Natural splendor is on full view in the galleries this summer! Visit our friends at @OlanaSHS and @ThomasColeSite to see the traveling exhibition "Cross Pollination: Heade, Cole, Church, and Our Contemporary Moment."

This interdisciplinary project takes inspiration from the influential series of paintings "The Gems of Brazil" (1863-64) by #MartinJohnsonHeade, but expands outward to explore pollination in nature and ecology, cultural and artistic influence and exchange, and the interconnection between art and science from 19th into the 21st century.

The show was co-curated by The Olana Partnership at Olana State Historic Site, Thomas Cole National Historical Site, and @CrystalBridgesMuseum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas. Its tour is organized by Crystal Bridges.

Visit our Exhibition Marketplace to view the full tour schedule.

Pictured: Martin Johnson Heade, Amethyst Woodstar, ca. 1863 – 1864, Oil on canvas. 12 1/4 x 10 in. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2006.84. Photography by Dwight Primiano.

#ArtBridges ...

Museum time is family time ❤️

It's our aim that art lovers of all ages—and from all walks of life—will have the opportunity to experience outstanding examples of American art at their local museums. We recently partnered with @MFAStPete on a year-long loan-sharing program to present five paintings by celebrated American artists from our collection: #JacobLawrence, #HughieLeeSmith, #NormanWilfredLewis, #LeeKrasner, and #MarsdenHartley. Each of these major artists advanced narratives about race, gender, and regional identity through their depictions of American life in the 20th century.

We hope that you can pay our friends at the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Pete a visit to see these exceptional pieces in person!

🎨 Pictured here is Lee Krasner’s 1957 painting “Re-echo,” which represents an important turning point in the artist’s life and career. Created shortly after the sudden death of her husband Jackson Pollock, the painting emerged from Krasner’s resolve to work through her grief through art. “Re-echo” followed another painting (titled “Prophecy”) that Krasner began just before Pollock’s death—a work that she said frightened her enormously though she did not know why. “In that sense, the painting becomes an element of the subconscious—as one might bring forth a dream,” she commented.

Perhaps mining her subconscious feelings about the ability to create life, alongside her fears about all creations’ eventual decay, Krasner’s “Re-echo” celebrates the possibilities of the future while lamenting her past.

Image: Photo by @allisonlynnphotography. Lee Krasner, Re-Echo, 1957, oil on canvas, 59 x 58 in. Art Bridges. Photograph courtesy of Sotheby’s, Inc. © 2020. © 2021 The Pollock-Krasner Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

#ArtBridges ...

Across the ages, artists have depicted animals, used animal materials, and celebrated relationships between species in their artworks. The group exhibition “Companion Species” features works from a diverse group of artists from a range of time periods who explore the ever-evolving web of relationships between humans, animals, and nature.

“Companion Species” is organized by @CrystalBridgesMuseum in collaboration with @MONAH_NWA and is available to tour museums around the country. Learn more about it on our website—link in profile. #ArtBridges

Here: Kristen Cliffel (b. 1967), It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time, 2012, low-fire clay, glaze, lustre, polychromed hand-carved wood, 27 × 14 × 13 in. Courtesy Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas. Photography by Edward C. Robison III. ...

The exhibition “Willliam H. Johnson’s ‘Fighters for Freedom’” features 28 paintings (not seen together for almost 75 years) that spotlight historic figures who dedicated their lives to racial justice, individual accomplishment, and social equality.

Abolitionists, scientists, teachers, performers, sports figures, and heads of state are all included in the 28 portraits. Each story is told within a single image. Depicted here is the legendary opera singer #MarianAnderson, who was the first African American musician to perform as a member of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.

The exhibition is organized by one of our partners, the Smithsonian American Art Museum (@americanart), and is available to tour museums beginning in the fall of 2022. Contact us to learn more. #ArtBridges #WilliamHJohnson

Pictured: William H. Johnson, Marian Anderson, c. 1945, oil on paperboard, 35 5/8 x 28 7/8 in. Smithsonian American Art Museum. Gift of the Harmon Foundation. ...

This abstract clay sculpture by Taos artist #BerthaLujan is just one of several artworks that pushed the boundaries of Native art in the 20th century. Part of the exhibition “Action / Abstraction Redefined,” the work helped redefine abstraction by channeling the personal and merging it with traditional Native aesthetics and New York art world influences.

Organized by @instituteofamericanindianarts, “Action/Abstraction Redefined” is the first major traveling exhibition that analyzes modern Native American art from the mid-1940s through the 1970s that was inspired by Abstract Expressionism, Color Field, and Hard-edge painting and that challenged stereotypical expectations of American Indian art.

The exhibition is available for touring museums around the country. Visit our website to learn more. #ArtBridges.

Image: Bertha Lujan (Taos), Untitled, undated, clay, glazes, 27 x 6 x 4 in., MoCNA Collection (TA-1) ...

💬 #RichardPrince: “Growing up the issue for me . . . was the truth. What’s true and what’s not true? I always thought everybody was making everything up. Nothing I was told was true, or at least that’s what I was led to believe. The only things that made sense to me were art, and music and books.”

Prince spoke with the @nytimes last year about the inspiration behind his decades-long career of appropriating and remixing all kinds of culture to create art.

Throughout his enduring career, the artist has explored and appropriated images meant for mass consumption—from Marlboro Cowboy ads to the covers of dime-store pulp novels to Instagram selfies.

Visit our website to view the 2002 work “Nurse Elsa” from Prince’s iconic “Nurse” series. Part of the #ArtBridges collection, this piece is available to borrow. Contact us today to learn more!

Image: via @nytimes ...