Image: Reclining Lady with Dog (detail), ca. 1900, Rhoda Holmes Nicholls (American, born England, 1854–1930), watercolor over graphite on wove paper. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Gabe W. Burton Fund, 2023.47
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond has opened ‘Painted on Paper: American Watercolors from the Permanent Collection,’ an exhibition of 15 works drawn from the museum’s holdings. The presentation, on view from August 15, 2026, through February 15, 2027, occupies the Mary Ann Frable Works on Paper Gallery and is free to visitors.
The installation includes numerous recent acquisitions, while several other works have not been displayed at VMFA this century. Together, the selection offers a focused view of the museum’s collection of American watercolor and the medium’s place within the history of American art. The exhibition is curated by Dr. Christopher C. Oliver, Bev Perdue Jennings Associate Curator of American Art.
Watercolor has long been used as a preparatory medium for conceiving paintings that would ultimately be executed in another material. According to the museum, American artists, critics, and patrons began to recognize watercolor as a fine art in its own right during the mid-19th century. ‘Painted on Paper’ invites visitors to consider that shift through works preserved in VMFA’s permanent collection.
One work identified by the museum is ‘Reclining Lady with Dog,’ made around 1900 by Rhoda Holmes Nicholls, an American artist born in England in 1854. The watercolor over graphite on wove paper entered VMFA through the Gabe W. Burton Fund in 2023. Other individual artists, dates, and subjects in the installation are not specified in the available exhibition material.
The exhibition is part of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts’ wider presentation of works on paper and collection-based displays. The museum’s website states that some galleries are temporarily closed because of its expansion and renovation project, while the institution remains open 365 days a year. General admission to the museum is free, although the site notes that certain special exhibitions may be ticketed.
A separate exhibition at VMFA, the ‘47th Annual Exhibition of the Virginia Watercolor Society,’ is scheduled for September 5 through November 1, 2026, in the 21st-Century Art Gallery. That presentation will feature approximately 100 selected works by members of the statewide organization, including paintings, mixed media, and collage. It is distinct from ‘Painted on Paper,’ which centers on 15 watercolors from VMFA’s permanent collection and remains on view in the Mary Ann Frable Works on Paper Gallery through February 15, 2027.
