The civic artists of the American Renaissance—like Edwin Austin Abbey, Violet Oakley, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, and John Singer Sargent—worked in close collaboration. They shared ideas, advice, and inspiration that often show up in their work, and they relied on teams of collaborators, assistants, and students to help complete their large-scale commissions. From their student days, these artists learned to depend on one another for support and encouragement as they sought to create an ambitious new form of public art for America. Mark D. Mitchell, the Holcombe T. Green Curator of American Paintings and Sculpture, explores this creative collaboration. Offered in conjunction with the exhibition The Dance of Life: Figure and Imagination in American Art, 1876–1917.  

Major support for The Dance of Life is made possible by the Henry Luce Foundation, with additional support provided by the Wyeth Foundation for American Art. 

Space is limited.