Image: Newport Art Museum
The Newport Art Museum is extending its examination of Howard Gardiner Cushing with ‘Howard Gardiner Cushing: Rediscoveries,’ an exhibition bringing together paintings from private and institutional collections, including works that have rarely—or in some cases never—been exhibited publicly. The exhibition is on view in the Cushing Gallery in Newport, Rhode Island, from July 11, 2026, through December 31, 2027.
The presentation follows the museum’s 2025 exhibition ‘Howard Gardiner Cushing: A Harmony of Line and Color,’ curated by Ricardo Mercado. That earlier project drew on extensive research and loans from private collections, bringing previously undocumented works to public attention and expanding the known account of Cushing’s career. ‘Rediscoveries’ broadens the research effort through a larger group of paintings and recent scholarship.
Cushing (1869–1916) trained at the Académie Julian in Paris. According to the Newport Art Museum, his practice combined the technical rigor of academic painting with an interest in beauty, design, and atmosphere. His work encompassed elegant portraits, atmospheric genre scenes, decorative compositions, mural projects, and imaginative tableaux.
His approach was influenced by James McNeill Whistler and the Aesthetic Movement. Cushing believed art could be valued for its beauty and visual impact rather than for communicating a specific message or narrative, a position the museum describes as a modern way of thinking for artists working at the turn of the twentieth century. The exhibition places that range of interests within the context of a career associated closely with Newport.
The Newport Art Museum holds the largest public collection of Cushing’s work. The institution, founded in 1912, maintains a collection of approximately 3,000 works spanning paintings, sculpture, works on paper, photography, decorative arts, installation, textiles, and other media, with holdings concentrated on American and contemporary art. Cushing’s work forms a significant part of the museum’s connection to the history of Newport and its artistic communities.
Loans for ‘Howard Gardiner Cushing: Rediscoveries’ come from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Newport Historical Society, the Preservation Society of Newport County, and the Whitney Museum of American Art, alongside private lenders Caterine Milinaire Cushing, Kitty Cushing, Duncan Kennedy, Phillip Kennedy, and Mary and Guy Van Pelt. The museum credits Minnie Cushing Colman, Alexandra Howard, and Ricardo Mercado for scholarship and contributions to the exhibition. The project has been supported in part by the Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney Exhibition Fund and remains on view through December 31, 2027.
