The spring exhibitions are open and it's time to celebrate! This season we're presenting Parasol Press: Breaking New Ground, the first exhibition to survey the print publisher's pioneering works, and Both Sides of the Line: Carmen Herrera & Leon Polk Smith, which explores how the artists redefined the visual language of modern art. Also on view are several exhibitions that highlight the depth and breadth of the Addison’s collection and explore the American experience via a range of themes.
We hope you'll join us at the Opening Reception on Saturday, March 7. Find more details about the opening, as well as newly added programs, below.
The Addison is free and open to the public, Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00 am–5:00 pm, and Sunday, 1:00–5:00 pm.
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Parasol Press: Breaking New Ground is the first retrospective of the print publisher’s ambitious prints created from 1970 to 2014. The remarkable works pushed the boundaries of artistic expression while challenging the medium’s limits.
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Little Boxes draws from the Addison’s collection and invites viewers to consider the ways the square and the rectangle have served as powerful tools in geometric abstraction. Featuring works in all media, this exhibition explores how the “box” not only serves as a compositional strategy, but also as a symbolic container for narratives about the human condition and the rigidly structured realities we inhabit
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Art 400 Exhibition Opening Reception
Tuesday, March 3, 5:00–6:30pm
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Join us in celebrating the opening of Welcome Home, an exhibition curated by Phillips Academy students enrolled in Art 400 Visual Culture: Curating the Addison Collection. Enjoy great company and light refreshments while exploring the exhibition. Free and open to the public.
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Study Hours at the Addison
Wednesday, March 4, 5:00–9:00 pm
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Looking for a quiet place to get work done? Tables will be set up for studying and a coffee cart will be available to keep you energized. All are welcome, no reservations required. Please note that the 2nd floor galleries will be closed at this time. The event is free, no registration required.
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TOUR: Both Sides of the Line: Carmen Herrera & Leon Polk Smith with curator Dana Miller
Saturday, March 7, 3:00–4:00 pm
Join exhibition curator Dana Miller at the Addison to explore Both Sides of the Line: Carmen Herrera & Leon Polk Smith. After the tour, all are welcome to stay for the Spring Opening Reception from 4:00–6:00 pm.
This tour is open to the public and presented in partnership with Andover’s Memorial Hall Library; space is limited and registration is required.
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| Spring Opening Reception
Saturday, March 7, 4:00–6:00 pm
Join us in celebrating the new exhibitions! Enjoy great company, light refreshments, and the best of American art. Free and open to the public.
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TOUR: Playing to Our Strengths: Highlights from the Permanent Collection
Wednesday, March 18, 3:00
Led by curator Gordon Wilkins, the tour explores how American artists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries captured the tensions of modern life through four distinct lenses: the “ideal” with impressionist paintings and Pictorialist photographs; the “real” via gritty Ashcan School paintings and social realist photographs; the controlled as depicted in detailed geometric Precisionist art; and the sometimes chaotic and alienating with works that explore the realities of interwar New Yorkers navigating a rapidly modernizing city. This program is open to the public and presented in partnership with Andover’s Memorial Hall Library; space is limited and registration is required.
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FAMILY PROGRAM: Picture Book Studio
Saturday, March 28, 10:30 am–12:00 pm
Join us for a morning of art, picture books, and hands-on activities designed for children ages 5 to 8. We will explore shape, line, and color in Both Sides of the Line: Carmen Herrera & Leon Polk Smith and create our own abstract artworks.
Space is limited and registration is required. Children must be accompanied by an adult caregiver.
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Our Curator’s Circle kicked off the year with an unforgettable experience at MoMA in New York City—a private tour with the curators of Ruth Asawa: A Retrospective. In addition to exploring the many works by Asawa, including a painting lent by the Addison, participants were joined by the artist’s son, Paul Lanier, who shared his personal and unique insights into her work, adding a meaningful layer to the visit.
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The evening continued at Van Doren Waxter, where guests enjoyed a warm reception and inspiring look at the Gallery's Hedda Sterne: Dreamscapes exhibition and heard exciting updates about the Addison from Allie Kemmerer, the Mary Stripp and R. Crosby Kemper Director.
