A pastel. Light blue scribbles cover nearly the entire surface, more sparsely toward the edges, allowing the brown paper to show through. A bright yellowish-white orb appears toward the top, while toward the bottom of the sheet a similarly colored, dappled line runs vertically from a horizon line to the paper’s bottom edge.
On now

Exhibition American Impressionism

December 19, 2025 – June 14, 2026

In the late 19th century, American Impressionism marked an aesthetic break from the grandeur and precision of the Hudson River School. It was characterized by freer, more intimate works that often focused on local landscapes and scenes of everyday life. This installation features drawings, prints, and paintings from the collection by the most celebrated American Impressionists, including Mary Cassatt, Childe Hassam, Thomas and Mary Nimmo Moran, Joseph Pennell, John Singer Sargent, and James McNeill Whistler.

American Impressionism is on view on the Gallery’s fourth floor.

A pastel. Light blue scribbles cover nearly the entire surface, more sparsely toward the edges, allowing the brown paper to show through. A bright yellowish-white orb appears toward the top, while toward the bottom of the sheet a similarly colored, dappled line runs vertically from a horizon line to the paper’s bottom edge.

Childe Hassam, The Evening Star, 1891. Pastel on paper. Yale University Art Gallery, Transfer from the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, Bequest of Sinclair Lewis to the Collection of American Literature

Objects in the Exhibition

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Organized by Elisabeth Hodermarsky, the Sutphin Family Curator of Prints and Drawings, and Freyda Spira, the Robert L. Solley Curator of Prints and Drawings.