The thirty-two landscapes, seascapes, and genre paintings in this exhibition are all products of the period between the end of the Civil War and the beginning of the twentieth century.  Historians refer to this time frame as The Gilded Age and later, the Progressive Era.  This period was characterized by energized American middle and upper classes increasingly interested in hands-on participation in the arts.  These were the times of parlor music and Sunday painters.

Amateur art flourished during this period.  Casual painters often depicted the vanishing American wilderness following in the footsteps of their professional forerunners of the Hudson River School.  They were enthusiastic novices with the leisure time necessary to pursue a hobby like painting. 

Many of these largely anonymous painters were wilderness tourists who, because of the transportation revolution, were able to visit the countryside and record their remembrances.  Some of the works were true to their observations; many were idealized images often showing steep mountains and castles.  What these painters shared was a wonder for the outdoors and a desire to be a part of this great American pastime—art.