, San Francisco, February 1948. Gelatin silver print; 12 × 9.8 cm (image), 43.2 x 35.6 cm (mat), 12.5 × 10 cm (she et). The Minor White Archive, Princeton University Art Museum, bequest of Minor White (x1980-1018) © Trustees of Princeton University.
Mary Cassatt (1844–1926; born Allegheny City, PA; died Le Mesnil-Theribus, France), Little Girl in a Large Red Hat, ca. 1881. Oil on canvas; 43.8 × 38.7 cm. Princeton University Art Museum. Museum purchase, Fowler McCormick, Class of 1921, Fund (2021-12)
Pueblo, Historic, ca. 1880, Cochiti Pueblo, New Mexico, Rio Grande, United States, American southwest, Large two-headed, four-armed effigy figurine. Ceramic with black and white slip; 63.5 x 39 x 21 cm. Lent by the Department of Geosciences, Princeton University (PU 7413) Photo Bruce M. White.
Marsden Hartley (American, 1877–1943), Blue Landscape, 1942. Oil on board; 40.6 × 50.8 cm. Princeton University Art Museum. Museum purchase, Fowler McCormick, Class of 1921, Fund and Kathleen Compton Sherrerd Fund for Acquisitions in American Art (2015-6679)
Rande Cook (Kwakwaka’wakw, born 1977, British Columbia, Canada), Our Home, 2018. Red cedar and acrylic; 121.9 × 76. 2 × 5.1 cm. Princeton University Art Museum. Museum purchase, Fowler McCormick, Class of 1921, Fund (2019-23) © Rande Cook.
Henry Inman (American, 1801–1846), O-Chee-Na-Shink-Ka a, 1832–33. Oil on canvas; 77.5 × 64.8 cm. Promised gift from a Private Collection, member of the Class of 1982
Asher Brown Durand (American, 1796–1886), Landscape, 1859. Oil on canvas; 77 × 61.5 cm. Princeton University Art Museum. Gift of J. O. MacIntosh, Class of 1902 (y1955-3249)
John Singleton Copley (American, 1738–1815), Elkanah Watson, 1782. Oil on canvas; 149 × 121 cm. Princeton University Art Museum. Gift of the estate of Josephine Thomson Swann (y1964-181)
Object Lessons in American Art was organized by the Princeton University Art Museum.
This exhibition was made possible by the leadership support of the Terra Foundation for American Art.
At the Florence Griswold Museum, support came from the Department of Economic and Community Development, Connecticut Office of the Arts, HSB, The Aeroflex Foundation, The David T. Langrock Foundation, Mrs. Kathryn Parsons and Mr. J. Geddes Parsons, Mr. Wayne Harms and Mrs. Barbara Harms, WSHU Public Radio, as well as donors to the Museum’s Annual Fund.
