A Nation of Artists

Exhibition Info
–
Historic Landmark Building
Curated by
Leah Triplett, Curator of Contemporary Art, Lea C. Stephenson, Kenneth R. Woodcock, Curator of Historical American Art, and Paola Morsiani, Director of the Brodsky Center.
The PAFA Experience: New Stories of American Art

A Nation of Artists at PAFA marks a special moment—the reopening of the Historic Landmark Building, a masterpiece of 19th-century architecture by Frank Furness and George W. Hewitt. As the first structure in the U.S. designed specifically for both exhibition and art education, its legacy as a museum and school for artistic innovation continues.

At PAFA, the exhibition is curated thematically, grouping artworks as never before assembled to explore new ideas, connections, and interpretations of American art. Through these dynamic juxtapositions, visitors will see centuries of American art through a powerful, new lens.

The installation will also include contemporary art from the 21st century, placing today's most exciting living artists in dialogue with those of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. Throughout 2026 and 2027, artist talks and public programs will further enrich the experience of the exhibition, offering opportunities to engage with the artists shaping American art now.

Please select a date of April 12 or later to purchase tickets for A Nation of Artists.

Buy Tickets

Plan Your Visit

Featured Artwork: "Flag," Jasper Johns, 1960-66. Encaustic and printed collage on paper laid down on canvas, 17 1/2 x 26 3/4 (framed 34 3/4 x 44 inches), 1894.4. The Middleton Family Collection.

The exhibition at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Art (PAFA) will collaborate with a simultaneous presentation at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) in celebration of the nation’s 250th anniversary in 2026. Across the two museums, A Nation of Artists will feature more than 1,000 works, including more than 100 iconic paintings and decorative arts from the Middleton Family Collection. Together, these works will offer fresh perspectives on the evolving story of American art and experience.

Exhibition Themes at PAFA

Guided by five core themes, A Nation of Artists at PAFA reimagines what American art has been—and what it can become. It’s an invitation to reflect, to question, and to see the evolving story of this nation through the eyes of its artists.

  1. Prosperity, Abundance, and Inequity  
    Discover how prosperity and inequality have shaped American art—from early portraiture and elite patronage to powerful reflections on labor, migration, and resilience.
  2. Internationalism and Global Exchange  
    Follow American artists abroad and at home to see how global influences shaped their work. From World Fairs to Paris Salons, visitors can explore how artists were influenced by cultural curiosity, artistic exchange, and lifelong learning.
  3. Looking West  
    Visitors feel the tension of American western expansion, colonization, and cultural interchange—revealing how art shaped and challenged our visions of the western frontier and communities. What was the west?
  4. Horizons: Landscapes and Spaces Between  
    From the sublime to the surreal, artists have long turned to the land for inspiration. Examine how nature—real and imagined—has been a place of personal, spiritual, and environmental meaning throughout American art.
  5. Geometry, Industry, and the Modern Imagination  
    Trace how medicine, technology, and modern design transformed visual expression. From geometric cityscapes to abstract patterns, explore how artists engaged with the changing environment and the possibilities of the modern world. 

