In the 1870s and 1880s, artists` societies promoted watercolors as attractive, decorative, inexpensive alternatives to oils, successfully elevating them to the mainstream of American art. Based in New York City, this American Watercolor Movement paved the way for larger, more seriously received exhibition watercolors, and for a broad turn-of-the-century effort by public institutions -- among them the Brooklyn Museum of Art -- to acquire American works in the medium. Highlighting 150 paintings that span nearly two centuries, this richly illustrated volume documents the origin and development of one of the nation`s finest collections by investigating for the first time aspects of American watercolor`s patronage and critical reception. Beginning with a discussion of the local history of the watercolor movement at the Brooklyn Art Association, the authors set the stage for the Brooklyn Museum of Art`s much-heralded 1909 acquisition of eighty-three works by John Singer Sargent. They then survey the fluctuating critical and popular opinions that have consistently acknowledged the mastery of Sargent and Winslow Homer but relegated the works of other once-acclaimed watercolorists to relative obscurity. An examination of the career of William Trost Richards (1833-1905), famed in his day for exquisite coastal scenes, reveals a period of production stimulated by the ardent support of two influential patrons. A consideration of Homer`s work shows how 1920s cultural nationalism cast him as a home-grown artist and watercolor as the preferred American medium. The authors also describe how the Brooklyn Museum of Art`s watercolor biennials and the collections growing reputation led to theacquisition of works by such luminaries as Georgia O`Keeffe, Edward Hopper, and Mark Rothko. Less often displayed than oils because of their sensitivity to light, watercolors nevertheless have enjoyed a lively, complex history. Illuminating well-known works as well as many that have never before b