Five art experts on their favorite pieces in Making American Artists: Stories from PAFA, 1776-1976.

"If there is an American artist whose work, over the last century or so, has amazed you, chances are the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts has had some role to play in the making of it. Its ongoing “Making American Artists: Stories from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1776–1976″ exhibit “explores the role that art has played in influencing our national history and identity over 200 years,” according to PAFA. It reckons with the Academy’s own role in shaping American art across decades, including which artists were elevated and which were shut out." –Bedatri D.Choudhury