Street Seen: The Psychological Gesture in American Photography, 1940–1959
January 30, 2010–April 25, 2010

Abstract Expressionism, film noir, Beat poetry, and the New Journalism are all widely recognized aftershocks of World War II, representing a broad aesthetic revolution that championed spontaneity and subjective interpretation as the guiding principles of creative practice. Postwar photographers in many ways set the rhythm and tenor of this new approach, not least because the hand-held camera was naturally suited to chance discoveries and impulsive gestures.

Quilts in a Material World: Selections from the Winterthur Collection
May 22, 2010–September 6, 2010

More than 40 outstanding quilts on exhibit from Winterthur Museum & Country Estate document women’s political, social, and cultural lives in the formative period of the early American republic (1760-1850). With skillful needlework, graphic patterning, and an eye for color, quiltmakers transformed both common and exotic textiles into extraordinary works of art.