This Fall, visitors will get to immerse themselves not only in the beautiful 19th century world of the Netherlands but also to broaden their understanding of Impressionism in ways they never have — or could have — before.

Artwork by Polk County High School Students, Grades 9 through 12

In this first installation of works on long-term loan from the collection of the Woodsby family, we start appropriately at the beginning, with the rise of the Highwaymen and a focus on the two founding figures of this much-loved yet under-sung art movement, Alfred Hair and Harold Newton.

From drawings and artist proof prints to intaglios, serigraphs, and even paper-based sculptures, the collection boasts works on paper from across time and around the globe that showcase the intimate hands of their artists.

From the 1960s onward, as this exhibition of works from the Museum’s permanent collection seeks to demonstrate, American artists leapt into the void left by a Europe in reconstruction, staking their places in art history in ways American art had never before.

“Pictures must be miraculous; the instant one is completed, the intimacy between the creation and the creator is ended. He is an outsider. The picture must be for him, as for anyone experiencing it later, a revelation, an unexpected and unprecedented resolution of an eternally familiar need.” 

— Mark Rothko, “The Romantics Were Prompted,” 1947

For the late nineteenth century, on the cusp of the abstractive trends of the twentieth, the celebrated master sculptor was Auguste Rodin (1840-1917). Rodin’s bronze sculptures not only revived for a new century the expressive and naturalistic styles of antiquity, using ancient Greek sculptors’ medium of choice, but also propelled figurative sculpture into the modern age with emotion and pathos never seen before in the sculpted form.

— Mark Rothko, “The Romantics Were Prompted,” 1947

For nearly two years, the paintings were under the expert care of conservators in Miami. Now, the paintings — dramatically restored — are unveiled in their new, glorious state in our newly-expanded galleries for the first time.

As explored in this exhibition of ceramic works from the Museum’s permanent collection, some objects on view have survived for millennia and offer us a connection to peoples across time, both those who produced these works and those who used or displayed them. The works also link us to the history of visual culture, wherein artists use imagery — abstract, representational, or otherwise — to entice our eyes or even to tell stories.

Considered the foremost photographer of the international jazz community, Leonard captured an era in music through his now-timeless images, and our collective memories of larger-than-life figures like Duke Ellington, Billie Holliday, and Miles Davis, to name a few, have been shaped by his masterful camera lens.

Marilyn Monroe. Tomato Campbell’s Soup. Andrew Warhola.

What do these three have in common?  They were all re-imagined — and made icons of art history — by Andy Warhol.

We’re So Glad You’re Here is our welcome party for works that are new to us — and to our audiences — and features recent loans and recent acquisitions of artists well-known and under-sung, across media, and many on view at The AGB for the first time. 

Harrison School for the Arts Senior Showcase

The Ashley Gibson Barnett Museum of Art is excited to announce that it will be hosting the nationally-renowned 102nd annual Scholastic Art and Writing Awards for the Polk County, Florida Art Region.

Artwork by Polk County Students, Grades 3 through 5

Artwork by Polk County Students, Grades K through 12