American Landscape Paintings Featured at the Art Museum of South Texas

In Nature’s Studio: Two Centuries of American Landscape Painting opens January 23, 2026

Edmund Darch Lewis (American, 1835 – 1910), Landscape, 1860, oil on canvas, 28 x 44 inches, Gift, Mr. David C. Geiger, 1926.526.1. Reading Public Museum, Reading, Pennsylvania.

CORPUS CHRISTI, TX – The Art Museum of South Texas (AMST)’s latest exhibition, In Nature’s Studio: Two Centuries of American Landscape Painting, features the bounty of the American landscape from the early nineteenth century through the late twentieth century. In Nature’s Studio, organized by the Reading Public Museum, Reading, Pennsylvania, will be on view to the public from January 23, 2026, through May 3, 2026.

This engaging exhibition combines early depictions of bucolic North American vistas—intimate forest interiors, sweeping panoramic views of natural wonders, and dramatic images of the untamed land and sea—with scenes of Europe, the Near East, and South America.

The show begins with an exploration of the emergence of the Hudson River School of painting in the 1830s and 40s. Considered America’s first “home-grown” artistic movement, painters of this loosely organized group of artists or “school” recorded the natural beauty of the Hudson River Valley in New York, picturesque sites in the Mid-Atlantic, and majestic views of the American West. These artists harnessed the optimism of the young nation and the seemingly endless potential of the American landscape.

In addition to works by nineteenth-century landscape artists such as Thomas Birch, Frederic Church, Jasper Francis Cropsey, Worthington Whittredge, William Trost Richards, Hermann Herzog, and Aaron Draper Shattuck, the exhibition also examines the late-nineteenth century shift to Impressionism and Tonalism at the turn of the century by painters including George Inness, N. C. Wyeth, Childe Hassam, Edward Willis Redfield, John Fulton Folinsbee, John Mulhaupt and Robert Spencer. These movements captured the fleeting effects of light and atmosphere by employing new and innovative techniques including painting out-of-doors, en plein air.

Modernist landscapes by George Bellows, Arthur Bowen Davies, Benton Spruance, John Fulton Folinsbee, and Andrew Wyeth, among others, chart the path to abstract and expressionistic compositions in the twentieth century.

The exhibition explores the progression from naturalistic depictions of pastoral landscapes to the stylized and individual impressions of time and place reflect the sensibilities of visual culture in the United States over the course of two centuries.

The exhibition will open with an Art Unboxed in the H-E-B Theater January 23, 2026. Art Unboxed is a boxed lunch and lecture with Scott A. Schweigert, Curator at Reading Public Museum and the exhibition In Nature’s Studio Two Centuries of American Landscape Painting. Art Unboxed Registration Here.

Event Details

• What: Art Unboxed featuring Scott A. Schweigert

• When: Friday, January 23, 2026 from 12:00-2:00 PM

• Where: Art Museum of South Texas, 1902 N. Shoreline Drive, Corpus Christi, TX

Lunch Cost: $15 Members, $25 Non-Members
Lecture: Open to all visitors (included with cost of admission)
If reserving a lunch guests must RSVP by Deadline Monday, January 19, 2026

RSVP via our website HERE; or call 361.825.3500

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About Art Museum of South Texas:
The Art Museum of South Texas is a vibrant cultural institution dedicated to enriching the lives of the residents and visitors of Corpus Christi and the South Texas region through the presentation of visual art. The Art Museum of South Texas advances awareness, appreciation, and knowledge of visual art by presenting exciting exhibitions, offering dynamic education programs, and actively collecting and preserving a vital permanent collection that educates all communities. For more information, visit artmuseumofsouthtexas.org.

Affiliated with:
Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
American Alliance of Museums
Museums for All

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Marketing Coordinator, Alexis De León 361-825-3512 email alexis.deleon1@tamucc.edu

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