The Addison Gallery, located on the campus of Phillips Academy in Andover, MA, is free and open to the public. Plan your visit >
Our Mission
Home to a world-class collection of American art, the Addison Gallery, located on the campus of Phillips Academy in Andover, MA, presents an adventurous exhibition program, hosts a vital artist-in-residence program, and works collaboratively with students and faculty at the Academy and in neighboring communities. Through our ongoing query What is America?, the Addison seeks to engage with the history of American art and American experience—past, present, and future.
About Our Collection
Comprised of more than 28,000 works in all media—painting, sculpture, photography, drawings, prints, and decorative arts—from the 18th century to the present, the Addison Gallery’s collection of American art is one of the most important in the world.
The museum’s founding collection included major works by such prominent American artists as John Singleton Copley, Thomas Eakins, Winslow Homer, Maurice Prendergast, John Singer Sargent, John Twachtman, and James McNeill Whistler.
In the nine decades since, aggressive purchasing and generous gifts have added works by such artists as Mark Bradford, Alexander Calder, Stuart Davis, Arthur Dove, Walker Evans, Robert Frank, Marsden Hartley, Hans Hofmann, Edward Hopper, Kerry James Marshall, Eadweard Muybridge, Georgia O’Keeffe, Jackson Pollock, Charles Sheeler, Lorna Simpson, John Sloan, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Frank Stella, Kara Walker, and Stanley Whitney.
June Leaf: Shooting from the Heart opens tomorrow (March 15th)!
Across a 75-year career, the artist, storyteller, dancer, and engineer June Leaf (1929-2024) produced an extraordinary body of work that revels in the human experience in all its banality and sublimity. Playfully navigating the planes of the real and the imaged, Leaf’s piercing eye and art powerfully hold a mirror up to essential human truths, reminding us of our shared humanity.
The most comprehensive exhibition of the artist’s work in more than three decades, this retrospective considers the breath of Leaf’s career with more than 150 sculptures, paintings, and works on paper placed in dynamic conversations across media and time to reveal the artist’s sustained engagement with such motifs and themes as the human drama, theater, dance, performance, motion, gender, and interpersonal relationships.
An accompanying catalogue, co-published with @rizzolibooks, will be available soon!
June Leaf: Shooting from the Heart is co-organized by the Addison Gallery of American Art and the Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College. Major support for this project has been provided by the Estate of June Leaf with additional funding provided by The June Leaf and Robert Frank Foundation (formerly the Andrea Frank Foundation), John and Sally Van Doren (PA 1980), and the Allen Memorial Art Museum’s John H. ’29 and Marjorie Fox ’29 Wieland Current-Use AMAM Support Fund.
June Leaf, “Mother Goose” Emerging Artist in Studio, 1976. Charcoal, ink, and collage on paper, 22 1/2 x 28 1/2 inches. Collection Estate of June Leaf. Courtesy Hyphen, New York. © The Estate of June Leaf. Photo: Alice Attie
#juneleaf #shootingfromtheheart
June Leaf: Shooting from the Heart opens tomorrow (March 15th)!
Across a 75-year career, the artist, storyteller, dancer, and engineer June Leaf (1929-2024) produced an extraordinary body of work that revels in the human experience in all its banality and sublimity. Playfully navigating the planes of the real and the imaged, Leaf’s piercing eye and art powerfully hold a mirror up to essential human truths, reminding us of our shared humanity.
The most comprehensive exhibition of the artist’s work in more than three decades, this retrospective considers the breath of Leaf’s career with more than 150 sculptures, paintings, and works on paper placed in dynamic conversations across media and time to reveal the artist’s sustained engagement with such motifs and themes as the human drama, theater, dance, performance, motion, gender, and interpersonal relationships.
An accompanying catalogue, co-published with @rizzolibooks, will be available soon!
June Leaf: Shooting from the Heart is co-organized by the Addison Gallery of American Art and the Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College. Major support for this project has been provided by the Estate of June Leaf with additional funding provided by The June Leaf and Robert Frank Foundation (formerly the Andrea Frank Foundation), John and Sally Van Doren (PA 1980), and the Allen Memorial Art Museum’s John H. ’29 and Marjorie Fox ’29 Wieland Current-Use AMAM Support Fund.
