American Stories from Sargent to O’Keeffe brings forty-five masterworks of American art to Greenwich and the region through an extraordinary partnership with The Newark Museum of Art. Newark’s American art collection ranks among the finest in the nation, with exceptional holdings spanning from the colonial period and Hudson River School to the present day. Audiences will experience iconic paintings including Georgia O’Keeffe’s White Flower on Red Earth, No. 1, Edward Hopper’s The Sheridan Theatre, portraits by John Singer Sargent and Mickalene Thomas, luminous landscapes by Albert Bierstadt and Marsden Hartley, and powerful sculptures by Alexander Calder, Louise Nevelson, and Martin Puryear.

Coinciding with the nation’s 250th anniversary, American Stories is organized into four sections—Identity, Belonging, Belief, and Making—themes that reveal how artists shape our understanding of America, past and present. A full year of dynamic programming will include in-gallery performances by dancers, musicians, and writers, as well as panel discussions and lectures by thought leaders highlighting fresh perspectives on American art and culture.

The Bruce has invited diverse members of our regional communities to be part of a Community Advisory Group, contributing their own narratives and responses to the art on view and participating in ongoing programming throughout the course of the exhibition. Through its accessible and resonant focus on stories, and the multiplicity of voices that define our nation’s art, the exhibition positions the Bruce as a welcoming and inclusive cultural hub—one that fosters belonging, reflection, and participation for all.

This exhibition was organized collaboratively by the Bruce Museum and The Newark Museum of Art.

Georgia O’Keeffe (American, 1887–1986)
White Flower on Red Earth No. 1, 1943
Oil on canvas, 26 x 30 in.
Collection of the Newark Museum of Art, purchase 1946 John J. O’Neil Bequest Fund, 46.157

John Frederick Kensett (American, 1816–1872)
Paradise Rocks, Newport, ca. 1868
Oil on canvas, 18 5/8 x 29 7/8 in.
Collection of the Newark Museum of Art, gift of Dr. J. Ackerman Coles, 1920 20.1210

John Singer Sargent (American, b. Italy, 1856–1925)
Mrs. Charles Thursby, ca. 1897–1898
Oil on canvas, 78 1/4 x 39 1/2 in.
Collection of the Newark Museum of Art, purchase by exchange, 1985 - Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. Duncan Pitney, Emilie Coles (From the J. Ackerman Coles Collection), Mrs. Lewis B. Ballantyne, Mrs. Owen Winston and the bequest of Louis Bamberger, 85.45