The Cleveland Museum of Art Presents Its First Andrew Wyeth Exhibition

CLEVELAND (September 17, 2026)—Spectacular Freedom: Andrew Wyeth and the Modern American Watercolor at the Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) offers the first in-depth exploration of Andrew Wyeth’s relationship with watercolor. Featuring nearly 75 rarely seen works from the artist’s estate—including 17 that have never been on view publicly and five that have not been exhibited in nearly a century—this scholarly exhibition is groundbreaking in size and depth. Selected tempera paintings accompany the watercolors and explore the deep connection and surprising interdependency of the two mediums in Wyeth’s practice—revealing just how much of his career was spent thinking about, and working on, paper. 

The ticketed exhibition, on view from Sunday, September 20, 2026, through Monday, January 18, 2027, in the Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation Gallery, is the first Cleveland presentation of this celebrated artist’s work. 

Spectacular Freedom reveals that watercolor was central to Wyeth’s art from a young age, after he received a set of paints at the age of just 13. Wyeth began to experiment with the medium at the height of its popularity in the United States, not only encouraging his practice but also informing the fundamental questions engaged by his work about what it meant to be American and modern at that time. By 1937, when he had his first major solo exhibition of watercolors, Wyeth was seen as one of the country’s most talented painters, leading one critic to describe his watercolors as having a “spectacular freedom.” 

Favored for its portability and expressive freedom, watercolor allowed Wyeth to work outdoors and directly from nature. He returned to subjects near his homes in Pennsylvania and Maine repeatedly, developing a practice that was based on place. While watercolor landscape painting was already a long-standing American tradition, Wyeth used it in a way that was entirely his own, favoring unexpected details and unconventional viewpoints. 

Spectacular Freedom features six thematic sections: Wyeth’s early work, his images of coastal Maine and rural Pennsylvania, his interest in reenvisioning landscape, intimate images of private life, and his unexpected interest in abstraction. The exhibition also features a selection of the artist’s own materials, including paints, brushes, and other tools. The exhibited watercolors were kept by the artist and his wife and creative partner, Betsy, for their family collection throughout their lives. Thanks to a first-of-its-kind collaboration with the Brandywine Museum of Art, visitors have a unique opportunity to experience these artworks up close. 

“Beginning in the 1930s, Andrew Wyeth built a monumental reputation for his evocative use of watercolor, depicting the people and places that surrounded him in rural Pennsylvania and Maine,” said Britany Salsbury, curator of prints and drawings at the CMA. “Although Wyeth is often thought of today for his tempera paintings, watercolor was a constant throughout his incredibly prolific career. His works in the medium reveal a completely new and surprising side of an otherwise well-known artist. Through the works on view, we can see Wyeth actively reconsidering the American watercolor tradition, endlessly shifting his perspective and technique in order to create works that revolutionized the possibilities of the medium.” 

While he worked slowly in tempera, Wyeth created thousands of watercolors throughout his long career. His watercolor practice varied widely over the decades explored in the exhibition, resulting in innovative works, both sketches and finished sheets. These ranged from vivid, painted landscapes to precisely rendered interior scenes to completely abstract compositions, as well as preparatory studies for the tempera paintings he produced alongside his watercolors.  

Despite their key role, Wyeth’s watercolors have received comparatively little attention, as he gradually became better known for his tempera works. Spectacular Freedom reconsiders one of the most celebrated American artists of the past century by highlighting his creative process and showcasing a previously unknown aspect of his lifelong practice.  

A richly illustrated publication, with essays by historians of American art and works on paper, accompanies the exhibition. 

Spectacular Freedom: Andrew Wyeth and the Modern American Watercolor is organized by the Cleveland Museum of Art in collaboration with the Brandywine Museum of Art. The exhibition is curated by Britany Salsbury at the CMA. Lauren Palmor, curator of American art at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, is overseeing the presentation of the exhibition at the de Young (February 13–July 18, 2027). 

Presented by 

Generous support is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts. 

Additional support is provided by an anonymous donor, the Seven Five Fund, and Karen A. Walburn. 

All exhibitions at the Cleveland Museum of Art are underwritten by the CMA Fund for Exhibitions. Principal annual support is provided by Michael Frank and the late Pat Snyder, the Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation, the John and Jeanette Walton Exhibition Fund, and Margaret and Loyal Wilson. Major annual support is provided by the late Dick Blum and Harriet Warm and the Frankino-Dodero Family Fund for Exhibitions Endowment. Generous annual support is provided by two anonymous donors, Gini and Randy Barbato, Cynthia and Dale Brogan, Dr. Ben and Julia Brouhard, Brenda and Marshall Brown, Gail and Bill Calfee, the Leigh H. Carter family, Dr. William A. Chilcote Jr. and Dr. Barbara S. Kaplan, Mary and Jim Conway, Joseph and Susan Corsaro, Ron and Cheryl Davis, the Jeffery Wallace Ellis Trust in memory of Lloyd H. Ellis Jr., Leigh and Andy Fabens, Florence Kahane Goodman, Martha H. and Steven M. Hale, Janice Hammond and Edward Hemmelgarn, Linda Harper, Robin Heiser, the late Marta and the late Donald M. Jack Jr., the estate of Walter and Jean Kalberer, Robert M. Kaye, Jane and Doug Kern, the late Mrs. Nancy M. Lavelle, Eva and Rudolf Linnebach, William S. Lipscomb, Bill and Joyce Litzler, the Roy Minoff Family Fund, Lu Anne and the late Carl Morrison, Mrs. Peta and the late Dr. Roland Moskowitz, Jeffrey Mostade and Eric Nilson and Varun Shetty, Sarah Nash, Courtney and Michael Novak, Mark and Paula Nylander, Tim O’Brien and Breck Platner, Dr. Nicholas and Anne Ogan, William J. and Katherine T. O’Neill, Henry Ott-Hansen, Frank and Fran Porter, Christine Fae Powell, Peter and Julie Raskind, Michael and Cindy Resch, Marguerite and James Rigby, in memory of Dee Schafer, Betty T. and David M. Schneider, Elizabeth and Tim Sheeler, Saundra K. Stemen, Paula and Eugene Stevens, the Womens Council of the Cleveland Museum of Art, and Claudia Woods and David Osage. 

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About the Cleveland Museum of Art 

The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) is renowned for the quality and breadth of its collection, which includes more than 68,000 artworks and spans 6,000 years of achievement in the arts. The museum is a significant international forum for exhibitions, scholarship, and performing arts and is a leader in digital innovation. One of the leading encyclopedic art museums in the United States, the CMA is recognized for its award-winning open access program—which provides free digital access to images and information about works in the museum’s collection—and free of charge to all. The museum is located in the University Circle neighborhood with two satellite locations on Cleveland’s west side: the Community Arts Center and Transformer Station.  

The museum is supported in part by residents of Cuyahoga County through a public grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture and made possible in part by the Ohio Arts Council (OAC), which receives support from the State of Ohio and the National Endowment for the Arts. The OAC is a state agency that funds and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally, and economically. For more information about the museum and its holdings, programs, and events, call 888-CMA-0033 or visit cma.org.  

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