American Landscapes in Watercolor from the Corcoran Collection

Two centuries of watercolors capture the nation’s beauty from sea to shining sea.

In the nation’s early years, artists and explorers used watercolor for mapping and documenting the landscape. By the nineteenth century, American painters began to translate their country into larger, more carefully finished works that were considered works of art in their own right. 

See how artists with different backgrounds and styles captured iconic American places in watercolor over two centuries. You’ll travel from the Washington Monument to the choppy ocean waters of New England, from the Grand Canyon to Yosemite National Park, from the Hudson River Valley to local gardens.  

American Landscapes features 30 works, most drawn from the National Gallery’s Corcoran Collection.