Reflections on the Art Scene during 2025
Text by Ed Voves
Original Photography by Anne Lloyd
On September 17, 1787, after three contentious months of debate and compromise, the delegates of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia affixed their signatures to the document which would soon become the framework of the government of the United States. As they did so, Benjamin Franklin made a short, candid remark, referring to the design of a radiant sun which decorated the chair from which George Washington had presided over the convention proceedings.
The Rising Sun Armchair
(George Washington's chair at the Constitutional Convention of 1787)
Benjamin Franklin's "remark" has gone down in history. James Madison records the moment.
Doct FRANKLIN looking towards the Presidents Chair, at the back of which a rising sun happened to be painted, observed to a few members near him, that Painters had found it difficult to distinguish in their art a rising from a setting sun. I have said he, often and often in the course of the Session, and the vicissitudes of my hopes and fears as to its issue, looked at that behind the President without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting: But now at length I have the happiness to know that it is a rising and not a setting Sun.
"A rising and not a setting sun."
These prophetic words shall set the tone for the Art Eyewitness 2025 reflections. This year's valedictory essay, more than earlier annual reviews, is as much a look forward, as it is a reappraisal of what transpired during the past twelve months.
It's important, however, to attend to the first order of New Years business. Our reflections and prognostications must not cause us to forget the most important duty we owe to all those who touched our lives during 2025: gratitude.
Here at Art Eyewitness, we wish to thank all and sundry in the world of art. And in our "cup of kindness" for the old year, we are adding a wee, extra dram of appreciation for:
The reopening of the Frick Collection in its magnificent 5th Ave oasis of art.
The astounding "once in an eternity" exhibition at The Met, Divine Egypt.
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A sojourn with the Etruscans at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World.
An eye-opening visit to the world of Henri Rousseau at the Barnes Foundation.
So much to be thankful for ... and yet, with the passing year, so many sobering thoughts.
From an artistic standpoint, Benjamin Franklin's comments on the difficulty of artists "to distinguish in their art a rising from a setting sun" is extremely astute. It really is problematic, oftentimes, to discern in a picture whether it is "sun-up" or "sun-down" as the following photos attest.
Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)
Images of sunrise & sunset, Philadelphia, PA. Top, dawn, December 25, 2025, 7:38 AM. Bottom, dusk, December 14, 2025, 4:25 PM.
It is even harder to judge whether a nation or culture is flourishing or in decline. This was the cause of Franklin's anxiety during the debates on the Constitution. Many are in a similar, pensive mood in our troubled times.
Perhaps most difficult of all is the task of discovering if the art and literature of a society is enlightening or obscuring the issues of the "day" and of the deeper, more profound principles, foundational for the security and happiness of humanity across the ages.
With Franklin's "rising and not a setting sun" remark to guide us, let's focus our thoughts on past and future.
Of immediate concern, 2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The Constitutional Convention of 1787 was the culmination of the search for an equitable form of representative government which commenced with the 1776 Declaration of Independence. However, as John Adams noted, the real American Revolution had begun even earlier, in the "hearts and minds" of the American people.
Red letter dates like 1776 or 1787 are often very arbitrary benchmarks. Human beings, however, need such "signposts" in order to keep their cultural bearings. During the coming year, almost all major American museums will host some sort of an exhibition observing the Semiquincentennial.
The American Folk Art Museum has announced two thoughtful exhibitions, both opening in April 2026: Folk Nation: Crafting Patriotism in
the U.S. and Self-Made: A Century of Inventing
Artists.
Anonymous U.S. artist, Situation of America, 1848.
(New York City skyline from the Brooklyn Docks across the East River.)
Collection of the American Folk Art Museum, N.Y.C.
The populist nature of these two exhibitions is very much in keeping with the mission of the American Folk Art Museum. But these themes are also noteworthy of the diversified, yet "inclusive" content of many contemporary exhibitions. This is an issue which looms large in the coming year.
