Addison Gallery of American Art

05/30/2026

Welcoming back to Andover!⁣
⁣
Artist and alum Peter Halley ’71 returned to campus this spring as the Addison’s Edward E. Elson Artist-in-Residence, in conjunction with his work on view in the exhibition Little Boxes. Halley’s works explore both the physical and psychological structures of space, connecting the visual language of geometric abstraction to critiques of the mechanization and commercialism of the modern world.⁣
⁣
Halley discussed AI technology with students in English courses reading texts that explore the dark side of biotechnology and posthumanity, which provided a dynamic perspective on the overlap between their course reading and contemporary life. Students in the philosophy course Aesthetics have spent the term discussing art’s definition and evaluation, and engaged in lively discussion about whether art should always serve as societal critique.⁣
⁣
Painting students were intrigued by Halley’s artistic trajectory and he, in turn, visited students in the Advanced Studio course in their workspace to see their in-progress artwork and talk about their direction as artists.⁣
⁣
Halley’s time in conversation with students and faculty on campus inspired future projects as well, as he looks to include campus perspectives in a new mural to be installed this fall in conjunction with America in the Making, the Addison’s upcoming exhibition marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

05/14/2026

The Addison Gallery of American Art is delighted to announce that Cynthia Talmadge will be the third recipient of the Bartlett H. Hayes Jr. Prize, awarded by the Addison Artist Council (AAC)!

The AAC builds on the Addison’s nearly century-long commitment to championing living artists by providing important institutional support to emerging and underrecognized American artists. Through the initiative, the Addison will organize the first solo museum exhibition of Talmadge’s work, opening in fall 2027, with an accompanying publication, an artist’s residency, and an acquisition of the artist’s work for the museum’s permanent collection.

Working in painting, photography, and installation, Talmadge (b. 1989, New York, NY) draws on tabloid culture and the darker undercurrents of contemporary Americana. Tinged with fantasy and desolation and born out of deep historical research, her work betrays a fascination with heightened emotional states, mediated portrayals of those states, and, particularly, the places where both converge.

Talmadge holds a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and currently lives and works in New York City. While primarily a painter, she works across several mediums, using a variety of techniques to bring to life a body of work that is simultaneously fact and fiction, dramatic and melodramatic, cerebral and kitschy. Whether depicting the interiors of famous psychiatric hospitals and celebrity rehab centers, high society funeral parlors, deserted liberal arts college campuses, or even Marilyn Monroe’s imagined storage unit, Talmadge’s shimmering pointillist paintings composed of sand or oil paint, as well as her room-sized installations, possess a visual and psychic tension and wit that keeps meaning evasive and viewers captivated. Transforming physical spaces into psychological ones and vice versa, Talmadge spins narratives that offer insight into the psychology of society at large and our current cultural moment.

“Cynthia Talmadge is an ideal choice to receive the Hayes Prize. The artist’s conceptually layered practice, its rootedness in history and culture, and her enthralling storytelling will resonate with students and in the wider community. We are proud to support artists like Talmadge who are making exceptional contributions in the visual arts, at a moment in their career when such support can have a lasting impact,” said Allison Kemmerer, the Mary Stripp and R. Crosby Kemper Director of the Addison Gallery of American Art.

“Receiving the Hayes Prize is a dream come true. I am deeply honored and grateful for this vote of confidence in me as an artist. The Hayes Prize will give me the opportunity to explore one of my most ambitious and dear projects, something that I’ve been researching and conceptualizing for over a year now. I can’t wait to get started at the Addison,” said Talmadge.

Photo by Charlie Rubin.

05/12/2026

Today marks what would have been the 90th birthday of Frank Stella (1936-2024). Frank was not only one of the most important artists of the postwar period, he was also a beloved and devoted member of the Class of 1954! The Addison is very pleased to take this occasion to announce it will lend nearly 70 works to a major European exhibition of Stella’s work this summer—Frank Stella: Minimal/Maximal at the Musée d’art moderne et contemporain (MAMC+) in Saint-Étienne, France.⁣
⁣
The exhibition, the first major showing of work by Stella in France since the 1980s, will “reveal to French audiences the scope and evolution of his work,” bringing together “painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, and architecture.” The first section of the show will shed new light on Stella’s formative years—with a particular focus on his transformative time at Phillips Academy. We’re lending not only major mature works by Frank Stella but also examples of his student work, work by his Phillips Academy mentors Maud and Patrick Morgan and his classmates Carl Andre (PA 1953) and Hollis Frampton (PA 1954), along with works that served as early sources of inspiration (notably Hans Hofmann’s Exaltment, which was formerly owned by Maud Morgan), and works once personally owned by Stella (Larry Bell, Mark Rothko, Agnes Martin). ⁣
⁣
The show, which will be on view from June 27, 2026 through January 3, 2027, was curated by Alexandre Quoi of MAMC+ and Rachel Stella, the artist’s daughter and a member of the PA class of 1980! Seems like a great excuse to spend a big blue summer in France!⁣
⁣
Frank Stella (1936-2024). East Broadway, 1958. Oil on canvas. Gift of the artist (PA 1954), 1980.14⁣
⁣
Maud Morgan (1903-1999). Gyre III, 1947. Oil on canvas. Gift or Mr. and Mrs. Caleb D. Elliot, Jr., 1991.85⁣
⁣
Agnes Martin (1912-2004). Untitled, 1960. Ink, watercolor, and graphite on paper. Gift of Frank Stella (PA 1954), Addison Art Drive, 1991.46⁣
⁣
Hans Hofmann (1880-1966). Exaltment, 1947. Oil on canvas. Museum purchase, 1960.6⁣
⁣
Hollis Frampton (1936-1984). #5 from The Secret World of Frank Stella, 1958-62. Gelatin silver print. Gift of Marion Faller, 1990.34.5

