American Impressionism and Realism: The Painting of Modern Life, 1885–1915

William Merritt Chase, At the Seaside
"American Impressionism and Realism: The Painting of Modern Life, 1885–1915 brings together the appealing works of two generations of American painters and presents them from a fresh point of view. The American Impressionists and Realists have been categorized as separate or even opposing groups, but, in fact, they shared significant experiences and goals—notably Parisian training, an enthusiasm for modern French painting, and a desire to translate these sources into a peculiarly American idiom. The continuities between these two groups are more impressive and the constrasts more subtle, a complexity that is highlighted by arranging the works not by artist or chronology, but by broad subject categories: the country, the city, and the home. ..."
Yale Press
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LA Times - New Look at 'Modern Life' : LACMA Show Reveals Continuity of American Impressionist, Realist Painting