The Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia

08/28/2026

Our Little Museum of Art getting a little love in C-ville Weekly!

Good things come in small…galleries? That must be true, because The Little Museum of Art—an effort to reach more viewers during The Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia’s shutdown in the summer of 2021—is a tiny treasure. Artists submit works no bigger than a square foot, which...

08/28/2026

You did it , you made it through the first week of class! 👏👏

The weekend is here, and The Fralin opens tomorrow at 10AM! What could be better?! Tag a friend in the comments, who you want to bring to The Fralin this weekend (maybe someone who’s never been 🤔). We can’t wait to see you!

08/28/2026

Introducing our brand new Joanne B. Robinson Object Study Gallery! ✨ We could not be happier with this beautiful new space of learning and exploration, and are incredibly grateful to Joanne for her ongoing support and in making this space possible. 💙
When she saw it for the first time the other day she was thrilled! From Joanne, “The gallery looks fabulous, I am so grateful. I know I am not one to jump up and down with joy, but my mind is…” 🩵
The Joanne B. Robinson Object Study Gallery. Yours to explore, starting tomorrow!

08/22/2026

One more week! 🎉 We can’t wait to welcome you back in and show you around!

The five exhibitions in Legacies of Independence open August 28.

08/20/2026

“Wishing to do my part in honoring him ... I painted ... portraits of six generations of his family, doing what honor I could to the Indian people and to Jefferson’s merits as a great stateman.”—Narcissa Chisholm Owen, 1907
Narcissa Chisholm Owen b. 1831, Webbers Falls, OK; d. 1911, Guthrie, OK
Thomas Jefferson and His Descendents, 1904 Oil on canvas
Gift of the artist to the University of Virginia, 1908. Transfer from the Decorative and Fine Arts Collection, 2025.17

Not only was Owen known for her talent as an artist and musician, she was an accomplished author and suffragist fighting for the rights and recognition of women and indigenous Americans. At the same time, her family owned enslaved laborers, her husband fought for the Confederacy, and she used language that reflected elitist attitudes.
Reflect with us in our Independent Reflections space, and learn more about this fascinating and complex woman. We can’t wait to welcome you back August 29!

08/20/2026

Appearing in ART AFRICA, our upcoming exhibition, "Georges Adéagbo and the Legacies of Independence"

The Unfinished Business of Freedom: Georges Adéagbo Reconsiders the Legacies of Independence.

Georges Adéagbo turns the archive inside out, confronting Thomas Jefferson, freedom and the contradictions that continue to shape our present. 18 August 2026 What does independence mean when its promises have never been equally shared? Opening at The Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virgin...

08/17/2026

We are incredibly grateful to Dr. Carol R. Angle for her generosity and ongoing support of The Fralin.

From Mitchell Rales’ $116 million gift to D.C.’s National Gallery to major commitments from Silicon Valley, foundations and dedicated cultural patrons, these donations are shaping access to a…

08/15/2026

Long before blockbuster movies, artists were telling the story of Odysseus on canvas. Our conservator, Scott Nolley, is currently working on Angelica Kauffman's Circe and Ulysses, revealing details that have been hidden beneath decades of residue, dirt, grime, before it heads to Naples, Italy to be displayed at Gallerie d’Italia this fall.

These process shots show the partially cleaned areas of the painting, illustrating the work of removing several previous aged and discolored campaigns of varnish and retouching. Close examination revealed that rather than attempt to reduce or remove grime and soiling in the past, previous restoration attempts opted for application of varnish to “brighten up” the image, rather than reversing any previous discolored or failing restorations. The result is a complex accumulation of varnish, soot, dirt and local areas of color adjustments that, when assessed in total, have wholly compromised the chromatic relationships and at the extreme, resulted in restorers “redrawing” areas of the image. All previous restoration took place prior to The Fralin’s acquisition of the painting. Scott and our Collections team carried out cleaning tests and as a result, formulated a custom and precise system of solvents and surfactants to reduce these disfiguring layers consisting of polymerized varnishes, smoke residues, dirt and grime.

A few fun facts about Circe!
🐷 Circe's most famous trick? She turned Odysseus' crew into pigs. Fortunately for them, Odysseus received a magical herb called moly from the god Hermes, making him immune to her spell.
✨ Circe wasn't just a villain. While she's often remembered as an enchantress, she ultimately becomes one of Odysseus' most important guides, helping him navigate the dangers ahead on his journey home.
🎬 Circe steals every scene she's in. Despite appearing in only a small section of OdysseyMovie she's remained one of the poem's most popular and reimagined characters for nearly 3,000 years.
👑 Angelica Kauffman and Circe had something in common: both challenged expectations. Kauffman became one of the most celebrated female artists of the 18th century, while Circe was a rare mythological woman portrayed as powerful, independent, and a symbol of feminine autonomy.

Details of:
Angelica Kauffmann (b. 1741, Chur, Switzerland; d. 1807, Rome, Italy). Circe and Ulysses, 1786. Oil on canvas, 55 x 41 1/4 x 2 1/8 in. The Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia. Museum purchase with Membership Acquisition Fund, 1976.24

08/13/2026

What does it mean to build a nation, and who makes that construction possible?
When we look at the bridges, factories, and fields that define American life, where do we see the weight of the labor that shaped them?
What Was Built, What Was Born: Labor, Land, & the Body in 20th C. American Art examines how twentieth-century American artists visualized labor and the working class in a rapidly changing nation across painting, sculpture, and works on paper, considering how work reshaped bodies, environments, and ideas of progress amid the physical and social costs of building modern American life.

Come how American artists represented labor through the human body, industrial structures, and abstraction in the 20th century, and on how historical representations of labor connect to contemporary conversations about work, precarity, and efficiency. Join us to August 29!

Ernest Fiene
b. 1894, Elberfeld, Germany; d. 1965, Paris, France
Haying Before an Approaching Storm, n.d.
Oil on canvas
Gift of The Ernest Fiene Foundation, 1989.16
© Estate of Ernest Fiene

George Luks
b. 1867, Williamsport, PA; d. 1933, New York, NY The Blacksmith Shop, ca. 1925 - 27
Oil on canvas
Gift of Susan and Edward Moffett, 1984.40
Copyright restrictions may apply.

Leon Kroll
b. 1884, New York, NY; d. 1974, Gloucester, MA
Queensborough Bridge, 1912
Oil on canvas
Bequest of Mrs. Leon Kroll, 1979.72.1
© Estate of Leon Kroll/Gerald Peters Gallery, NY

08/12/2026

In early spring 1787, Thomas Jefferson set out on a three-month journey to the South of France. He sought information on valuable plants, labor strategies, and monumental architecture that he could translate into the American context. His observations of the terrain, peoples, and customs of the region are recorded in detailed letters and diaries. Yet his selective prospecting of the region’s heritage tended to ignore other histories and experiences, from medieval town planning to the real conditions of French peasant labor.
Come with us to the south of France in 1787–as Jefferson saw it—where we invite you to see what he learned and what he ignored.
Collection and Translation: Thomas Jefferson in Southern France opens August 29!

William Marlow b. 1740, London, England; d. 1813, Twickenham, England
The Amphitheater at Nîmes, undated
Watercolor, pen and gray ink, and graphite on medium, slightly
textured, cream laid paper
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection, B1977.14.4101