In collaboration:
The Philadelphia Museum of Art
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
The Middleton Family Collection
Reviewed by Ed Voves
The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) are joining forces to present a complementary exhibition, celebrating the 250th anniversary of American independence from the rule of Great Britain. Over one thousand works of art are displayed in long-term installations which will remain on view through the summer of 2027.
The galleries at both the PMA and PAFA have been refurbished, reorganized and revitalized. Both the post-Civil War American art wing at the PMA and the venerable Frank Furness-designed building at PAFA, closed for renovation during the last two years, are now open!
Charles Burchfield's Hill Top at High Noon is a case in point. Painted in 1925, it entered PAFA's collection three years later. Although Hill Top at High Noon is not graced by the ethereal or numinous elements that are such a marked feature of many of Burchfield's other landscapes, this work has a shimmering grandeur all its own.
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Searching my memory, I can't recall the last time - or ever - that I saw Hill Top at PAFA. Yet, seeing how Burchfield depicted the billowing clouds rising-up over the summit of the hill evokes a thrilling sensation, not unlike the feeling one has glimpsing the real "thing" in nature.
How glad, too, is the sight of a much more familiar PAFA "icon." This is Winslow Homer's somber, late-career masterpiece, Fox Hunt, painted in 1893.
During the hiatus of PAFA's renovation, Fox Hunt went on tour to a number of museums. It featured in the outstanding 2022 Winslow Homer exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the National Gallery in London. And now, bounding through deep snow, the embattled fox has returned to PAFA. Those nasty crows haven't caught up with him yet!
The joint displays of American art at the PMA and PAFA are intended to complement each other. Under the dynamic leadership of Kristen Shepard at PAFA and Daniel Weiss at the PMA, each museum takes a different path to reach the same goal: preserving America's heritage as an investment in its future.
A Nation of Artists at the Philadelphia Museum of Art takes a chronological approach in presenting the story of American creative genius. As mentioned above, the main focus is the long-anticipated unveiling of the galleries devoted to art from the Civil War-era through the 1960's.
Building on the success of the early American wing, opened in 2021, these re-envisioned galleries are devoted to life in the modern-day U.S.A. - as it was lived at the time. These splendid configurations of art, artifacts and furniture mark the culmination of the incredible Core Project redesign of the PMA, which began in 2017.
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts emphasizes a thematic approach which challenges, as well as honors, many of the cherished notions of American freedom, individuality and enterprise. In quite a number of cases, works of art which had been ignored or marginalized in earlier celebrations of "the rising glory of America" are given their due.
There is much to applaud - and to reflect upon - at both museums. Along with masterpiece paintings like Homer's Fox Hunt, there are marvelous examples of American folk art. The carousel horse carved by the greatest master of the genre, Daniel Carl Mueller (1872-1952) is sure to be a crowd-pleasing favorite. In total contrast is the "death cart" used in religious processions by Hispanic-American communities in New Mexico. Both works of art are displayed at the PMA.
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The mystery masterpieces come from a local, Philadelphia, source, the Middleton Family Collection. If you are a baseball fan, you are more likely to have a clue to the Middleton family identity than otherwise.
John S. Middleton, whose family has been a fixture of the Philadelphia business community for over a century, is the managing partner of the Philadelphia Phillies. For many years, Mr. Middleton has been addressing social ills and issues facing disadvantaged people in the Philadelphia area with generous financial support. His wife, Leigh, is a major advocate for helping the homeless.
Just as John and Leigh Middleton have quietly worked on behalf of the local community, they have amassed - without fanfare - one of the most impressive collections of American art in private hands. They have now joined with the PMA and PAFA, placing 120 works from their collection on display in both venues for A Nation of Artists.
The first painting purchased by the Middletons was one of the most important portraits in American art history. To use baseball terminology, this "lead-off hitter" of the Middleton Family Collection blasted a "grand-slam" home run.
In 1779, Charles Willson Peale was commissioned by the state government of Pennsylvania to paint a portrait of George Washington. The occasion to be celebrated was both rare and important: an American military victory, the January 1777 Battle of Princeton.
