Huntington is well known for its restaurants, shops, bars and pubs; welcoming every visitor with its small town village charm. Established in 1653, the town was founded as a farming town but by the 1980’s, the population exploded. Huntington remains a center in Long Island where art, food, nightlife and culture thrive. Creating the warmth of a vacation spot on Long Island. What many do not know about this inviting town, that it is home to The Heckscher Museum of Art.
The Heckscher Museum of Art’s robust collection features 500 years of Western art with an concentration on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The pieces featured at the museum are a plethora of American landscape painting, American and European modernism and photography. Born in 1920, the museum holds more than 2,500 pieces by local and globally known artists alike. You can also see some of Long Island’s important past and present artists there as well including, George Grosz, and Arthur Dove and his wife, Helen Torr.
The museum has several exhibitions contributing to the experience- this month’s exhibitions are “Mirror Images: Realism in the 19th and 20th Centuries” and “Modernizing America: Artists of the Armory Show”.Exploring various realist movements during this era, “Mirror Images” features figure painting, scene painting, landscape and still life painting by artists including but not limited to, Jean-Desire-Gustave Courbet, Eugene Boudin, Thomas Moran, William Merritt Chase, Thomas Eakins, and Fairfield Porter. “Modernizing America” explores the effects of modern European art movements on American art in the 20th century, featuring artists involved in the Armory Show created by the Association of American Painters and Sculptors.
Each exhibition is equipped with teacher tips for class trips and visits and classes on artistic skill and techniques. (The class will vary based on the exhibit you wish to see.) Gallery Talks which invite scholars and experts to the stage to introduce the topic explored in the artwork and discuss cultural influences and effects of those topics. This aspect of the museum creates not only an experience through which you can visit and view art, but sit in on a lecture describing the art so you can learn as well.
The Heckscher Museum of Art brings modernist art to Huntington while paying tribute to Huntington's artists, past and present, who have influenced the art form. Its very accessible site lists upcoming events, additions to each exhibition, and summer camp opportunities for children. Be sure to check the dates and inexpensive admissions prices before this month’s exhibits pass by! Check out museum exhibits and events listed on LongIsland.com including, the Long Island Children Museum, African American Museum, and the Water Mill Museum.
