March 26 in Art History
4 real events recorded on March 26, the earliest from 1920. 1 died on this date.
Died on this day 1
- 1920 Died
Died this day: Samuel Colman
Samuel Colman was an American painter, interior designer, and writer, known for his landscapes, particularly those of the Hudson River. His work reflects the styles of the Hudson River School and American Orientalism. On March 26, 1920, this versatile artist passed away, leaving behind a body of work that showcases his skill in capturing the beauty of the American landscape and beyond.
Samuel Colman's legacy lies in his contributions to American landscape painting, particularly his iconic depictions of the Hudson River.
Exhibitions & salons 1
- 2024 Exhibition
Paris 1874: Inventing Impressionism Opens at Musee d'Orsay
On March 26, 2024, Musee d'Orsay opened Paris 1874: Inventing Impressionism, a major anniversary exhibition marking 150 years since the first Impressionist exhibition at Nadar's former studio. The show paired works associated with the 1874 independent exhibition with art shown at the official Salon of the same year, reframing Impressionism not as an isolated style but as a contested public event in a crowded Parisian art world. Reports on the exhibition emphasized its attempt to recreate the shock of seeing Monet, Renoir, Degas, Morisot, Pissarro, Sisley, Cezanne, and their peers outside official channels. It later traveled to the National Gallery of Art in Washington as Paris 1874: The Impressionist Moment.
The exhibition renewed scholarly and public attention to Impressionism's institutional origins.
Camille Pissarro , Edgar Degas , Pierre Auguste Renoir , Alfred Sisley
Openings & foundings 2
- 1926 Opening
Galerie Surrealiste Opens in Paris
On 26 March 1926, Galerie Surrealiste opened in Paris with an exhibition by Man Ray. The opening mattered because Surrealism was still negotiating whether visual art could serve a movement first defined through poetry, automatism, dreams, and revolutionary theory. A 1925 show at Galerie Pierre had already helped establish Surrealist painting, but the dedicated gallery gave Andre Breton's circle a named public site for exhibitions, publications, and debate. Man Ray's inaugural role also signaled how photography, objects, and experimental display would sit beside painting in Surrealist practice. The gallery helped move Surrealism from a literary avant-garde into a broader visual culture, linking artists such as Man Ray, Joan Miro, Max Ernst, Giorgio de Chirico, and later Salvador Dali and Rene Magritte.
It gave Surrealism a public exhibition platform and helped legitimize its visual-art program.
- 1928 Opening
Philadelphia Museum of Art Main Building Galleries Open
On March 26, 1928, twenty second-floor galleries in the Philadelphia Museum of Art's new Fairmount building opened to the public, even though much of the interior was still unfinished. The event marked the public arrival of the museum's monumental Parkway home, a project shaped by Horace Trumbauer's office, Zantzinger, Borie and Medary, Howell Lewis Shay, and Julian Abele. The galleries initially presented English and American art, turning an institution rooted in the 1876 Centennial Exposition into one of the United States' major encyclopedic art museums. The opening also fixed the museum's civic identity at the head of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, where architecture, collection-building, and public urban planning converged in a single landmark.
The opening anchored Philadelphia's art museum on the Parkway and set the stage for its national stature.