Celebrating 100 Years
Celebrate The Museum’s 100th Anniversary with The Heckscher Museum Celebrates 100 exhibition and throughout 2021!
Exhibition On View
June 5, 2021 – January 9, 2022
The Heckscher Museum Celebrates 100 commemorates the fascinating people, art, and events that have shaped the thriving Museum during its first century. Brimming with masterworks and historical objects from the permanent collection, the exhibition takes visitors from the original collection donated in 1920 to the exhibitions, and acquisitions that have shaped the Museum since. The exhibition transforms the galleries, some with “salon-style” displays from floor to ceiling, ensuring that more of Museum’s impressive collection can be seen. Grouped chronologically by acquisition year, the exhibition pauses at important “moments” in the Museum’s story
Learn more about the exhibition
#Heckscher100
Key People & Moments
Learn about key people and moments in the Museum’s History:
August Heckscher and his wife, Anna, dedicated the Heckscher Museum to the people of Huntington, “and especially the children,” on July 10, 1920.
Youth Eternal by Evelyn Beatrice Longman has the distinction of being the artwork on longest continuous view in The Heckscher Museum. The fountain takes center stage in the Museum lobby, and has a history closely aligned to the Museum’s founding, and a connection to an iconic American sculpture.
Eva Ingersoll Gatling, one of the first women in America to direct an art museum, was hired as the Museum’s first full-time professional director in October 1962. She is considered the force that put The Heckscher Museum “on the map” as an important regional museum.
George Grosz (1893-1959) was a leader in the Dada art movement in 1920s Berlin. Eclipse of the Sun is among the most significant paintings in a public collection on Long Island and one of the masterpieces of 20th-century art.
The renowned American modernist Arthur Dove lived in Huntington with his wife, the artist Helen Torr, from 1924 to 1946. The Heckscher Museum acquired the Dove/Torr Cottage in Centerport in 1998.
Frederick Baker and Ronald G. Pisano focused their collecting interests on American Modernism, and began donating art to the Museum as early as 1975. The Baker/Pisano Collection at The Heckscher Museum of Art is the largest donation of artwork received by the Museum.
The Heckscher Museum strives to be a leading source of artistic inspiration for Long Island and the region through community engagement and education programs.
ART IN BLOOM 2021
ART IN BLOOM
Nature & Art Beautifully Combined
Art in Bloom returns to The Heckscher Museum of Art! This year the Museum is thrilled to partner with four Garden Club of America chapters to bring this stunning multisensory experience to life: North Country Garden Club (Oyster Bay), North Suffolk Garden Club (Stony Brook), South Side Garden Club (Bay Shore), and Three Harbors Garden Club (Cold Spring Harbor). Teams from each club will create 12 floral designs inspired by works of art in the exhibition The Heckscher Museum Celebrates 100.
Sponsored by Robin T. Hadley, Natalia & Paul Lamb, and Patricia P. Sands
My Heckscher Story
Your story is our story, and we want to celebrate it!
The Heckscher Museum commemorates the fascinating people, events, and art that define the Museum’s first 100 years. Tell us about your own special moment / memory at the Museum! Share your story and photos, and you may be featured on our website and on the Museum’s social media channels!
Rico Ford
Art student
“In 2018, I had the honor of being the Long Island’s Best 4th place award winner, as well as the Grumbacher Visitors’ Choice. My experience with the museum has changed the way I see myself in this world. I was never exposed to art museums, or knew any artists like me. The Heckscher allowed me to meet artists my age from all different backgrounds. To this day in college, I still meet people who recognize my work, and made friends with students who participated in the show.”
Photo: Rico Ford alongside his award-winning artwork in Long Island’s Best 2018.
