News

WURD host Nick Taliaferro interviewing Eric Pryor

WURD Radio has reshared the interviews from their Black History Month live broadcast at PAFA! Follow the link below to watch the full program and find more photos.

"Evening WURDs host Nick Taliaferro kicked off the event by interviewing Eric Pryor, PAFA’s first Black president in its 217-year…

In the News
Peter Van Dyck painting

The work of painting faculty, Peter Van Dyck, is explored in Trebuchet Magazine's latest issue, Process.

Van Dyck’s process brings whoever is watching into soft afternoons and empty streets touched with the light melancholy of contemplative solitude. Our eyes, following the graceful curves of…

In the News
AXA logo

The AXA Art Prize shines a spotlight on the re-emergence of figurative art and the undiscovered stars of its future.

"We're pleased to introduce Regional Juror, Clint Jukkala. Jukkala is the Dean of the School of Fine Arts at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and previously served as the…

In the News
Eric Pryor in Museum
As part of their Black History Month series on "Visions" 6ABC reports on Eric Pryor's appointment as President & CEO, with video and article introducing his background and vision for PAFA.
In the News
Painting Les derniers jours d'enfance by Cecilia Beaux of young boy on mother's lap
"These amusing letters implied and enhanced so many intricacies in the maternal relationship depicted in Beaux’s Les dernier jours d’enfance, and they continue to make my understanding of the portrait that much richer. Beaux’s subjects were not merely symbols of a mother and child—they were a real…
In the News
Joan Semmel sits in studio between two paintings
"SEMMEL’S RETROSPECTIVE AT the PAFA is a thoughtfully curated (by Jodi Throckmorton), beautifully hung presentation of an entirely ravishing collection of her work."
In the News
installation view of two walls of paintings by Joan Semmel
Co-chief art critic of The New York Times, Roberta Smith, included PAFA's Joan Semmel retrospective in the "Best Art Exhibitions of 2021."
In the News
painted illustration of carnations by rosa m towne

Edward Tabor shares the discovery of hidden illustrated books in Harvard's Botanical Museum and how it connects to Shakespeare and a PAFA student, Rosa M. Towne (1827-1909), who painted illustrations of  plants mentioned by Shakespeare.

From Tabor: 

"She wrote that she had decided to do the…

In the News
Florine Stettheimer, (1871-1944) "Picnic at Bedford Hills" (1918)

Thomas Hine's review of the recently opened exhibition Women in Motion: 150 Years of Womens Artistic Networks at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts will delight the art history lovers.

"The premise of the show, as suggested in its subtitle, is that women needed to develop networks — which…

In the News
Clarity Haynes, with her painting "Janie" (left), at the “Taking Space:

Megan Voeller reviews Taking Space: Contemporary Women Artists and the Politics of Scale for The Inquirer, in a piece that artist Clarity Haynes made her "feel seen and understood." Read about the generation-spanning artists and works, including Haynes, Deborah Willis, Faith Ringgold, Ana Mendieta…

In the News
taking space installation view
NPR's Susan Stamberg recently sat down with PAFA Museum Director Brooke Davis Anderson and "Taking Space" exhibition curators Jodi Throckmorton and Dr. Brittany Webb to discuss the ways women are taking up space in our galleries and more. Our curators discuss the work of Elizabeth Colomba, Judy…
In the News
Awakened in You installation view
Visit Philly's 2021 guide to celebrating Black History Month includes a wide array of ways to engage and connect, and highlights PAFA's current exhibition, "'Awakened in You': The Collection of Dr. Constance E. Clayton".
In the News

About PAFA

Founded in 1805, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is America's first school and museum of fine arts. A recipient of the National Medal of Arts, PAFA offers undergraduate and graduate programs in the fine arts, innovative exhibitions of historic and contemporary American art, and a world-class collection of American art. PAFA’s esteemed alumni include Mary Cassatt, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, William Glackens, Barkley L. Hendricks, Violet Oakley, Louis Kahn, David Lynch, and Henry Ossawa Tanner.