Heckscher Museum of Art: ‘Lines of Influence: Artists Teaching Artists’, Opens March 29th / thru May 3rd

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Lines of Influence: Artists Teaching Artists

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March 29 – May 3, 2026

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Elaine de Kooning (American, 1918-1989, Black Mountain #6, 1948,
Enamel on paper mounted on canvas, Museum purchase.

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Lines of Influence: Artists Teaching Artists highlights the longstanding tradition of artists educating and learning from one another. Drawing from the Heckscher Museum’s collection, this exhibition brings together 54 works by 39 artists, including paintings, sculptures, works on paper, and ceramics that span the nineteenth century to the present.

The exhibition celebrates the role of teachers and how their influence leaves lasting legacies.

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Lines of Influence illuminates diverse forms of art making across generations, tracing networks of mentorship that include color theorist Josef Albers, plein air instructor William Merritt Chase, Abstract Expressionist pioneer Hans Hofmann, and feminist educators Judy Chicago and Miriam Schapiro.

The exhibition showcases never-before-exhibited works such as drawings of plaster casts by Thomas Anshutz and a terra cotta sculpture by Mary Frank. Other key works include an early abstract painting that Elaine de Kooning created while studying with Albers at Black Mountain College, teaching sketches by George Grosz, and a luminous “mindscape” painting by Richard Mayhew. Lines of Influence highlights instances in which artists collaborated, apprenticed, and guided one another, revealing the vibrant exchanges that shaped their artistic legacies.

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Miriam Schapiro (American, b. Canada, 1923-2015), Berthe Morisot & Me, c. 1976,
Mixed media with collage, Gift of Drs. Constance and Lee Koppelman.

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The exhibition will also spotlight some of the educational institutions that shaped the trajectory of artistic practice in the U.S., including the Arts Students League in New York City, the Pennsylvania School of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, and Black Mountain College in North Carolina.

Fittingly, Lines of Influence coincides with the 30th anniversary of Long Island’s Best: Young Artists at The Heckscher Museum, the Museum’s signature juried exhibition which gives local high school students the chance to be featured in a professional museum setting. The students selected for Long Island’s Best are asked to find inspiration from artwork from those on view, and create their own art piece. Having both exhibitions side by side in the galleries, reveals the continuum of inspiration from one generation to another.

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The Heckscher Museum of Art, Heckscher Park, Huntington

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The Heckscher Museum of Art is in its second century as a source of art and inspiration on Long Island. Founded by philanthropists Anna and August Heckscher in 1920, the Museum’s collection comprises 2,300 artworks spanning the sixteenth century to the present. The Museum is committed to growing the collection to develop public awareness for the artists whose careers and life experiences can broaden our understanding of the past, foster community connections to the present, and create diverse possibilities for the future. Located in scenic Heckscher Park in Huntington, NY, the building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Continuing the legacy of the founders, free admission to the Museum is supported through a generous grant from Bank of America.