Artwork from PAFA's Collection

Charles Willson Peale lifts a curtain to reveal his museum gallery filled with natural specimens, portraits, and family visitors, symbolizing his dedication to education and American art.
Charles Willson Peale, The Artist in His Museum, 1822. Oil on canvas, 103 3/4 × 79 7/8 in. Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Gift of Mrs. Sarah Harrison, 1878.1.2.
Benjamin West depicts William Penn meeting with Lenni Lenape leaders in a symbolic scene of peace and unity, blending Quaker ideals with Neoclassical style.
Benjamin West, Penn’s Treaty with the Indians, 1771–1772. Oil on canvas, 75 1/2 × 107 3/4 in. Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Gift of Mrs. Sarah Harrison, 1878.1.10.
A red fox flees through deep snow as a flock of crows descends menacingly, capturing the harsh struggle for survival in winter on the Maine coast.
Winslow Homer, Fox Hunt, 1893. Oil on canvas, 38 × 68 1/2 in. Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Joseph E. Temple Fund, 1894.4.
Henry Ossawa Tanner portrays a nighttime meeting between Jesus and Nicodemus, illuminated by dramatic light and infused with quiet spiritual intensity.
Henry Ossawa Tanner, Nicodemus, 1899. Oil on canvas, 33 11/16 × 39 1/2 in. Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Joseph E. Temple Fund, 1900.1.
Marsden Hartley’s Flower Abstraction bursts with vivid color and jagged forms, blending Cubist structure with floral energy in a bold, Berlin-period composition.
Marsden Hartley, Flower Abstraction, 1914. Oil on canvas, 42 3/8 × 34 7/8 in. Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, The Vivian O. and Meyer P. Potamkin Collection, 2003.1.4.
Georgia O’Keeffe’s Red Canna magnifies the curves and colors of a flower into a bold, abstract composition that evokes sensuality and monumental presence.
Georgia O’Keeffe, Red Canna, 1923. Oil on canvas. 12 × 9 7/8 in. Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, The Vivian O. and Meyer P. Potamkin Collection, 2003.1.8.
A softly lit 19th-century painting of a young child reclining indoors, their pale clothing and relaxed posture conveying tenderness and vulnerability, with muted tones and gentle brushwork creating an intimate, contemplative mood.
Cecilia Beaux (1855–1942), Les Derniers jours d’enfrance (The Last Days of Infancy), 1883–85. Oil on canvas, 45 ¾ x 54 in. Gift of Cecilia Drinker Saltonstall, 1989.21.
A large, dramatic oil painting showing Dr. Samuel D. Gross performing surgery in a lecture hall, surrounded by medical students observing attentively, with realistic anatomy, dramatic lighting, and intense expressions conveying the seriousness and tension of the surgical scene.
Thomas Eakins (1844–1916), Portrait of Dr. Samuel D. Gross (The Gross Clinic), 1875. Oil on canvas, 96 x 78 ½ in. Gift of the Alumni Association to Jefferson Medical College in 1878 and purchased by the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 2007 with the generous support of more than 3,400 donors, 2007.2.

Artwork from the Middleton Family Collection

An impressionistic oil painting depicting two women lounging in a sunlit Corfu garden, one seated on a stone ledge reading in a white and pale blue dress, the other reclining in a straw hat and white dress, set against dark foliage and bright sky reflected in water, rendered with broad, expressive brushstrokes.
John Singer Sargent (1856–1925), In a Garden, Corfu, 1909. Oil on canvas, 36 x 28 in. The Middleton Family Collection.
An intimate domestic scene by Mary Cassatt depicting a woman in a red patterned robe holding an infant on her lap while a young girl in a white and yellow floral dress leans in to look at the baby, rendered with bold patterns, flattened perspective, and rich color reflecting the artist’s modern, unsentimental style influenced by Japanese woodblock prints, and held in the White House Collection.
Mary Cassatt (1844–1926), Mother and Sara Admiring the Baby, c. 1901. Oil on canvas, 36 1/4 x 29 in. The Middleton Family Collection.
A painting by Thomas Moran depicting the Yellowstone River cutting through a rocky canyon in a dramatic V-shaped composition, with vibrant blues contrasting earthy greens, browns, and ochres, shafts of light illuminating the rock strata and mist from waterfalls, scattered firs and pines, and tiny figures—including possibly a Native American and survey members—providing scale to evoke the grand, almost spiritual magnitude of nature.
Thomas Moran (1837–1926), Mists in the Yellowstone, 1908. Oil on canvas, 30 x 45 in. The Middleton Family Collection.

Press

Press Release

Press Kit

MEDIA / PRESS: Please email marketing@pafa.org for access to a folder of graphics and related information.

