On a recent lovely December morning, my husband surprised me with an impromptu field trip to the Addison Gallery (AG) on the campus of Phillips Academy (PA) in Andover, Mass. I had recently taught a series of art seminars at Middlesex Community College and when I was working on my Edward Hopper seminar – the Addison Gallery kept coming up in my research, so I was thrilled to visit this local gem for the very first time.
The Addison was two of my favorite things a museum can be – free and mostly empty. The students of PA had left campus for the holiday break and the museum has had free admission since it opened in 1931. The AG greeter and security guards could not have been lovelier – pointing out special details within the gallery/facts about the collection and answering questions. They made my first visit even more enjoyable.
Some Background
The Addison Gallery’s collection of American art is one of the most comprehensive in the world, including more than 17,000 objects spanning the 18th century to the present. In a typical year, the Addison presents approximately twelve shows, including both permanent collection installations and major traveling exhibitions, carefully balanced to represent a wide range of art, across time and media.
Thomas Cochran (an alumnus, trustee, and benefactor of PA) created the Addison Gallery of American Art at Phillips Academy in 1931 as the most extraordinary of his many gifts to the school. Guided by Cochran’s goal “to enrich permanently the lives of the students,” the Addison’s programs demonstrate a central concern for education. The museum is a teaching resource for Phillips Academy students and faculty as well as an art center for the greater Boston area and the nation at large.
Fun Facts
In 1931, Addison Gallery of American Art, named for Cochran’s late friend Keturah Addison Cobb, opens to the public in May. The core collection of approximately 500 works includes paintings by Winslow Homer, Arthur B. Davies, George Bellows, and Thomas Eakins. (More history can be found at: http://www.pa59ers.com/map/key/history/004.html. - Famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright lectured to the Phillips Academy community at the Addison Gallery on October 23, 1936. (I am a HUGE FLW fan, so I try to work him into all my posts – see my Taliesen post)
Charles Sheeler served as the Addison Gallery’s first artist-in-residence in 1946. It culminated in the acquisition of Ballardvale. Sheeler found and photographed a group of abandoned mill buildings in a section of Andover called Ballardvale. He characterized these mundane buildings as heroic, both affecting in its isolation and vital in its endurance. - Peggy Guggenheim donated Jackson Pollock’s Abstract Expressionist canvas Phosphorescence in 1950. Sadly this painting is on loan – boo.
- Georgia O’Keeffe donated twenty-two volumes of Alfred Stieglitz’s magazine Camera Work in 1953. She was a founding supporter of the museum (her name is in the entryway of the gallery.) Her beautiful painting, Wave, Night, is part of the collection.
Artist Frank Stella attended the Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts from 1950 until 1954 and went on to Princeton University where he graduated with a B.A. in History in 1958. Frank Stella is one of the twentieth century’s most innovative and productive artists. 
On August 10, 2016, the Addison welcomed the newest addition to its sculpture collection – ten blown-glass spheres or “floats” by renowned artist Dale Chihuly. The sculptures were commissioned from the Chihuly Studio specifically for installation on the Addison’s green roof. 
Edward Hoppers a plenty! As a lover of all things Edward Hopper, the Addison has a spectrum of his work: paintings, drawings, photos and etchings – eight works in total. There is also a great photo portrait by Berenice Abbott of Hopper that is one of my favs – note his hat hanging on his etching press.
UMass Lowell’s photography professor Arno Minkkinen has eight works in the Addison collection. I am a fan of Arno’s photography and these pieces highlight some of his best work.- A family business…Alexander Calder was the son of painter Nanette Lederer and renowned sculptor Alexander Stirling Calder, he showed little interest in fine art until the 1920s when he began studying composition, painting, and drawing at the Art Students League in New York. Work by Alexander and his father are in Addison’s collection and some are curated together.
Other Collection Highlight
I love Sol LeWitt and he is well represented at the AG. Here is a link to his work at the gallery. While I was upstairs looking at the folk art exhibit, I was just blown away by the GORGEOUS Sol Lewitt ceiling – sorry, my pic does not do it justice. Go check it out.
In 1993, the Addison presented the retrospective, Sol LeWitt: Twenty-five years of Wall Drawings, 1968–1993. One of the drawings from the exhibition, a gift from Sol LeWitt to the Addison, was specifically designed for and installed on the cove of the main gallery.
Finally, although it is not a Gallery highlight I stumbled across the grave of Harriet Beecher Stowe on campus which was very unexpected. Although she lived in Hartford, CT, she was buried in Andover where her husband, Prof. Calvin E. Stowe, and her son Henry, were buried. Read her obit here.
Final Thoughts
Go to the Addison Gallery, I am ashamed that I have traveled across the world in pursuit of art – yet ignored this local gem – it will not disappoint.
Finally, Samuel’s Restaurant at the Andover Inn on campus was also a great place to grab a bite.
Enjoy!
restless art syndrome 