Peale's portrait was such a success that a further eight copies were painted. Several were sent overseas with American diplomats who were seeking military and financial aid for the Patriot cause. The copy which the Middletons purchased was one of these, which the emissary to Spain, William Carmichael from Maryland, took with him on his mission to Madrid.
The Middletons' success with George Washington at Princeton should not obscure the magnitude of their subsequent purchases. Thanks to their acute collecting eye and knowledge of history, several holes in the timeline of A Nation of Artists have been filled with major works of art from the Middleton collection.
It should come as no surprise that one of these Middleton treasures is a signature painting by Edward Hopper. After Hopper died in 1967, the bulk of his oeuvre was bequeathed by his wife to the Whitney Museum. PAFA had been the first museum to acquire a Hopper oil painting, Apartment Houses (1923). The PMA (which has an impressive trove of Hopper sketches and etchings) recently acquired a late Hopper, Road and Trees (1962). But these are the only Hopper oil paintings owned by either Philadelphia museum.
Sailing to the rescue is Hopper's The Lee Shore (1941) from the Middleton Family Collection. It is a wonderfully strange painting.
What seems like a calm day is anything but. Sea and land confront each other at point-blank range. A Queen Anne-style home is perched directly on the shore-line without a hint of sandy beach between its front porch and the water. A schooner looks like it is about to run aground on the shoals in front of the vulnerable dwelling. What happens next? That is left to our imaginations.
Andrew Wyeth is another major artist featured in the Middleton Family Collection. PAFA and the PMA both have important Wyeth paintings in their respective collections. Neither have one of Wyeth's celebrated Helga paintings, which gained such notoriety after Time Magazine did a cover story in 1986 about the series.
Crown of Flowers (1974) is a brilliant painting, in its own right, and a fitting exemplar of the nearly three hundred works in the Helga series.
I could continue to comment on "show-stoppers" at A Nation of Artists. Follow-up posts in Art Eyewitness will indeed examine in detail both the PAFA and the PMA presentations. But I want to reflect on the significance of the title, A Nation of Artists, and mention a contemporary African-American artist whose works are currently on view elsewhere at the PMA.
In 1782, Benjamin Franklin, then engaged in negotiating the end of the Revolutionary War, wrote an essay for people in Europe who were considering a move to the newly-independent United States.
Among those looking for a fresh start in the new nation were motivated idealists, honorable in their intentions. Others were opportunists and adventurers. Some were artists, with a foot in each camp, seeking patronage and commissions.
Franklin advised them all:
The Truth is, that though there are in that Country few People so miserable as the Poor of Europe, there are also very few that in Europe would be called rich; it is rather a general happy Mediocrity that prevails. There are few great Proprietors of the Soil, and few Tenants; most People cultivate their own Lands, or follow some Handicraft or Merchandise; very few rich enough to live idly upon their Rents or Incomes, or to pay the high Prices given in Europe for Paintings, Statues, Architecture, and the other Works of Art, that are more curious than useful.
Franklin went on to note that a number of established American artists - "the natural Geniuses, that have arisen in America with such Talents" - had departed to seek opportunity in Europe. He was no doubt thinking of Benjamin West and John Singleton Copley.
What then would Dr. Franklin say about A Nation of Artists, if he could return to his adopted city for a visit?
Judging from his comments, quoted above, I think that Dr. Franklin would have preferred the title A Nation of Artisans.
Given the profusion of skillfully-created craft objects on view, Rookwood vases, carved walnut cabinets, oil lamps with glass shades and chimneys and much more, Franklin would likely be pleased - and impressed. If there are works of art "more curious than useful" displayed in A Nation of Artists, the American genius for combining utility with beauty is everywhere in evidence.
This American "genius" is evident elsewhere at PAFA and the PMA - and beyond the doors of these great museums. There is no sense of finality about A Nation of Artists. The exhibits continue and will "keep-on, keeping-on" as long as creative Americans set to work to make a reality of their visions.
That this is not wishful thinking was brought home to me after my second visit to A Nation of Artists at the PMA. I had been looking forward to visiting the exhibition of paintings of Noah Davis for weeks. A long, cold winter and lots of snow - by Philadelphia standards - kept interfering with my travel plans.
