Dixon exhibit tracks American art history through railway art
Dixon Gallery and Gardens exhibition "All Aboard: The Railroad in American Art, 1840 - 1955" on Tuesday, November 6, 2024. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)
A new Dixon Gallery and Gardens exhibition focuses on trains.
Not just traditional locomotives — it includes the subway, elevated trains and streetcars.
“All Aboard: The Railroad in American Art, 1840-1955” is on view at the Dixon through Saturday, Jan. 26, 2025. After that, it will travel to the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, Nebraska. It opened earlier this year at the Shelburne Museum in Vermont.
Julie Pierotti, Martha R. Robinson curator at the Dixon, said director Kevin Sharp had the idea for the exhibition for a long time and that the museum had been “deep in the development phase” in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic happened.
Dixon Gallery & Gardens exhibition "All Aboard: The Railroad in American Art, 1840 - 1955" on Tuesday, November 6, 2024. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)
She said the exhibition not only tells the story of railroads in American art but also showcases American history.
“So the history of the railroad is really the history of the United States in a lot of ways because the railroad fueled the westward expansion,” Pierotti said. “It fueled the expansion of our country, but it really fueled the development of American art. The Hudson River School artists started to be able to go out of New York (City) into upstate New York thanks to the railroad. And the explosion of the railroad getting closer to the turn of the century fueled this great wealth in the United States that precipitated this boon and this big taste for art and art collecting.”
The exhibition is organized into several sections.
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Elle Perry
A native Memphian, Elle Perry has earned graduate degrees from the University of Memphis and Maryland Institute College of Art. She’s written for publications including the Memphis Business Journal, Memphis Flyer and High Ground News, and previously served as coordinator of The Teen Appeal.
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