Norwegian-born artist Jonas Lie received great acclaim for his luminous renderings of New York City. His unique merging of Impressionism with a bold, painterly realism was admired for its potency and vigor, which was seen as a healthy antidote to the more delicate styles of many American Impressionists. Afterglow also intrigued contemporary critics for its depiction of the city. Many reviewers questioned whether Lie’s gleaming view of lower Manhattan—especially the monumental buildings of the financial district—was intended as an allegory or as a commentary on American economic power and aspirations. In these readings, the glowing buildings suggest a wondrous city of gold, yet one that remains tantalizingly in the distance.
Date
Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.
Judith A. Barter, et al., The Age of American Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Art Institute of Chicago (Art Institute of Chicago, 2011), cat. 89.
Katherine Manthorne, “Industrial Sublime: Modernism and the Transformation of New York’s Rivers, 1900–1940 (The Visitor in the Landscape),” ed. Bartholomew F. Bland and Kirsten M. Jensen (F2013), (ill.).
ordham University Press,
New York, National Academy of Art, Eighty–Ninth Annual Exhibition, Mar. 21–Apr. 26, 1914, no. 287.
Minnesota State Fair, Fall, 1922.
Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 1926.
California Palace of the Legion of Honor, Exhibition of Paintings: Collection of the Friends of American Art lent by the Art Institute of Chicago, June 26 – July 26, 1926, no. 15.
Chicago, Carson Pirie Scott & Co. Galleries, Paintings by Jonas Lie and Etchings by Samuel Chamberlain, Nov. 1929, no. 15.
Chicago, Garfield Park Art Galleries, Exhibition of Greek Sculptures and American Paintings lent by the Art Institute of Chicago, Nov. 5, 1935–Mar. 3, 1936.
Indiana, South Bend Art Association, American Painting in the Manner of the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries, Feb. 10–Mar. 31, 1948.
New York, Academy of Arts and Letters, An Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture, Commemorating the Armory Show of 1913 and the First Exhibition of the Society of Independent Artists in 1917, 1955, no. 24.
National Academy of Design, New York, Rave Reviews: One Hundred Years of Great American Art, Sept. 20–Dec. 31, 2000; Tulsa, Oklahoma, Gilcrease Museum, Jan. 31 Apr. 1, 2001; Indianapolis Museum of Art, Apr. 21–June 24, 2001.
Yonkers, Hudson River Museum, Industrial Sublime: Modernism and the Transformation of New York’s Rivers, 1900–1940, Oct. 12, 2013–Jan. 19.2014; West Palm Beach, Norton Museum of Art, Mar. 20–June 22, 2014.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.
