At First Sight: Collecting the American Watercolor

Every art collector has a first love. For Crystal Bridges’ founder and board chairwoman Alice Walton, it was watercolor painting that initially drew her attention. At First Sight offers a glimpse into how her early interest in watercolor grew into a lifelong love of art. Making watercolor paintings has brought Walton great joy over the years, and it also contributed to her deep appreciation for the work of professional artists. Her initial interest in collecting watercolors grew into a fascination with American art, which soon inspired her to collect works by American artists in many media.  At First Sight: Collecting the American Watercolor offers the rare opportunity to view some of the paintings that sparked Walton’s earliest collecting interests, including works by Thomas Hart Benton, John Singer Sargent, Winslow Homer, Andrew Wyeth, and Georgia O’Keeffe. Like all artworks on paper, these paintings and drawings are only on view for a short time, as their exposure to light must be limited. With this in mind, Crystal Bridges is honored to share with our guests this very personal collection of artwork on loan from Ms. Walton. Exhibited in the museum’s permanent collection galleries, there is no cost to view At First Sight.

Avis Bailey, Greenwood Gearhart Inc, Meza Harris, Charles and Shannon Holley, Randy and Valorie Lawson/Lawco Energy Group, Mark and Diane Simmons