Image: Sheldon Museum of Art, Lincoln
Sheldon Museum of Art in Lincoln will open ‘Grace Hartigan: The Gift of Attention’ on August 15, 2026, with the exhibition remaining on view through January 3, 2027. The presentation brings together works by the American painter Grace Hartigan made between 1952 and 1968, offering a focused view of a pivotal period in which she moved between abstraction and figuration.
The exhibition is drawn from public and private collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Smithsonian Institution of American Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the McNay Art Museum, and the University at Buffalo Art Galleries. According to Sheldon’s description, the show examines the exchange between Hartigan’s work and the New York poets who inspired her, among them Daisy Aldan, Barbara Guest, James Merrill, Frank O’Hara, and James Schuyler.
Sheldon says the exhibition offers a chance to follow Hartigan’s artistic development during a particularly important phase of her career. The works assembled for ‘The Gift of Attention’ show her navigating a space between painterly abstraction and more recognizably figurative imagery, a balance that has long been central to how her mid-century art is discussed. The museum’s announcement highlights that the exhibition’s title reflects that focus on looking closely at both image and language.
‘Grace Hartigan: The Gift of Attention’ was organized by the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh and curated by Jared Ledesma, curator of 20th-century art and contemporary art. Sheldon’s presentation is organized by Christian Wurst, associate curator for exhibitions. The museum also notes exhibition support from Melanie and Jon Gross and Rhonda Seacrest, with annual support from the Nebraska Arts Council, Nebraska Cultural Endowment, Sherwood Foundation, and Sheldon Art Association members.
The show appears in Sheldon’s schedule as one of four new exhibitions opening August 15 after the museum closes its galleries July 12–August 14 for installation. That same season includes ‘Gender, Genre, Generation: Women Painting Abstraction,’ ‘New Horizons,’ and ‘Remembering Modern Art: The Collection of the Museum of American Art, Berlin.’ Sheldon describes the new program cycle as part of its academic calendar, a structure that shapes how the museum stages exhibitions for students, faculty, staff, alumni, and visitors.
Among the works listed on the exhibition page are ‘Interior with Mexican Doll’ (1955), ‘East Side Sunday’ (1956), ‘Dido’ (1960), ‘Barbara Guest Archaics’ (1968), and ‘Black Crows (Oranges No. 1)’ (1952). The exhibition page also reproduces an image of ‘Grand Street Brides’ (1954) from the Whitney Museum of American Art. A curator talk with Jared Ledesma is scheduled for opening day, August 15, 2026, from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m., with a special welcome and poetry reading by JC Andrews.