June Leaf, “Mother Goose” Emerging Artist in Studio, 1976. Charcoal, ink, and collage on paper, 22 1/2 x 28 1/2 inches. Collection Estate of June Leaf. Courtesy Hyphen, New York. © The Estate of June Leaf. Photo: Alice Attie
#juneleaf #shootingfromtheheart
Thank you to @artnews for including “June Leaf: Shooting from the Heart” on your list of the “66 Museum Exhibitions to See This Spring.”
ARTnews notes: “I work with these figures until I am released from them,” June Leaf once said. True to her word, she remained committed to figuration until her passing last July, leaving behind an indefinable body of work that spanned a sculptural version of a Vermeer painting and sculptures that moved at the touch of a trigger. Her inventive oeuvre has been elusive, and that makes this retrospective of her work a must-see for this under-known giant of recent American art history.
Don’t miss “June Leaf: Shooting from the Heart,” opening here at the Addison on March 15th!
#juneleaf #shootingfromtheheart
Thank you to @artnews for including “June Leaf: Shooting from the Heart” on your list of the “66 Museum Exhibitions to See This Spring.”
ARTnews notes: “I work with these figures until I am released from them,” June Leaf once said. True to her word, she remained committed to figuration until her passing last July, leaving behind an indefinable body of work that spanned a sculptural version of a Vermeer painting and sculptures that moved at the touch of a trigger. Her inventive oeuvre has been elusive, and that makes this retrospective of her work a must-see for this under-known giant of recent American art history.
Don’t miss “June Leaf: Shooting from the Heart,” opening here at the Addison on March 15th!
#juneleaf #shootingfromtheheart
Study Hours @addisongalleryofamericanart: Wednesday, March 5, 5:00 – 8:00pm.
Looking for a quiet place to get work done? Tables will be set up for studying in the galleries, peer tutors from the @pa.academicskillscenter will be available for @phillipsacademy students 5:00 – 6:30, and there will be snacks + @espresso_dave’s pop-up coffee cart if you need an energy boost.
All are welcome, no reservations required. Please note that the second-floor galleries will be closed at this time.
Co-sponsored by Phillips Academy’s Academic Skills Center.
Study Hours @addisongalleryofamericanart: Wednesday, March 5, 5:00 – 8:00pm.
Looking for a quiet place to get work done? Tables will be set up for studying in the galleries, peer tutors from the @pa.academicskillscenter will be available for @phillipsacademy students 5:00 – 6:30, and there will be snacks + @espresso_dave’s pop-up coffee cart if you need an energy boost.
All are welcome, no reservations required. Please note that the second-floor galleries will be closed at this time.
Co-sponsored by Phillips Academy’s Academic Skills Center.
Join us tomorrow (Tuesday, March 4th) from 5:00 to 6:30 to celebrate the opening of The Art of Opposition, an exhibition curated by @phillipsacademy students enrolled in Art 400 Visual Culture: Curating the Addison Collection. Enjoy great company (we can’t guarantee that without you coming), light refreshments, and a hands-on art activity led by students!
Rebellion has long fueled resilience, igniting the courage to challenge norms and reimagine the standards of society. This exhibition explores how creativity becomes an act of defiance, questioning power structures and reshaping narratives. Rebellion describes deliberate acts of resistance that disrupt the status quo. Resilience is the strength to endure and rebuild in the face of adversity.
The Art of Opposition captures the interplay between art and resistance in two different ways: art as a form of resistance and the artistic documentation of rebellion. On one hand, there are works born from rebellion—pieces that challenge norms or confront injustice. On the other, there are images that capture the energy of rebellion and youth, reflecting the enduring spirit of defiance.
Tabitha Soren (born 1967). facebook.com/kathleenwedgworth.reed/tear-gas-on-oakland-protest, 2016. Archival pigment print. 40 x 30 inches. Gift of Mary and Dan Solomon in memory of Dixie Lewis, 2024136
#theartofopposition #tabithasoren #addisongalleryofamericanart
Join us tomorrow (Tuesday, March 4th) from 5:00 to 6:30 to celebrate the opening of The Art of Opposition, an exhibition curated by @phillipsacademy students enrolled in Art 400 Visual Culture: Curating the Addison Collection. Enjoy great company (we can’t guarantee that without you coming), light refreshments, and a hands-on art activity led by students!
