American Light: The Luminist Movement 1850-1875

Examines the Luminist Movement (1850-75) in American painting by documenting a 1980 exhibition on the movement at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Relates the art of the Luminist Movement to its social, spiritual, and intellectual milieu. Discusses the work of the movement's major artists: Fitz Hugh Lane, John Frederick Kensett, Frederic Edwin Church, and Martin Johnson Heade. Shows numerous paintings from the exhibition. Follows narrator/host Rosamon Bernier as she travels to some of the sites that inspired these artists. Marks the end of the movement in the new generation of painters, which included Thomas Whittredge and Winslow Homer., Examines the Luminist Movement (1850-75) in American painting by documenting a 1980 exhibition on the movement at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Relates the art of the Luminist Movement to its social, spiritual, and intellectual milieu. Discusses the work of the movement's major artists: Fitz Hugh Lane, John Frederick Kensett, Frederic Edwin Church, and Martin Johnson Heade. Shows numerous paintings from the exhibition. Follows narrator/host Rosamon Bernier as she travels to some of the sites that inspired these artists. Marks the end of the movement in the new generation of painters, which included Thomas Whittredge and Winslow Homer. The exhibition "American Light" on which this film is based was organized by John Wilmerding.