Related Events
Art At Noon

A Nation of Artists Preview

Get a first look at A Nation of Artists before it opens to the public. PAFA curators Lea C. Stephenson, Kenneth R. Woodcock Curator of Historical American Art, and Leah Triplett, Curator of Contemporary Art, come together for an intimate preview conversation exploring the surprising stories, overlooked artists, and bold curatorial choices behind this landmark exhibition marking America’s 250th anniversary.
Special Events

PAFA 220 Anniversary Soirée

A curated evening of art, music, and dining—with an exclusive first look at A Nation of Artists. Join the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts for an unforgettable celebration marking 220 years of artistic leadership. This formal evening brings together collectors, cultural leaders, artists, and supporters for an immersive experience honoring PAFA’s past, present, and future.
Exhibition Opening Day

A Nation of Artists

Celebrate the opening of A Nation of Artists at PAFA, marking the reopening of the Historic Landmark Building. This landmark exhibition reimagines the story of American art, featuring iconic paintings, decorative arts, and contemporary works from the 18th century to today.
News and Press

A Nation of Artists: PAFA and PMA Present Landmark Exhibition with Middleton Family Collection

Press Preview: April 10, 2026

Philadelphia, February 12, 2026 – The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) and the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) present A Nation of Artists, a landmark exhibition and collaboration with the private Middleton Family Collection, on view from April 2026 to September 2027.

Organized in conjunction with America’s 250th anniversary, A Nation of Artists examines how artistic production in the United States has been shaped by creativity, exchange, expansion, conflict, and innovation. At PAFA, works made from the late 18th century to today will be arranged

The Philadelphia Inquirer | John Middleton’s secret art collection is coming out of the shadows in a blockbuster two-museum show

“In Philadelphia, John Middleton is known as the baseball guy with some very baseball ambitions. The managing partner of the Phillies has boldly declared his intention to make the team one of the winningest ever.

In another realm, though, Middleton has already achieved a distinction — as one of the world’s top art collectors.

Middleton and his wife, Leigh, have amassed ‘one of the greatest collections of American art in private hands,’ said the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s Kathleen A. Foster. ‘It’s a set of masterpieces.’

Those masterpieces have been a closely held asset. ‘The details surrounding

EXHIBITION SUPPORT

A Nation of Artists is organized by the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.

Lead support for the exhibition and programs is provided by The Middleton Family.

Major support is provided by the Connelly Foundation, The Victory Foundation, and an anonymous donor.  

Significant support is provided by The City of Philadelphia and Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, the Philadelphia Funder Collaborative for the Semiquincentennial, Schoelkopf Fine Art Advisors, and Grace and Andrew Schoelkopf.

Additional support is provided by the 25th Century Foundation, Lawrence H. and Julie C. Berger, Mr.* and Mrs. John A. Nyheim, Marsha and Richard Rothman Family Foundation, an anonymous donor, and other generous supporters.

This exhibition is sponsored by

 

 

 

 


Funding for the publication is generously provided by

 

 


The presentation of A Nation of Artists at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is made possible by significant grants from the Henry Luce Foundation, Richard C. von Hess Foundation,  Julie Jensen Bryan and in memory of Robert Bryan, the Terra Foundation for American Art, the William Penn Foundation, Atelier Fine Art Services, LLC, and generous individual donors.

 

 

 

 

 

All exhibitions at the Philadelphia Museum of Art are underwritten by the Annual Exhibition Fund. Generous support is provided by Andrea Baldeck, M.D.; Julia and David Fleischner; Robert Hayes; and Mark W. Strong and Dana Strong.

 

We're so excited you're planning to visit PAFA! 

Make time for art — visit us Thursday to Sunday.
Before reserving your tickets, please review helpful information about museum hours, accessibility, building access, and special admission programs. 

BUY TICKETS  Membership

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to us at visitorservices@pafa.org — we’d love to help!

 

 

Subscribe to PAFA Happenings

* indicates required

Are you currently a PAFA member? *

Are you a PAFA graduate? *

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts will use the information you provide on this form to be in touch with you and to provide updates and marketing. Please confirm that you would like to hear from us:

You can change your mind at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in the footer of any email you receive from us, or by contacting us at marketing@pafa.org. We will treat your information with respect. For more information about our privacy practices please visit our website. By clicking below, you agree that we may process your information in accordance with these terms.

We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By clicking below to subscribe, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Mailchimp's privacy practices.