Rebellion has long fueled resilience, igniting the courage to challenge norms and reimagine the standards of society. This exhibition explores how creativity becomes an act of defiance, questioning power structures and reshaping narratives. Rebellion describes deliberate acts of resistance that disrupt the status quo. Resilience is the strength to endure and rebuild in the face of adversity.
The Art of Opposition captures the interplay between art and resistance in two different ways: art as a form of resistance and the artistic documentation of rebellion. On one hand, there are works born from rebellion—pieces that challenge norms or confront injustice. On the other, there are images that capture the energy of rebellion and youth, reflecting the enduring spirit of defiance.
Tabitha Soren (born 1967). facebook.com/kathleenwedgworth.reed/tear-gas-on-oakland-protest, 2016. Archival pigment print. 40 x 30 inches. Gift of Mary and Dan Solomon in memory of Dixie Lewis, 2024136
#theartofopposition #tabithasoren #addisongalleryofamericanart
Please join us in wishing the great Kay WalkingStick a wonderful 90th birthday! We were very fortunate to present Kay’s remarkable work here at the Addison in Kay WalkingStick / Hudson River School, organized by the New York Historical. The Addison is also particularly fortunate to have Kay’s work in its permanent collection!
Created while WalkingStick was a student in the MFA program at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, Untitled (A) is part of an important early series of experimental and innovative paintings and works on paper that signal the beginning of the artist’s prolonged, deliberate engagement with Indigenous themes and motifs. Following a series of increasingly abstract paintings that deconstructed the “simple iconic shape” of the apron, WalkingStick shifted her focus to creating a body of work that interrogated the iconic form of the tipi—here distilled into a bowed rectangle at the center of the composition. While Untitled (A) could be perceived as a work of pure abstraction, its horizontal orientation, sense of depth, and crepuscular color palette evoke a dazzling southwestern sunset.
Kay WalkingStick (born 1935). Untitled (A), 1974. Acrylic, wax, and ink on paper. 14 x 17 inches. Museum purchase, 2024.165
#kaywalkingstick
Please join us in wishing the great Kay WalkingStick a wonderful 90th birthday! We were very fortunate to present Kay’s remarkable work here at the Addison in Kay WalkingStick / Hudson River School, organized by the New York Historical. The Addison is also particularly fortunate to have Kay’s work in its permanent collection!
Created while WalkingStick was a student in the MFA program at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, Untitled (A) is part of an important early series of experimental and innovative paintings and works on paper that signal the beginning of the artist’s prolonged, deliberate engagement with Indigenous themes and motifs. Following a series of increasingly abstract paintings that deconstructed the “simple iconic shape” of the apron, WalkingStick shifted her focus to creating a body of work that interrogated the iconic form of the tipi—here distilled into a bowed rectangle at the center of the composition. While Untitled (A) could be perceived as a work of pure abstraction, its horizontal orientation, sense of depth, and crepuscular color palette evoke a dazzling southwestern sunset.
Kay WalkingStick (born 1935). Untitled (A), 1974. Acrylic, wax, and ink on paper. 14 x 17 inches. Museum purchase, 2024.165
#kaywalkingstick
Happy Valentine’s Day from your pals at the Addison! The Addison Community Ambassadors have prepared some special cards for you to share with your loved ones—all inspired by works from the permanent collection that are currently on view in Dynamic Duos!
