Society of western artists

DEFINITION

Active in the American Midwest, it was founded by a group of eighteen impressionist artists led by William Forsyth, Theodore Steele, J. Ottis Adams and John Elwood Bundy. They were painters in Brown County, Indiana, and taking much inspiration from the lush countryside, expressed themselves in the style of Impressionism, which was being brought to America from France. The SWA was a banning together of these artists for exhibitions and mutual support in the face of strong opposition, especially after they exhibitied their work at the Chicago 1893 Exposition. Chicago artist F. Hopkinsmith was one of the leading opponents of the work of these Brown County painters and their Society of Western Artsts. Wikipedia; AskART Biography of Theodore Steele; (LPD)