In a way, it was good that I waited until after seeing A Nation of Artists. Noah Davis (1983-2015), I soon realized, was one of the "natural Geniuses, that have arisen in America" as noted by Benjamin Franklin. Davis, moreover, remained on his native soil.
Noah Davis aimed to present the African-American community of Los Angeles free of stereotypes, filled with down-to-earth humanity and a quiet, unpretentious nobility. Struggling with a rare form of cancer, Davis succeeding in creating an impressive, heart-stirring body of work before he died, aged thirty-seven in 2015.
As long as artists in the U.S.A. devote themselves to their chosen forms of creative expression with the same courage, integrity and skill as Noah Davis, then America is sure to remain "a nation of artists."
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Text: Copyright of Ed Voves, all rights reserved; Photos: copyright of Ed Voves and Anne Lloyd.
Introductory Image: Ed Voves, Photo (2026) Gallery view of the A Nation of Artists exhibition at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA), showing the artist’s palette of Cecelia Beaux, PAFA collection.
Ed Voves, Photo (2026) The Great Stair Hall of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, showing Augustus St. Gaudens' Diana and video highlights of the A Nation of Artists exhibition at the PMA.
Ed Voves, Photo (2026) Gallery view of the A Nation of Artists exhibition at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA).
Ed Voves, Photo (2026) Charles Burchfield's Hill Top at High Noon, 1925. Oil on canvas: 32 × 22 in. (78.7 × 55.9 cm) PAFA collection, #1928.1
Ed Voves, Photo (2026) Winslow Homer's Fox Hunt, 1893. Oil on canvas: 38 × 68 1/2 in. (96.52 × 173.99 cm) PAFA collection, #1894.4
Ed Voves, Photo (2026) Kristen Shepard, President & CEO of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts; Daniel Weiss, Director & CEO of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Ed Voves, Photo (2026) Gallery view of the A Nation of Artists exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA), showing a silk dress, c. 1866-68, colored magenta, by using a recently invented aniline dye.
Ed Voves, Photo (2026) Gallery view of the A Nation of Artists exhibition at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA).
Ed Voves, Photo (2026) Gallery view of the A Nation of Artists exhibition at the PMA, showing a Carousel Horse, carved by Daniel Mueller, c. 1917. PMA collection. #2019-101-1
Ed Voves, Photo (2026) Death cart (Carreta de la Muerta), 1880-1900, from New Mexico. Cottonwood, with spruce wheels: 51 x 25 x 49 inches (129.5 x 63.5 x 124.5 cm) PMA collection. # 2006-85-1.
Ed Voves, Photo (2026) John S. Middleton at the joint press preview of A Nation of Artists, April 10, 2026, held at the PMA and PAFA.
Ed Voves, Photo (2026) Charles Willson Peale's George Washington at Princeton, 1779. Oil on canvas: 96 1/2 x 61 1/2 in. (243.8 x 156.2 cm.) Middleton Family Collection.
Ed Voves, Photo (2026) Gallery view showing Edward Hopper's The Lee Shore, 1941, and Joseph Stella's The Swan, 1924.
Ed Voves, Photo (2026) Edward Hopper's The Lee Shore, 1941. Oil on canvas: 28 ¼ x 43 in. (71.76 x 109.22 cm.) Middleton Family Collection.
Ed Voves, Photo (2026) Andrew Wyeth's Crown of Flowers, 1974. Dry brush water color: 10 ¼ x 12 ¾ in. Middleton Family Collection.
Anne Lloyd, Photo (2018) Joseph Siffred Duplessis' Benjamin Franklin,1778. This portrait appeared in the Visitors to Versailles exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2018. Metropolitan Museum of Art collection.
Ed Voves, Photo (2026) Period room at A Nation of Artists, showing Victorian furniture and the painting, The Lardner Sisters (1848) by Samuel Bell Waugh.
Ed Voves, Photo (2026) Paintings by Noah Davis, Pueblo de Rio: Vernon, 2014. Oil on canvas: 69 x 76 in.; Mary Jane, 2008. Oil and acrylic on canvas: 60 x 52 1/4 in. Private collections, on view at the PMA.
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