Spring/Summer 2025
This is a personal story of American Impressionism told and seen through one painter’s journey. As a student, master painter, and educator, Dmitri Wright is part of the lineage of American Impressionist artists who lived, learned, and worked in the very places Wright does today—carrying on the tradition of his forbears in a way that is authentic to both the canon and his own contemporary interpretations.
Wright’s place in this lineage is carved by connections that have criss-crossed between people and places, tradition and technique since the 19th century. Across Western European cultural capitals of the late 19th and early 20th century, the Impressionist movement took shape as a groundbreaking gateway to modern art, and its relevance and popularity continue to powerfully influence American art and culture today. “There’s an openness to Impressionism that allows people to engage, invites them in and meets them where they are, extends the range of meaning,” says Wright.
Mary Cassatt and John Singer Sargent were early devotees, but Americans were generally slower to adopt the innovative new style that emphasized the feeling of a scene—its impression—over its form. By the turn of the century, the tides had turned. William Merritt Chase was creating Impressionist work in the U.S., and artist colonies devoted to American Impressionism and plein-air painting had emerged, many in the Northeast and a significant number located throughout Connecticut: Cos Cob, Old Lyme, Silvermine, Westport, Mystic, and Kent.
Impressionism is still significant and revealing today, as a way of understanding the science and poetry of painting as well as a means of inspiring art appreciation—whether through original works like those in this exhibition, or through widespread commercial reproduction. The pieces shown here are annotated by Dmitri Wright, who shares some of his interconnections to Impressionism’s people, places, tradition, and technique. There is a revelatory aspect to making art,” says Wright, “and Impressionists follow the small, still voice within to get at what’s true, what is essential this instant.”
We are pleased to present this exhibition with our community partner, Weir Farm National Historical Park, a living museum honoring the work and legacy of artist Julian Alden Weir and American Impressionism. As Master Impressionist Painter and Weir Farm Instructor, Dmitri Wright’s easel and palette are on display there.
About Weir Farm
Weir Farm National Historical Park (Weir Farm NHP), a National Park for Art, was designated by Congress in 1990. The park is the only unit in the NPS dedicated to American Impressionism and one of the finest remaining landscapes associated with this genre of art from the late 1800s into the 1900s. The park welcomes approximately 35,000 visitors a year and focuses on connecting people of all ages to art, nature, and conservation.
Weir Farm is named after Julian Alden Weir, an influential American Impressionist who called the property his summer home from 1882 to 1919. During this time period, Weir, his family, and many of his artist colleagues drew inspiration from the site's varied landscape and charming farm buildings to create numerous works of art. Weir's daughter, printmaker and painter Dorothy Weir Young, and her husband, sculptor Mahonri Mackintosh Young, carried the artistic tradition of Weir Farm into the 1950s. Landscape painters Sperry and Doris Andrews continued the legacy when they purchased a portion of the farm in 1958. Alongside Weir's daughter Cora Weir Burlingham, they protected it from developers, making it a national story of grassroots preservation for the American public.
Today, artists and visitors of all ages come to the park to enjoy the stunning landscape, walk in the footsteps of great American artists, and create art! Art supplies, tours, programs, and art classes, including plein air workshops taught by Dmitri Wright, are offered free to the public May through October, while park grounds are open year-round. The park also has a museum collection of artwork, records, and furnishings original to the property, many of which are on view in the Visitor Center, Weir House, Weir Studio, Young Studio, and Weir Barn. Learn more about Weir Farm NHP by visiting the park website (nps.gov/wefa) which includes virtual tour videos, virtual art workshops, galleries and images of art and collections, information on the history of the site and the people who called Weir Farm home, and more!
Images clockwise from top left: Julian Alden Weir, Spring Landscape, Branchville, 1882, Watercolor on paper, Weir Farm National Historic Park, National Park Service WEFA 2934; Dmitri Wright teaching plein-air painting at Weir Farm, NPS photo; Dmitri Wright, Mind Meadow Opus II, 2024, Oil on canvas.