👯♀️ Diane Arbus printed by Neil Selkirk. Identical twins, Cathleen (l.) and Colleen, members of a twin club in New Jersey, 1966. Gelatin silver print. Gift of the Stephen C. Sherrill Collection of American Art Foundation, 2024.122.2.1
🐮 Mary Ellen Mark. Twins Dressed As Cows, 1998. Gelatin silver print. Gift of Dr. and Mrs. George A. Violin, 2021.119
👑 Diane Arbus printed by Neil Selkirk. Their numbers were picked out of a hat. They were just chosen King and Queen of a senior citizens dance in N.Y.C. Yetta Granat is 72 and Charles Fahrer is 79. They have never met before, 1970. Gelatin silver print. Gift of the Stephen C. Sherrill Collection of American Art Foundation, 2024.122.2.10
🥩 Bill Owens. Sunday afternoon we get it together. I cook the steaks and my wife makes the salads, from Suburbia, 1972, printed 1998. Gelatin silver print. Gift of Katherine D. and Stephen C. Sherrill (PA 1971, and P 2005, 2007, 2010), 2006.77.66
🐕 William Wegman. Untitled, 1997. Polaroid. Museum purchase, 1999.5
🏖️ Wayne F. Miller. Father and son at Lake Michigan, 1947. Gelatin silver print. Gift of the Wayne F. Miller Family, 2023.33
#addisongalleryofamericanart @addisoncommunityambassadors
Happy Valentine’s Day from your pals at the Addison! The Addison Community Ambassadors have prepared some special cards for you to share with your loved ones—all inspired by works from the permanent collection that are currently on view in Dynamic Duos!
👯♀️ Diane Arbus printed by Neil Selkirk. Identical twins, Cathleen (l.) and Colleen, members of a twin club in New Jersey, 1966. Gelatin silver print. Gift of the Stephen C. Sherrill Collection of American Art Foundation, 2024.122.2.1
🐮 Mary Ellen Mark. Twins Dressed As Cows, 1998. Gelatin silver print. Gift of Dr. and Mrs. George A. Violin, 2021.119
👑 Diane Arbus printed by Neil Selkirk. Their numbers were picked out of a hat. They were just chosen King and Queen of a senior citizens dance in N.Y.C. Yetta Granat is 72 and Charles Fahrer is 79. They have never met before, 1970. Gelatin silver print. Gift of the Stephen C. Sherrill Collection of American Art Foundation, 2024.122.2.10
🥩 Bill Owens. Sunday afternoon we get it together. I cook the steaks and my wife makes the salads, from Suburbia, 1972, printed 1998. Gelatin silver print. Gift of Katherine D. and Stephen C. Sherrill (PA 1971, and P 2005, 2007, 2010), 2006.77.66
🐕 William Wegman. Untitled, 1997. Polaroid. Museum purchase, 1999.5
🏖️ Wayne F. Miller. Father and son at Lake Michigan, 1947. Gelatin silver print. Gift of the Wayne F. Miller Family, 2023.33
#addisongalleryofamericanart @addisoncommunityambassadors
New release! Hayes Prize 2023: Reggie Burrows Hodges is now available!
We are pleased to announce the release of Hayes Prize 2023: Reggie Burrows Hodges, the publication accompanying the Addison’s inaugural Hayes Prize exhibition featuring artist Reggie Burrows Hodges. In this 2023 exhibition, Hodges presented a new body of work that contemplated the notion of turning a big ship—of marshalling collective will and labor to resist a powerful current.
The richly illustrated publication includes a new essay on Hodges’s work by Addison Assistant Curator Rachel Vogel, a poem by Imani Elizabeth Jackson inspired by the paintings, and beautiful full-color photography of the paintings and exhibition, as well as images from Sea Change, a related exhibition of works from the Addison’s permanent collection.
The publication retails for $25 and can be purchased in the Addison’s museum shop or ordered by phone at 978.749.4015 (we’re old school).
#reggieburrowshodges #hayesprize #addisongalleryofamericanart
New release! Hayes Prize 2023: Reggie Burrows Hodges is now available!
We are pleased to announce the release of Hayes Prize 2023: Reggie Burrows Hodges, the publication accompanying the Addison’s inaugural Hayes Prize exhibition featuring artist Reggie Burrows Hodges. In this 2023 exhibition, Hodges presented a new body of work that contemplated the notion of turning a big ship—of marshalling collective will and labor to resist a powerful current.
The richly illustrated publication includes a new essay on Hodges’s work by Addison Assistant Curator Rachel Vogel, a poem by Imani Elizabeth Jackson inspired by the paintings, and beautiful full-color photography of the paintings and exhibition, as well as images from Sea Change, a related exhibition of works from the Addison’s permanent collection.
