The first in-depth examination of highly influential but often under-appreciated artist H.C. Westermann’s (American, 1922-1981) early works, Dreaming of a Speech Without Words: the Paintings and Early Objects of H.C. Westermann seeks to present through his art what Westermann often struggled to verbalize. Comprising about 70 objects and curated by Michael Rooks, Curator of European and American Art, Honolulu Academy of Arts, the exhibition will be on view June 30 through September 16, 2007, in the Academy’s Samuel M.V. Hamilton Building.

PHILADELPHIA – The theme of space exploration — its infinite potential, as well as its historical successes and failures — is the focus of Space Is the Place, featuring installations, paintings, works on paper, and sound and video works made during the past 15 years by an international group of contemporary artists. Installed in the Fisher Brooks Gallery of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts from October 20 to December 30, 2007, the exhibition is curated by Alex Baker, Curator of Contemporary Art at the Pennsylvania Academy, and Toby Kamps, Curator at Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. Space Is the Place is organized and circulated by iCI (Independent Curators International).

PHILADELPHIA – With over 85 oil paintings, works on paper, and decorative objects drawn from a variety of public and private collections, Cecilia Beaux, American Figure Painter seeks to place noted Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts alumna, professor, and Philadelphia native Cecilia Beaux (1855-1942) in a new position in American art history. Curated by Sylvia Yount, Curator of American Art at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and former Academy curator, the exhibition is organized at the Academy by Senior Curator Lynn Marsden-Atlass.  The Academy will be the final stop for the exhibition, the first Beaux retrospective of its kind in over 30 years. The exhibition will be on view February 2 to April 13, 2008, and will have previously been at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta and the Tacoma Art Museum in Washington State. 

PHILADELPHIA – Comprised of 34 works by Modernist and Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts alumnus Charles Demuth (1883-1935), Out of the Chateau: Works from the Demuth Museum represents the first touring exhibition of the permanent collection of the Demuth Museum in Lancaster, PA. Lancaster provided Demuth with both artistic inspiration and personal refuge and it was here, in his “chateau,” where the artist created the vast majority of his works. Lancaster was also the counterpoint to Demuth’s engagement with an international community of artists, through his European tours and regular trips to New York and Provincetown. Curated by Anne M. Lampe, Executive Director of the Demuth Museum and organized at the Academy by Senior Curator Lynn Marsden-Atlass, the exhibition will be on view in the Academy’s Historic Landmark Building from September 22 to December 9, 2007. 

PHILADELPHIA – The gritty, confessional, and deftly humorous paintings of Steve Powers will be the focus of his first solo museum show, The Magic Word, in the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts’ Morris Gallery October 20, 2007 to January 27, 2008. The exhibition is curated by Alex Baker, the Academy’s Curator of Contemporary Art, and will open with a free public reception from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, October 19, 2007.

PHILADELPHIA— On November 3, 1899, The Philadelphia Public Ledger quoted painter William Merritt Chase declaring that Cecilia Beaux was “not only the greatest living woman painter, but the best that has ever lived.”