The Newport Art Museum on Monday (June 23) announced that it will present Howard Gardiner Cushing: A Harmony of Line and Color, the first major retrospective in decades of one of the Gilded Age’s most visionary—and overlooked—American artists.
On view in the Museum’s Cushing Gallery from July 12 through December 31, 2025, this exhibition brings together over 55 paintings, many of which have not been publicly exhibited in more than 60 years. Curated by Ricardo Mercado, the exhibition invites audiences to rediscover a singular talent whose contributions to American art deserve renewed recognition.
A Rediscovery of a Forgotten American Visionary
Howard Gardiner Cushing (1869–1916) was a celebrated artist in his lifetime, renowned for his nuanced portraiture, symbolist-inflected murals, and richly atmospheric depictions of interior life. His work is held in major institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, MFA Boston, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Yet, Cushing’s name has all but vanished from the canon.
“This exhibition invites viewers to rediscover an artist whose influence shaped Newport’s cultural legacy and whose vision still resonates today,” said Danielle Ogden, artistic director of the Newport Art Museum. “Cushing’s work bridges eras—combining the elegance of the Gilded Age with the expressive freedom of modernism.”
A Homecoming of Historic Significance
Cushing was a founding member of the Newport Art Association—now the Newport Art Museum—and maintained a studio at The Ledges, his family home in Newport. Remarkably, over 90 percent of his life’s work remains in the care of family descendants and private collections. The exhibition represents a powerful homecoming for the artist, reuniting his works with the city that shaped his vision and career.
The show is presented in the Museum’s Cushing Gallery, named in his honor and funded through the support of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, Cushing’s friend and patron. Designed by architect William Adams Delano and completed in 1919, the gallery was created to house Cushing’s work and stands as one of the earliest American museum spaces dedicated to a single artist.
Guest Curated by Ricardo Mercado
The exhibition is curated by Ricardo Mercado, an art historian and the Charles H. Sawyer Curatorial Fellow at the Addison Gallery of American Art. Mercado holds a B.A. in art history from Columbia University and an M.A. from the Williams College Graduate Program in the history of art, a joint program with the Clark Art Institute.
“Though I had never heard of Cushing when I encountered one of his paintings as a student conservator, I immediately fell in love with his work,” said Mercado. “This exhibition is an opportunity to share that moment of discovery with a wider audience.”
Opening Celebration
The exhibition will premiere with the Newport Art Museum’s Summer Art Party on Friday, July 11, 2025, and be open to the public the following day. Honoring Minnie Cushing Coleman—a devoted patron of the arts and granddaughter of the artist Howard Gardiner Cushing—the Summer Art Party will feature a cocktail hour followed by an elegant sit-down dinner and live auction with music and dancing.
For more information about the exhibition:
www.newportartmuseum.org/exhibitions/howard-gardiner-cushing-a-harmony-of-line-and-color/
For more information about the Summer Art Party:
www.newportartmuseum.org/events/newport-art-museum-summer-art-party/
