HISTORY OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY ANNUAL EXHIBITION

The National Academy’s Annual Exhibition of contemporary American art is integral to the mission and the history of the institution. From the beginning one of the primary purposes of the Academy was to foster the appreciation of American art through yearly exhibitions of contemporary paintings, sculpture, and works on paper. In 1826, the Academy instituted the yearly practice of exhibiting the recent work of living artists. It has continued uninterrupted ever since and remains the oldest recurring exhibition of contemporary art in America. Modeled after the Royal Academy of Arts in London, the National Academy has set high standards, encouraged professionalism, worked with resident talent, helped to make American art competitive with European art, and broadened the political and social milieu of American artists.

William St. John Harper, “In the National Academy of Design” Harper’s Weekly, April 29, 1882

The Academy’s inaugural President, Samuel F. B. Morse, hoped that the exhibitions would inform the taste of the American public, and as taste developed so would artistic standards; thus art and taste would both improve. The main impetus during this period was to provide artists with regular venues in which to exhibit and sell their work. In the 19th century, contributing to the Annual Exhibition was both an obligation and a privilege for Academicians.

Annual Exhibition Jury, 1889

While open to all artists on a competitive basis, Academicians were expected to exhibit. Failure to contribute for two years without an acceptable reason resulted in demotion from Academician to Associate status.

Annual Exhibition Jury, 1906

The rise of Modernism in the early 20th century elicited a strong response from many prominent Academicians, and the institution reacted strongly against it—a trend that continued through the 1960s.

Varnishing Day at the Academy, 1930

Through mid-century the Academy continued to ignore progressive tendencies in art, and figurative work continued to dominate the Annual Exhibition. Recognizing that the exhibition had become moribund, in the mid-1970s, the Academicians began to invite preeminent artists to exhibit exempt from jury review. This changed the complexion of the Annual and ushered in an era of progress for the institution—one that has continued to this day.

In 2002, for the first time in the institution’s history, the Academy’s Annual was a juried invitational of exclusively non-academicians. The Invitational has continued every other year (odd-numbered years are reserved solely for Academicians) and has been a forum in which multigenerational artists—both emerging and established—may show their work side-by-side. Recent participants include Polly Apfelbaum, Lynda Benglis, Enrique Chagoya, James Clark, Tara Donovan, Barnaby Furnas, Jonathan Lasker, Judy Pfaff, Cordy Ryman, Alison Saar, James Siena, Jessica Stockholder, Sarah Sze, Terry Winters, Lisa Yuskavage, and many others. Inclusion in the Invitational has often been the first step toward membership. The diversity found in the Invitational exhibitions today reflects the pluralism of contemporary art.”