Want to be a part of experiences like this? Please visit our website or contact jpieroni@andover.edu to discover the Addison’s Curator’s Circle.
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Images: Installation view of Little Boxes, photo by Addison staff; Richard Estes, D Train, 1988. Screenprint printed in colors on 3 laminated sheets of custom-made German museum board, 36 x 72 inches (image), 42 x 80 inches (sheet). Printed by Michael Domberger, Edition Domberger, Stuttgart, Germany; Carmen Herrera, Diptych, 1978, acrylic on canvas, 50 1/4 × 102 1/2 × 2 1/4 inches overall, Collection of El Museo del Barrio, New York, Gift of Tony Bechara, 1996. P96.9.1a–b. Image courtesy El Museo del Barrio, New York, photo: Martin Seck, © Estate of Carmen Herrera; Mary Lee Bendolph, Lonnie Holley's Freedom, 2005. Etching and aquatint on paper, 40 5/8 x 40 3/4 inches. Gift of William M. Drake, Jr. (PA 1950) and JoAnn Carney Drake, 2025.103; Martin Lewis, Shadow Dance, 1930. Drypoint and sand grain etching on wove paper, 9 3/8 x 10 7/8 inches. Bequest of Candace C. Stimson, 1944.56; Martin Puryear, Untitled VI (State 2), 2012. Color softground etching with drypoint and spitbite aquatint. Printed and published by Paulson Bott Press. Gift of William M. Drake, Jr. (PA 1950) and JoAnn Carney Drake, 2025.165; Winslow Homer, Eight Bells (detail), 1886, oil on canvas, 25 3/16 x 30 3/16 inches, gift of anonymous donor, 1930.379; Julius Shulman, Kaufmann House, Palm Springs, CA, 1947. Gelatin silver print, 16 x 20 inches. Purchased as the gift of Katherine D. and Stephen C. Sherrill (PA 1971, and P 2005, 2007, 2010), 2008.107; study hours at the Addison, photo by Addison staff; Leon Polk Smith, Okie, 1957, oil on canvas, diameter: 31 1/4 inches, Leon Polk Smith Foundation. Image courtesy Lisson Gallery, photo: Mark Waldhauser, © Leon Polk Smith Foundation; Both Sides of the Line: Carmen Herrera & Leon Polk Smith installation view, photo by Addison staff; Charles Sheeler, Ballardvale, 1946. Oil on canvas, 24 x 19 inches. Museum purchase, 1947.21; Addison family program, photo by Addison staff; tour of Ruth Asawa: A Retrospective, photo courtesy of Jen Pieroni.
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Exhibition credits:
Generous support for Parasol Press: Breaking New Ground has been provided by the Sidney R. Knafel Fund and the Stone Family, in honor of Allan Stone (PA ’50, P ’87).
Lead support for Both Sides of the Line: Carmen Herrera & Leon Polk Smith is provided by Irving Stenn, Jr., Lizzie and Jonathan Tisch, Luptak Family Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the University of Michigan Office of the Provost. Additional generous support is provided by the Robert Lehman Foundation. Support for the exhibition catalogue and programming is provided by Tony Bechara and the Leon Polk Smith Foundation. This exhibition is organized and circulated by the University of Michigan Museum of Art. The Addison’s presentation is generously supported by the Elizabeth and Anthony Enders Exhibitions Fund.
Generous support for Little Boxes has been provided by the Winton Family Fund.
Playing to Our Strengths: Highlights from the Permanent Collection is generously supported by the Mollie Bennett Lupe & Garland M. Lasater Exhibitions Fund.
Martin Puryear: In Print is part of a recent gift from William Drake (PA 1950) and JoAnn Carney that also includes prints by Mary Lee Bendolph, McArthur Binion, Willie Cole, and Stanley Whitney.
Generous support for In Focus: Winslow Homer: Watching, Waiting has been provided by The Bernard and Louise Palitz Exhibitions Fund.
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