The publication retails for $25 and can be purchased in the Addison’s museum shop or ordered by phone at 978.749.4015 (we’re old school).
#reggieburrowshodges #hayesprize #addisongalleryofamericanart
Unsurprisingly, the Addison will close a bit early today (2/6) at 3:00 PM due to the inclement weather.
Harry Callahan. Weeds in Snow, Detroit, 1943. Gelatin silver print. Gift of the Stephen C. Sherrill Collection of American Art Foundation, 2024.122.6.1
#harrycallahan #addisongalleryofamericanart
Unsurprisingly, the Addison will close a bit early today (2/6) at 3:00 PM due to the inclement weather.
Harry Callahan. Weeds in Snow, Detroit, 1943. Gelatin silver print. Gift of the Stephen C. Sherrill Collection of American Art Foundation, 2024.122.6.1
#harrycallahan #addisongalleryofamericanart
“I hope that my painting has the impact of giving someone, as it did me, the feeling of his own totality, of his own separateness, of his own individuality.”—Barnett Newman
Barnett Newman, the great American painter and theorist, was born on this day in 1905 in New York City. A titan of American abstraction, Newman left behind a relatively small corpus of work—some 118 paintings and 82 drawings. The Addison is proud to hold a major Newman painting in its collection—Argos, 1949—in addition to a later ink drawing. Best known for his utilization of vertical “zips” of color, Argos is one of only four known works by Newman that feature horizontal zips! Argos is currently on view in Playing to Our Strengths: Highlights from the Permanent Collection.
Barnett Newman (1905-1970). Argos, 1949. Oil on canvas. Gift of The Barnett and Annalee Newman Foundation, 2007.29
#barnettnewman
“I hope that my painting has the impact of giving someone, as it did me, the feeling of his own totality, of his own separateness, of his own individuality.”—Barnett Newman
Barnett Newman, the great American painter and theorist, was born on this day in 1905 in New York City. A titan of American abstraction, Newman left behind a relatively small corpus of work—some 118 paintings and 82 drawings. The Addison is proud to hold a major Newman painting in its collection—Argos, 1949—in addition to a later ink drawing. Best known for his utilization of vertical “zips” of color, Argos is one of only four known works by Newman that feature horizontal zips! Argos is currently on view in Playing to Our Strengths: Highlights from the Permanent Collection.
Barnett Newman (1905-1970). Argos, 1949. Oil on canvas. Gift of The Barnett and Annalee Newman Foundation, 2007.29
#barnettnewman
We can hardly believe it but Kay WalkingStick / Hudson River School closes on February 2nd!
Organized by the @nyhistory, Kay WalkingStick / Hudson River School places landscape paintings by the renowned, contemporary Cherokee artist Kay WalkingStick in conversation with highlights from New-York Historical’s collection of 19th-century Hudson River School paintings. This artistic dialogue showcases the ways in which WalkingStick’s work both connects to and diverges from the Hudson River School tradition and explores the agency of art in shaping humankind’s relationship to the land. The exhibition celebrates a shared reverence for nature while engaging crucial questions about land dispossession and its reclamation by Indigenous peoples and nations and exploring the relationship between Indigenous art and American art history.
Highlights of the exhibition’s more than 40 works include WalkingStick’s sole landscape referencing the Trail of Tears (a journey her Cherokee ancestors were forced to take); examples of her early painted sculptural abstractions inspired by nature; and several of her most recent paintings—like Niagara and Aquidneck After the Storm—which overlay geographically specific abstract Indigenous patterns onto representational landscapes in order to re-assert an Indigenous presence long erased in European settlers’ depictions of North America as a pristine and unpopulated wilderness. Native American objects on loan from the artist and other museum collections, including woven baskets and ceramic jars, offer insight into WalkingStick’s source patterns and artistic process. At the Addison, over a dozen landscape paintings from the museum’s collection join the N-YHS’s Hudson River School works.
This exhibition has been organized by the New-York Historical Society.
Major support for Kay WalkingStick / Hudson River School is provided by the Lily Auchincloss Foundation. Generous support for the Addison’s presentation of this exhibition has been provided by Katherine D. and Stephen C. Sherrill (PA 1971, and P 2005, 2007, 2010) and the Elizabeth and Anthony Enders Exhibitions Fund.