Instead of stressing the "from the many - one" bonds of American unity, many exhibitions now emphasize the importance of the individual artist or of social groups ignored or marginalized in the established narratives of history. It is important to give credit to all, of course. But that is easier said than done.
In the coming year, there is likely to be considerable disagreement on what is the true nature of art in a democratic society. Our art museums, hopefully, will be places where cooler heads and open hearts prevail.
To safeguard art museums as common ground for humanity is certainly asking and expecting a lot from institutions whose hard-working staff members already labor with complex tasks and daunting deadlines.
Yet, museums, "shrines of the muses", are not just buildings with pictures on their walls.
Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)
Gallery view of the 19th century European painting galleries at The Met. At right is The Storm by the Pierre-Auguste Cot (1880).
Given the constraints of existing gallery space, the availability - or not - of important works on loan from other museums, the interest level of patrons and many another factor, mounting a successful exhibition can be fraught with difficulty. Often an exhibition of merit fails to achieve success in terms of visitor numbers for reasons beyond the control of its curators.
A case in point was The New Art: American Photography, 1839-1910, presented at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, April to July 2025.
Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)
The entrance to The New Art: American Photography, 1839-1910. The camera comes from the collection of the Penumbra Foundation.
The New Art had much to recommend it. The design of the exhibit was visually enticing, with a number of vintage cameras to set the scene. There were superb photos on view, daguerreotypes, cartes de visite, stereographs and cyanotypes, by some of the early American masters of the lens, like Carleton Watkins.
Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)
Gallery view of The New Art: American Photography, 1839-1910.
Finally, there was an important sub-theme of The New Art, namely that there are untapped riches in the photography produced in the American hinterlands beyond the celebrated studio of Matthew Brady.
Impressed though I was with The New Art, I had an uneasy, difficult-to-define "vibe" about it. I could not suppress the feeling that this exhibition was not going to achieve the full measure of success it deserved.
On July 18, 2025, The Met press office released its annual fiscal year report. FY25 was a very good year for The Met. Visitorship was 5.7 million for the year. The Met continued to make spectacular gains after the heart-rending events of 2020, when Covid-19 blighted the museum's 150th anniversary.
Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)
Gallery view of Sargent and Paris, showing Madame X.
Several 2025 Met exhibitions registered such phenomenal attendance numbers that these stats were noted in the press release. Sargent and Paris topped the list at 427,000 visitors with more than a week to go after the press release was made public. Very encouraging was the reception of Caspar David Friedrich: the Soul of Nature, 300,000 attending. Few exhibits of German art have ever played to such a packed audience in a U.S. museum.
Alas, The New Art: American Photography, 1839-1910 was not listed among
The Met's star performers for FY25.
Might The New Art have done so, had it been presented in tandem with a complementary exhibition? The Morgan Library's Julia Margaret Cameron and Jane Austen exhibits, shown across the hall from each other in the Morgan-Stanley galleries, did exactly that.
Ed Voves, Photo (2025)
Gallery views of Morgan Library & Museum exhibits, summer 2025. Arresting Beauty: Julia Margaret Cameron (left);
A Lively Mind: Jane Austen at 250.
Second guessing, like this, only goes so far. Though museum directors and curators are quick to praise colleagues, supporting staff, museum board members and patron institutions, there is no substitute for leadership. A museum with a strong CEO at the helm can navigate through rough seas; without, the museum is in danger of sinking.
During 2025, two incidents, each involving a major Philadelphia art institution, testified to the maritime metaphors, above, in striking fashion.
Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)
Thom Collins, executive director and president of the Barnes Foundation
In terms of a strong museum "helmsman", one could hardly find a better example than Thom Collins of the Barnes Foundation. Nor could a better time be found to acknowledge his achievements than 2025.
This marked the tenth year of Collins' stewardship as executive director and president of the Barnes. It was also the centennial year of the formal opening of the Barnes as an educational institute, beginning on March 19, 1925.