05/10/2026

No museum in the ENTIRE world has EVER posted a Mary Cassatt painting or print on Mother’s Day. We are TRAILBLAZERS and RISK-TAKERS here at the Addison Gallery and we are NOT AFRAID to push the envelope and DISRUPT the MUSEUM SPACE! Please tell any other museum that posts a Cassatt today that they are just copying us—tell them to just cut it out!
⁣
Mary Cassatt (1844-1926). Mother and Child in Boat, 1908. Oil in canvas. 45 3/4 x 32 inches. Gift of anonymous donor, 1930.378

05/01/2026

Free panel discussion TOMORROW (Saturday, May 2nd)!⁣
⁣
What is the role of a print publisher? ⁣
⁣
Join Lucy Rosenburgh, founder of Cambridge-based print publisher Caira Art Editions (.art.editions); master printer Bryan Smith of Stone Hill Press; and artists Alison Croney Moses () and Daniela Rivera () as they examine the ways in which the collaborative relationships between artist, printer, and publisher shape the production of contemporary prints. This panel discussion will unpack the process of developing an edition—from initial concept to technical realization—and consider how publishers support experimentation and help bring ambitious print projects to life.⁣
⁣
The program accompanies the exhibition Parasol Press: Breaking New Ground, which surveys the innovative editions produced by the pioneering publisher Parasol Press, and will be moderated by the exhibition’s curator, Rachel Vogel.⁣
⁣
Please note this event takes place at the Addison Gallery of American Art. Space is limited, please register for this event. ⁣
⁣
Image: Alison Croney Moses (left) and Lucy Rosenburgh (right) editioning Croney Moses’s first print at Stone Hill Press. Image courtesy of Caira Art Editions. ⁣
⁣
Click the link in our bio to register!

04/18/2026

Adrian Venzon and Christine Jee just came back from presenting at the Asian Educators Alliance (AsEA) conference . Their workshop, “Where are you really from?: Unpacking the Complexities of Home through Creative Expression”, introduced and his exploration of themes of identity, belonging, and place and whose exhibition Hayes Prize 2025: Tommy Kha, Other Things Uttered was on view this past fall.

Participants engaged in the practice of close-looking, critically engaging with Kha’s Flatlands installation, and responding through “Where I’m From” poems and interactive activities. Their session culminated with the creation of a collaborative work of art, telling a collective story about Asian and Asian American spaces and communities through reclaiming narratives about where they’re from. People shared that they left the workshop with new ideas for their classrooms and for building community, a deeper appreciation for the power of the arts and writing, reflections on their personal and cultural identities, and intergenerational connections.

03/27/2026

Many thanks to the 300+ people who joined us at our opening celebration for our current slate of exhibitions earlier this month! All of our current shows—including Parasol Press: Breaking New Ground and Both Sides of the Line: Carmen Herrera & Leon Polk Smith will be on view here at the Addison through July 31st!⁣
⁣
Photographs by Susan Golden/Eventide Photography.

03/24/2026

“Charlie (Robert Pattinson) serves as head curator at the Cambridge Art Museum, a fictional institution visually represented by the Addison Gallery of American Art in Andover. “It’s got amazing skylights and natural light, which is important to Kris,” Mackenzie said. She and her colleagues, including set decorator Vanessa Knoll and art director John O’Regan, teamed up with the museum’s curatorial staff to create a custom exhibit seen in the film, reflecting Charlie’s clean and muted style. (Think: Mark Rothko.)”

Borgli set the film, which stars Robert Pattinson and Zendaya, in Boston because it felt "intimate, historic, academic, and human in scale."

03/24/2026

Support what you love—and we know you love the Addison—this PA Giving Day! We rely on your support to make everything that we do here—from mounting groundbreaking, critically-acclaimed exhibitions to directly engaging every year with thousands of students in our galleries—possible. Please consider supporting the Addison today! Click here: https://www.givecampus.com/s/162x30.
⁣
Every donation counts towards a very exciting match opportunity just for the Addison—Steve Burbank ’64, William Winkenwerder ’10, and Stefanie Scheer Young and Andrew Young ’81 are matching $352 per donor up to $44,000 for gifts designated to the Addison!⁣
⁣
THANK YOU!

03/20/2026

"The Cleveland Museum of Art will likely attract big crowds this spring with blue chip shows on the artistic romance of French Impressionists Edouard Manet and Berthe Morisot and a career survey of the major American sculptor Martin Puryear.

But if you want to get acquainted with a brilliant but long overlooked American artist who deserves renewed attention, head to Oberlin.

Through May 24, the Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College is exhibiting an astounding and fresh retrospective on the late June Leaf, a figurative artist who reveled in exploring the human comedy, with special attention to women and their bodies."

The Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College is exhibiting a retrospective on the late June Leaf, a figurative artist who reveled in exploring the human comedy.