Everything Has a Story: Reflections on the Collection
Focused on American art and historical objects from the nineteenth century to present day, the HRM’s collection holds countless compelling narratives from many viewpoints and different lived experiences.
One of the most powerful aspects of art is its potential to inspire stories—whether through a narrative depicted by an artist, a history behind the making of a work, or a memory or imagined truth it evokes in the viewer. This presentation of the Museum’s collection uses the framework of storytelling to interpret more than forty works from all corners of our holdings.
Focused on American art and historical objects from the nineteenth century to present day, the HRM’s collection holds countless compelling narratives from many viewpoints and different lived experiences. In Everything Has a Story: Reflections on the Collection, you will discover enduring highlights in conversation with recent acquisitions, hidden gems, and important loans, which will rotate periodically. Some artworks reveal stories very personal to the artist. After seeing flamenco dancer Nunez de Polanco perform, Anna Walinska offered to paint his portrait in exchange for lessons. She found herself dancing with him onstage at a benefit concert, which she commemorated in the painting Self-Portrait: Flamenco. In The Curvey, Winfred Rembert reached deep into childhood memories, past teenage experience of racism and violence, to recall the simple joy of swimming with friends in a rural Georgia river. Mark O’Banks’ dollhouse Nybylwyck Hall is the stage set for a dramatic tale of intrigue and elopement. And Paul Manship’s fleet-footed Diana gains additional meaning considered in the context of American women’s increased participation in sports in the early twentieth century.
So, would you like to hear a good story? From paintings and sculpture to costumes and baseball cards, our collections and these artists, past and present, bring their own perspective on our history and our outlook for the future, and we are proud to share them.
Select works in this exhibition are generously lent by Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio, and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, as part of the Art Bridges’ Collection Loan Partnership initiative and also by Art Bridges.
Exhibitions are made possible by assistance provided by the County of Westchester.
Featured Artists
Gifford Beal • Elizabeth Wilson Beals • Oscar Carlson • Joseph Cornell • Jasper Francis Cropsey • Julian O. Davidson • Alice M. Dunstan • Erika Harrsch • Winslow Homer• Anna Hyatt Huntington • George Inness • Titus Tyrone Kaphar • Daniel Ridgway Knight • William McCloskey • Catherine Latson • Paul Manship • Henri Matisse • Richard Mayhew • Barbara Morgan • Mark O’Banks • Georgia O’Keeffe • Fairfield Porter • Hiram Powers • Winfred Rembert • Frederic Remington • John W. Rhoden • Severin Roesen • George Segal • Sylvia Sleigh • Mickalene Thomas • Rigoberto Torres • Anna Walinska • Andy Warhol • George Wright • Robert Zakanitch
Selected objects
Joseph Cornell (American, 1903–1972). Untitled (Hôtel de l’Etoil), ca. 19583–62. Mixed media collage construction. Collection of the Hudson River Museum. Gift of the C & B Foundation, 1975 (75.22.2). © The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation / Licensed by VAGA at Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York, NY.
Gifford Beal (American, 1879–1956). Morning Ride, ca. 1920–30. Oil on panel. Collection of the Hudson River Museum. Gift of The Estate of Gifford Beal, Courtesy of Kraushaar Galleries, New York, 2015 (2015.04.06).
Catherine Latson (American, b. 1960). Birch Corset>/em>, 2016. Birch veneer, Tapioca root, and vintage remnants. Collection of the Hudson River Museum. Gift of the artist, 2023 (2023.10.1). © Catherine Latson
Andy Warhol (American, 1928–1987). Eggs, 1982. Synthetic polymer paint and silkscreen ink on canvas. Private collection. Photo: Steven Paneccasio. © 2023 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Licensed by Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
George Wright (American, 1850–1916). A Terrible Bore, 1899. Oil on canvas. Collection of the Hudson River Museum. Gift of William H. and Abigail Booth Gerdts, 2004 (2004.01).
Robert Zakanitch (American, b. 1935). Rococo Revisited, 2008. From A Garden of Ordinary Miracles series. Gouache on paper diptych. Collection of the Hudson River Museum. Gift of the artist, 2017 (2017.08). Photo: Marabeth Cohen-Tyler, Kenneth Tyler Collection archive, National Gallery of Australia. © Robert Zakanitch
Photographer once known. Yonkers Baseball Team at the Westchester County High School Championship, 1898. Photograph. Collection of the Hudson River Museum (2015.0.099).
