On view

Gordon Parks: The New Tide, Early Work 1940–1950

February 1–April 26

This exhibition is the first to explore the lesser-known yet incredibly formative first decade of the American photographer’s 60-year career. During the 1940s, Parks (1912–2006) grew from a self-taught portraitist and photojournalist in Saint Paul and Chicago to a visionary professional working in New York and Paris for Ebony and Glamour, before becoming the first African American photographer at Life magazine in 1949.

The Addison Gallery is the fourth and final venue for the traveling exhibition, curated by Philip Brookman, Consulting Curator, Department of Photographs, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., in collaboration with The Gordon Parks Foundation.

Gordon Parks: The New Tide brings together 150 photographs and ephemera—including magazines, books, letters, and family pictures. The exhibition illustrates Parks’s early experiences at the Farm Security Administration, Office of War Information, and Standard Oil (New Jersey), as well as his close relationships with Roy Stryker, Langston Hughes, Richard Wright, and Ralph Ellison and reveal how these helped shape his groundbreaking style. A fully illustrated catalog, produced and published by the Gordon Parks Foundation and Steidl in association with the National Gallery of Art, features extensive new research and many previously unpublished images.

Expanding the Narrative: Recent Acquisitions

February 1–March 1

This exhibition presents a small selection of objects recently added to the collection, the majority of which have not yet been exhibited, to demonstrate the museum’s continuing mission to build a strong and vital collection that offers insight into the complexity of the past, present, and future of the United States, by asking What is America?

Man Up! Visualizing Masculinity in 19th-Century America

through April 5

Drawn from the Addison’s collection, the works on view in Man Up! reflect the constant redefinition of masculinity in American society during the 19th and early 20th centuries, inviting us to think critically about shifting definitions of gender roles.

A Wildness Distant from Ourselves: Art and Ecology in 19th-Century America

continues through July 31

Through paintings, works on paper, sculptures, photographs, decorative arts, and natural history specimens, this exhibition examines the history and persistent impacts of 19th-century European Americans’ relationship with the natural world.

Come As You Are: American Youth

continues through March 8

Curated by Phillips Academy students, Come As You Are presents photographs from the collection that grapple with themes of play, identity, education, rebellion, and violence, revealing the joys of childhood, challenges of adolescence, and obstacles encountered by those forced to grow up too soon.