Controversy long plagued the Barnes Foundation, regarding who was admitted into the inner "sanctum" of its classical edifice in suburban Philadelphia - and who was rejected. It has been Collins' overarching mission to manage the Barnes as a public institution after it relocated to center city Philadelphia in 2012.
At the same time, Collins was tasked with continuing the "Barnes Method" of art instruction and retaining the remarkable, if idiosyncratic, arrangement of art works. These are not minor concerns nor are they duties which other museum directors must face.
Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)
Gallery view of the Barnes Foundation, showing
Vincent van Gogh's The Postman (Joseph-Etienne Roulin), 1889
Despite an abiding dedication to Dr. Barnes' methodology, the Barnes Foundation under Collins' direction is no longer a collection preserved in "amber." When the Henri Rousseau exhibition closes at the Barnes in February, it will travel to the Musée de l’Orangerie. A sizable contingent works by Rousseau from the Barnes collection will appear in the Paris version of the exhibition. It is the first time since the international showing of Barnes' masterworks in the 1990's that a major loan of paintings from the Barnes Foundation will occur.
Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)
Gallery view of the Calder Garden's Museum, showing
Alexander Calder's Jerusalem Stabile II, 1976.
The full extent of the leadership qualities of Thom Collins was revealed in 2025 by two significant events beyond the walls of the Barnes Foundation.
On September 21, 2025, Calder Gardens, dedicated to the art of Alexander "Sandy" Calder (1898-1976), opened in Philadelphia. Located a short walk from the Barnes, the new museum will be managed by Collins and senior staff from the Barnes (though it will have its own curators). Lastly, Collins and the Barnes have been designated as the operating partner for The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, taking the place of the University of the Arts, which closed its doors in 2024.
Needless-to-say, Thom Collins at the Barnes has neither the time nor the occasion to ruminate about the difference between "a rising and not a setting sun."
I wish I could write in the same positive fashion about the Philadelphia Art Museum. Sadly, indeed sorrowfully, I cannot do so.
Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)
The East-front entrance of the Philadelphia Art Museum
On November 4, 2025, news reports began circulating that the Board of Trustees of the Philadelphia Art Museum had terminated the contract of the museum's CEO, Sasha Suda. It was, at first, a staggering announcement. But, on reflection, signs of deep trouble at the museum had become increasingly apparent.
The next day, Anne and I went to the scheduled press preview of Dreamtime, an ambitious exhibition devoted to Surrealism. Uncertainty and upset at the Philly museum were evident, confirmed by the amount of uncompleted prep work for Dreamtime. Noticeable too was the "beat the clock" determination of the exhibition design team, trying to finish assigning picture captions and mounting wall text before opening day.
Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)
Preparation for Dreamtime: Surrealism at 100 at the Philadelphia Art Museum. The painting, at left, is Le Double Secret by René Magritte.
I have been to press previews before where work needed to be done, a "tweak" here, a "tweak" there. But never on this scale. It was a deeply distressing occasion, unlike any press preview I had ever attended.
I am happy to say that the finished exhibition is a marvel for the eye and the mind. A special acknowledgement needs be paid to the curator of Dreamtime, Matthew Affron, truly an example of grace under pressure.
An Art Eyewitness review of Dreamtime will appear in the new year.
Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)
Gallery view of Dreamtime: Surrealism at 100
at the Philadelphia Art Museum.
Less than a month before these events, Sasha Suda had announced a "rebranding" campaign, altering the name of the institution from the Philadelphia Museum of Art to the Philadelphia Art Museum. She did so on her own initiative and without the approval of the Board of Trustees.
Suda's abrupt image change for the museum caught even members of the Board of Trustees off-guard. She explained her rationale in a publicity release:
The museum has unveiled a new brand that places Philadelphia front and center, celebrating the city's grit, creativity, and industrial heritage... The new identity reflects the museum's transformation into a more engaging and expansive institution."
Suda would have been more accurate in saying "expensive" rather than expansive. Ticket prices are now the same as at The Met and MOMA, $30, and food prices close to New York City levels. Closed galleries and controversial exhibit content have made for upsetting visits to the Philly museum.
