Let Me Show You What I Saw: American Views on City and Country, 1912-1963 is on view at the Detroit Institute of Arts from December 20, 2013- June 29, 2014. The exhibit was inspired by Charles Burchfield’s visionary watercolors of rural landscapes. Five of his works, recently acquired by the DIA, will be displayed for the first time along with prints by his colleagues John Marin, Martin Lewis and Saul Steinberg, among many others.
The exhibition looks at the way in which the artists infused their scenes with qualities that suggest the presence of feelings and forces. The views are by and large initially appealing, but almost all imply natural and sometimes supernatural phenomena meant to provoke the viewer.