Current Exhibitions
In Fresh Air: Impressionism and the Plein Air Movement
March 5, 2021 – June 19, 2021
The artistic drive to leave the studio and to collect inspiration, impressions and ideas directly from nature is featured in this new exhibition. Drawn from works rarely seen at the Biggs Museum, the exhibition tracks the influence of plein air painting in the United States, particularly in Delaware, with a focus on the museum’s extensive Barbizon, Tonalist and Impressionist collections. Over 100 years of paintings connected by the plein air tradition will be brought together in this comprehensive exhibition.
Out of the Vault: Modern and Contemporary Art
March 5, 2021 – June 19, 2021
Allow us to reintroduce ourselves. Witness an evolution of the Biggs through a reinstallation of the museum’s entire third-floor galleries to feature rarely exhibited paintings, photographs, sculpture and crafts from the Post WWI period to the contemporary arts of the present day. Much of this work has been added to the collection in the past ten years, but has rarely been shared with the public.
Toni Frissell: In Italy with the Tuskegee Airmen
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ds.10166
January 8, 2021 – April 24, 2021
The imminent fashion and society photographer, Toni Frissell (1907-88), held several official positions with the American Red Cross, the Women’s Army Corp and the US Air Force to document World War II. This exhibition highlights her images of the Tuskegee Airmen, the 332d Fighter Group, from the collection of the Library of Congress.
Upcoming Exhibitions
Award Winners XXI
June 4, 2021 – July 17, 2021
The Biggs Museum presents the prestigious annual Award Winners exhibition that combines the visual, literary and performing arts talent of each year’s Individual Artist Fellows of the Delaware Division of the Arts into one group show.
Winslow Homer From Poetry to Fiction – The Engraved Works
July 2, 2021 – October 17, 2021
The art of Winslow Homer, who arguably is the most renowned and best-loved artist of the mid-19th century, is exquisitely illustrated with didactic interpretation and accompanied by never before published or exhibited period photographs. The artist skillfully captured a cross section of American society in his highly accomplished monochromatic engravings during the pre-war years, the Civil War and the following decade that tell a story of triumph and tragedy in American history.
Frida Kahlo: Through the Lens of Nickolas Muray
November 5, 2021 – February 13, 2022
In May 1931 the imminent photographer Nickolas Muray traveled to Mexico on vacation where he met Frida Kahlo, a woman he would never forget. The two started a romance that continued on and off for the next ten years and a friendship that lasted until her death in 1954. Approximately forty photographic portraits taken by Muray of Kahlo comprise the exhibition. The photographs, dating from 1937 to 1946, explore Muray’s unique perspective; as Kahlo’s friend, lover and confidant. Muray’s photographs bring to light Kahlo’s deep interest in her Mexican heritage, her life and the people with whom she shared a close friendship. This exhibition will be accompanied by a large private collection of folk art masks from Mexico of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Check back frequently – exhibition and event details are updated often!