FRESNO, CA.- The works of many of America's most important Impressionist painters will be on view in American Impressionism: An Arcadian Vision, Paintings from the Akron Art Museum through May 22, 2005 at the Fresno Metropolitan Museum. The Met is fortunate to be the only West Coast venue for this remarkable collection.

American Impressionism features 35 luminous works spanning the years 1860 to 1917 by turn-of-the century painters who often worked outdoors to capture brilliant effects of light and color. Impressionism began in France in the 1860s, embraced by young artists tired of a conservative realism based on academic rules.

The Impressionists' radical experiments with atmospheric effects, optical relationships between color and light, and brighter palettes greatly influenced a generation of American artists, who absorbed these new approaches to painting, and applied them successfully to American landscapes and portraiture.

"The exhibition American Impressionism gives our audience the unique opportunity to see 35 master works by some of the best-loved American artists from the late 19th century, including William Merritt Chase, Thomas Dewing, Frederick Frieseke and Childe Hassam," said Met Curator of Art Susanneh Bieber. "The works in the exhibition are a delight for the eye: they pride themselves with brilliant colors and luscious brushstrokes capturing the natural play of light; they depict serene landscapes and women engaged in leisurely activities. These artists created an American Eden with paint on canvas."

This exhibition introduces stellar examples of the work of important American Impressionist painters, and encompasses a broad range of subject matter and technical developments which motivated these artists to depart from their studios and paint en plein air. At the same time, studio portraits, elegant figure studies, and still life paintings reveal the virtuosity of American painters of the time, through widely divergent techniques.

Artists included are Ralph Albert Blakelock, Emil Carlsen, William Merritt Chase, Elliott Daingerfield, Charles Harold Davis, Charles Melville Dewey, Thomas Wilmer Dewing, Paul Dougherty, Frank Duveneck, Charles Warren Eaton, Frederick C. Frieseke, George Fuller, Childe Hassam, Charles W. Hawthorne, William Morris Hunt, George Innes, John C. Johansen, Willard L. Metcalf, Richard E. Miller, Dwight W. Tryon, Helen M. Turner, John Twachtman, Elihu Vedder, Julian Alden Weir, Frederick Williams, and Alexander H. Wyant.

American Impressionism: An Arcadian Vision, Paintings from the Akron Art Museum has been organized by the Akron Art Museum and is circulated by the Trust for Museum Exhibitions, Washington D.C.