#kaywalkingstick #addisongalleryofamericanart
We can hardly believe it but Kay WalkingStick / Hudson River School closes on February 2nd!
Organized by the @nyhistory, Kay WalkingStick / Hudson River School places landscape paintings by the renowned, contemporary Cherokee artist Kay WalkingStick in conversation with highlights from New-York Historical’s collection of 19th-century Hudson River School paintings. This artistic dialogue showcases the ways in which WalkingStick’s work both connects to and diverges from the Hudson River School tradition and explores the agency of art in shaping humankind’s relationship to the land. The exhibition celebrates a shared reverence for nature while engaging crucial questions about land dispossession and its reclamation by Indigenous peoples and nations and exploring the relationship between Indigenous art and American art history.
Highlights of the exhibition’s more than 40 works include WalkingStick’s sole landscape referencing the Trail of Tears (a journey her Cherokee ancestors were forced to take); examples of her early painted sculptural abstractions inspired by nature; and several of her most recent paintings—like Niagara and Aquidneck After the Storm—which overlay geographically specific abstract Indigenous patterns onto representational landscapes in order to re-assert an Indigenous presence long erased in European settlers’ depictions of North America as a pristine and unpopulated wilderness. Native American objects on loan from the artist and other museum collections, including woven baskets and ceramic jars, offer insight into WalkingStick’s source patterns and artistic process. At the Addison, over a dozen landscape paintings from the museum’s collection join the N-YHS’s Hudson River School works.
This exhibition has been organized by the New-York Historical Society.
Major support for Kay WalkingStick / Hudson River School is provided by the Lily Auchincloss Foundation. Generous support for the Addison’s presentation of this exhibition has been provided by Katherine D. and Stephen C. Sherrill (PA 1971, and P 2005, 2007, 2010) and the Elizabeth and Anthony Enders Exhibitions Fund.
#kaywalkingstick #addisongalleryofamericanart
Virtual program announcement! Join us on Zoom on Tuesday, January 14th at 3:00 Eastern for “Caring for Native American Collections.”
In conjunction with the Addison Gallery of American Art’s presentation of Kay WalkingStick / Hudson River School, join Marla Taylor, Curator of Collections, and Ryan Wheeler, Director, from Phillips Academy’s Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology (@peabodyandover ) on Zoom for a free virtual conversation on a museum’s role and responsibilities in stewarding Native American cultural material. The Peabody Institute has lent several works from their vast collection to the Addison’s installation. This free program is organized with Andover’s Memorial Hall Library. Registration is required. Click the link in our bio for more information and to register!
Photograph of Marla Taylor and Ryan Wheeler by Henry Marte (@martemedia)
#addisongalleryofamericanart
Virtual program announcement! Join us on Zoom on Tuesday, January 14th at 3:00 Eastern for “Caring for Native American Collections.”
In conjunction with the Addison Gallery of American Art’s presentation of Kay WalkingStick / Hudson River School, join Marla Taylor, Curator of Collections, and Ryan Wheeler, Director, from Phillips Academy’s Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology (@peabodyandover ) on Zoom for a free virtual conversation on a museum’s role and responsibilities in stewarding Native American cultural material. The Peabody Institute has lent several works from their vast collection to the Addison’s installation. This free program is organized with Andover’s Memorial Hall Library. Registration is required. Click the link in our bio for more information and to register!
Photograph of Marla Taylor and Ryan Wheeler by Henry Marte (@martemedia)
#addisongalleryofamericanart
Join us for an artmaking workshop for teens by teens. Inspired by contemporary Cherokee artist Kay WalkingStick’s abstracted landscapes, experiment with your own perspective on place through paint.
Open to high school students of all levels, no art experience necessary. This workshop is free, but space is limited and registration is required: https://bit.ly/addison11225 (link in bio).
Join us for an artmaking workshop for teens by teens. Inspired by contemporary Cherokee artist Kay WalkingStick’s abstracted landscapes, experiment with your own perspective on place through paint.
Open to high school students of all levels, no art experience necessary. This workshop is free, but space is limited and registration is required: https://bit.ly/addison11225 (link in bio).
Addison Stories