Henri Matisse (French, 1869–1954). Alexander Smith & Sons Carpet Company, Yonkers. Mimosa Rug, 1951. Wool (edition 396/500). Collection of the Hudson River Museum. Museum purchase, 1970 (70.48). Photo: Edward Steichen, 1930. George Eastman Museum.
Barbara Morgan (American, 1900–1992). Martha Graham in Letter to the World (Kick), 1940. Photograph. Collection of the Hudson River Museum. Gift of Douglas and Liliane Morgan, 1987 (87.13.10). Photo: Barbara and Willard Morgan photographs and papers, Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.
Mark O’Banks (American, 1956–2002). Nybylwyck Hall, 1990–2000. Mixed media. Collection of the Hudson River Museum. Gift of Patrick Ladden, 2006 (2006.02). © Mark O’Banks. Photo: Steven Paneccasio.
Georgia O’Keeffe (American, 1887–1986). Banana Blossom, 1934. Charcoal on paper. Collection of the Hudson River Museum. Bequest of Carl E. Hiller, 1992 (92.1.1). © Georgia O’Keeffe Museum / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, NY.
Hiram Powers (American, 1805–1873). Eve Disconsolate, 1871. Marble. Gift of the Berol Family in Memory of Mrs. Gella Berolzheimer, 1951 (51.18).
Winfred Rembert (American, 1945–2021). The Curvey II, 2014. Dye on carved and tooled leather. Collection of the Hudson River Museum. Gift of Jan and Warren Adelson, 2020 (2020.11). © Winfred Rembert. Photo: Steven Paneccasio
Severin Roesen (American, b. Prussia, ca. 1815–ca. 1872). Flowers in a Glass Bowl, ca. 1850–70. Oil on canvas. On extended loan from Shelley and Felice Bergman. Photo: Steven Paneccasio
George Segal (American, 1924–2000). Man Leaning Against a Wall of Doors, 1968. Wood, metal, plaster. Gift of Geigy Pharmaceuticals, Division of Geigy Chemical Corporation, 1969 (69.14a-g).
Anna Walinska (American, b. England, 1906–1997). Self-Portrait: Flamenco, 1939. Oil on canvas. Collection of the Hudson River Museum. Gift of Rosina Rubin, 2020 (2020.12). © Atelier Anna Walinska.
Julian O. Davidson (American, 1853–1894). The Hudson River from the Tappan Zee, 1871. Oil on canvas. Collection of the Hudson River Museum. Museum Purchase, 1959 (59.24). Photo: Steven Paneccasio.
George Inness (American, 1825–1894). In the Woods, Early 1880s. Oil on board. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Martucci, 1991 (91.1.1). Photo: Steven Paneccasio.
Paul Manship (American, 1885–1966). Diana, 1925. Bronze. Collection of the Hudson River Museum. Gift of the City of Yonkers, 1948 (48.17.1). Photo: Steven Paneccasio.
Richard Mayhew (American, 1924–2024). Friday, 1982. Oil on canvas. Collection of the Hudson River Museum. Gift of Dr. Thomas A. Mathews, 1987 (87.16.1). Photo: Steven Paneccasio.
William J. McCloskey (American, 1859–1941). Feeding Dolly (If You Don’t Eat it, I’ll Give it to Doggie), 1890. Oil on canvas. Collection of the Hudson River Museum. Gift of Mrs. Lillie H. Seaman, 1925 (25.97). Photo: Steven Paneccasio.
Sylvia Sleigh (American, born Wales, 1916–2010). Invitation to a Voyage: The Hudson River at Fishkill (Two of Seven Riverside Panels), 1979–ca. 1989. Oil on canvas. Collection of the Hudson River Museum. Gift of the artist, 2006 (2006.03.01d,e).
Sylvia Sleigh (American, born Wales, 1916–2010). Invitation to a Voyage: The Hudson River at Fishkill (Two of Seven Riverside Panels), 1979–ca. 1989. Oil on canvas. Collection of the Hudson River Museum. Gift of the artist, 2006 (2006.03.01d,e).