Recently a guard approached us at the entrance to a photo gallery with a warning I never thought to hear:
" Viewer discretion advised."
These are serious problems which changing the logos on hats and coffee mugs in the gift shop is not going to address. Even replacing a museum CEO is not going to insure a welcoming environment for patrons, especially families with children.
What is true of the Philadelphia Art Museum is true of all museums. What is needed is a searching appraisal of museum culture, followed by affordable ticket prices and exhibitions which uphold core human values.
Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)
Philadelphia Art Museum merchandise, showing the new "brand" logo.
At this point in the annual Art Eyewitness essays, I try to conclude with upbeat, reassuring remarks. This year I will "make it a wrap" with one of the most beautiful and moving photos which Anne took during 2025.
Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)
Gallery view of Henri Rousseau: a Painter's Secrets at the Barnes Foundation, showing Tropical Forest with Monkeys, 1910
This is an image worth a thousand words; a image worthy of America's 250th birthday; an image which calls to mind "a rising and not a setting sun."
***
Text: Copyright of Ed Voves, all rights reserved
Original photography, copyright of Anne Lloyd
Introductory Image: Anne Lloyd, Photo (2023) Image of Sunset, Philadelphia, PA. Photo taken on December 14, 2025, 4:26 PM.
The Rising Sun Armchair (George Washington’s
Chair at the Constitutional Convention of 1787) Made by John Folwell in 1779. Mahogany, height: 153.5 cm, width: 77.5 cm, depth: 58.2 cm Independence Hall, Philadelphia, PA National Park
Service (NPS)
Ed Voves, Photo (2025) Gallery view of the Frick Collection, showing paintings from The Progress of Love series by Jean-Honore Fragonard, 1770-71.
Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Detail of the Inner Coffin of Nauny, Third Intermediate period, ca. 1050 B.C. On view in the Divine Egypt exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Ed Voves, Photo (2025) Gallery view of the Rethinking Etruria exhibition at ISAW.
Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Gallery view of Henri Rousseau: a Painter's Secrets at the Barnes Foundation.
Anne Lloyd, Photos (2025) Images of Sunrise and Sunset, Philadelphia, PA. Top, dawn, December 25, 2025, 7:38 AM. Bottom, dusk, December 14, 2025, 4:25 PM.
Anonymous U.S. artist. Situation of America, 1848. (New York City skyline from the Brooklyn Docks) Oil on wood panel: 34 x 58 1/8 x 1 3/8" (86.4 x 147.6 x 3.5 cm) Collection of the American Folk Art Museum, NYC.
Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) View of the 19th century European painting galleries at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. At right, is The Storm by the Pierre-Auguste Cot (1880).
Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) The entrance to The New Art: American Photography, 1839-1910. The camera comes from the collection of the Penumbra Foundation.
Anne Lloyd,
Photo (2025) Gallery view of The New Art: American Photography, 1839-1910, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Anne Lloyd,
Photo (2025) Gallery view of the Sargent and Paris exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, showing Madame X.
Ed Voves, Photo (2025) Gallery views of the Morgan Library and Museum exhibits, Summer 2025, Arresting Beauty: Julia Magaret Cameron and A Lively Mind: Jane Austen.
Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Thom Collins, executive director and president of the Barnes Foundation.
Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Gallery view of the Barnes Foundation, showing Vincent van Gogh's The Postman (Joseph-Etienne Roulin).
Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Gallery view of the Calder Garden's Museum, showing Alexander Calder's Jerusalem Stabile II, 1976.
Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) The East-front entrance of the Philadelphia Art Museum.
Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Preparation for the Dreamtime: Surrealism at 100 exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Gallery view of Dreamtime: Surrealism at 100.
Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Philadelphia Art Museum merchandise, showing the new "brand" logo.
Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Gallery view of the Barnes Foundation, showing Henri Rousseau's Tropical Forrest with Monkeys, 1910.
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