Encounters with Icons of Art
Modern Masterworks in Alaska
Works by 11 iconic American artists come to the Anchorage Museum to be on view 2025-2027 thanks to partnerships with museums nationwide, including the National Gallery of Art. These artworks bridge geographies, inviting us to see Alaska in context with major American art movements and narratives. This is an unprecedented opportunity for our community—and for visitors from across the globe—to see artwork by these renowned artists in Alaska.
The Anchorage Museum was selected as one of 10 museums in the country to partner with the National Gallery of Art's "Across the Nation" program. This program allows us to bring to Anchorage on long-term loan works by legendary artists Georgia O'Keeffe, Mark Rothko, and Nancy Graves. The O'Keeffe and Graves works will be on view in the Art of the North galleries April 4, 2025 - Spring 2027, and the Rothko artwork will be on view in the exhibition Cold War to the Cosmos April 4, 2025 - Sept. 7, 2026, and reinstalled in the Art of the North galleries when that exhibition closes.
As these artworks sit alongside works from the museum’s collections in the Art of the North galleries, they "talk" to each other and present contrasting narratives, demonstrating that nature can evoke varied emotions and responses. Together, they offer a more complex and deeper understanding of place.
Other major works on loan from notable art institutions around the country will also be included in the Cold War to the Cosmos exhibition (on view April 4, 2025 - Sept 7, 2026), which examines the Cold War’s broader impact on American society during the Atomic Age as reflected through politics, art, and culture. During this time, Abstract Expressionists shattered artistic traditions, demonstrating the power of individual expression in an era defined by ideological conflict.
Works on loan in that exhibition include artworks by Franz Kline via Kalamazoo Institute of Arts; Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning via Smithsonian American Art Museum; Adolph Gottlieb via University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art; Trevor Paglen via Nevada Museum of Art; and Grace Hartigan, Theodore Roszak, and Conrad Marca-Relli via Art Bridges Foundation.
“We believe this collaboration with art institutions across the country will prompt fresh conversations about the connections between landscapes and expression.”
Julie Decker, Anchorage Museum Director and CEO.
The Power of Partnership
We value our relationships with cultural partners who expand access to world-class art that might otherwise be out of reach for Alaska audiences. These networks help us foster cultural enrichment, deepen public engagement, connect local communities to global art histories, and inspire artists and students.
image credits
1991.42.1, Willem de Kooning, Untitled, ca. 1978, ink wash and gouache on paper. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Cornelia Jane Strawser in memory of Herbert Little and Margaret Thayer Ward Little.
Mark Rothko, Untitled, 1958, oil and acrylic on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Gift of the Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc., 1986.43.150, © 1998 Kate Rothko Prizel & Christopher Rothko/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
Georgia O'Keeffe, Winter Road I, 1963, oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Gift of the Georgia O'Keeffe Foundation 1995.4.1.
Franz Kline, Red Crayon, 1959, oil and crayon on canvas. Collection of the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts; Director's Fund, 1968/9.93
1971.307, Jackson Pollock, Emiliano Sorini, Untitled, 1942, printed 1967, etching on paper. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase.
Conrad Marca-Relli (1913-2000), Cristobal, 1962, painted vinyl collage, 74 3/4 x 64 in. Art Bridges. Photography by Demetrius Neal.
Adolph Gottlieb, Edge, 1972, Oil on canvas, 60 x 48 in. (152.4 x 121.92 cm), University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art, Gift of Gift of Mrs. Adolph Gottlieb, Stanley Museum of Art, Iowa City