Lure of the Sea: Masterworks of American Coastal Art

For centuries, the coastal landscape has served as a vibrant realm in which American life, industry, and creativity have flourished.

Lure of the Sea: Masterworks of American Coastal Art features nearly one hundred paintings, works on paper, and sculptures that reflect the profound impact of coastal environments on the nation’s artistic and cultural development, as well as its collective imagination and identity.

Lure of the Sea explores broad themes, including the evolution of American marine art, from its traditional depictions of historical maritime vessels, events, and locales, to emotionally imbued expressions of nature’s power, beauty, and allure. The exhibition considers the coast’s relationship to industry, leisure, and the emergence of artist colonies that coalesced along the shoreline, inspired by the interplay of land and sea.

Spanning 150 years of creative output by leading American artists, including William Bradford, Alfred Thompson Bricher, Frederick Judd Waugh, William Partridge Burpee, Childe Hassam, Rockwell Kent, and N.C. Wyeth, Lure of the Sea offers invaluable insights into American life as it has unfolded along the maritime frontier, inviting viewers to engage deeply with the artistic legacy shaped by the sea.

Drawn exclusively from the NBMAA’s collection, Lure of the Sea commemorates the tenth anniversary of the Museum’s landmark gift of coastal and marine art by collectors and long-standing supporters, Charles J. and Irene Hamm.

Artwork above: Henry Wolcott Boss, Sailing off a Rocky Coast, 1890, Oil on canvas
Image: 24 ¼ × 26 in., New Britain Museum of American Art, Gift of Charles J. and Irene Hamm