EXHIBITIONS
May 27 – September 4, 2023
M.C. Escher: Infinite Variations spans the Dutch artist’s entire career with more than 180 works from the private collection of Paul and Belinda Firos of Athens, Greece. >>>
May 20 – September 10, 2023
Day to Night, photographer Stephen Wilkes’ most defining project, began in 2009. Working from a fixed camera angle, Wilkes captures the fleeting moments of humanity and light as time passes… >>>
American Masterworks
through December 31, 2023
An exhibition featuring eight newly acquired oil paintings by artists Eastman Johnson, William Merritt Chase, John Singer Sargent, Childe Hassam, Maurice Prendergast, Joshua Johnson, and Georgia O’Keeffe. More >>>
September 23 – December 31, 2023
Celebrate the art of Arnold Lobel (1933–1987), author and illustrator of some of the most beloved children’s books produced since the late 1960s. More >>>
Following the Thread: Navajo Textiles from the Thaw Collection
October 7 – December 31, 2023
Following the Thread explores the history and transformation of Diné (Navajo) weaving. More >>>
September 23 – December 31, 2023
Adrianne Lobel has been painting for over twenty years—a direction taken after her illustrious career as a stage designer for theater, film, dance, and opera in America, Europe, and Japan. More >>>
September 16 – December 31, 2023
A Cabinet of Curious Matters is a visual dialogue between the works of the two artists, sculptor Nancy Callahan and painter Richard Whitten, who share an interest in dreams, antique scientific and medical instruments, mythologies, and mysteries. More >>>
April 1 – December 3, 2023
Hall of Fame pitcher, Randy Johnson, shares his forty-year passion for photography in his first-ever solo exhibition… >>>
Crafting Freedom: The Life and Legacy of Free Black Potter Thomas W. Commeraw
June 24 – September 24, 2023
The New-York Historical Society presents the first exhibition to bring overdue attention to Thomas W. Commeraw, a successful Black craftsman who was long assumed to be white. Formerly enslaved, Commeraw rose to prominence as a free Black entrepreneur, owning and operating a successful pottery in the New York City. More >>>
April 1 – June 11, 2023
The late 1960’s saw the arrival of a new counterculture in San Francisco. The hippies brought with them their own sense of style and musical taste. Two musical venues, the Avalon Ballroom and the Fillmore Auditorium, hosted “dances” that brought new psychedelic rock music onto the scene…. >>>
April 1 – May 14, 2023
Ashley Norwood Cooper is drawn to the idea that swarming shapes can hold paintings together even as they create chaos and disorder. This exhibition of her colorfully engaging paintings examines how humans interact with swarming bees, butterflies, and even ghost rabbits….. >>>
September 2 – December 31, 2023
Fenimore Art Museum explores the work of James Edward Deeds (1908-1987) while he was a patient at State Hospital for the Insane No. 3 in Nevada, MO. Featuring 23 works generously loaned from the collections of the American Folk Art Museum and the collection of Frank S. Tosto. More >>>
A Tale of Star-Crossed Lovers: Romeo and Juliet in Opera and Art
April 1 – September 10, 2023
The story of Romeo and Juliet, star-crossed lovers from rival families, is an old tale which has been retold by writers and dramatists from the 1500s to the present day. What started as an early Italian novella has been recreated in many forms—in theater, opera, ballet, musical, and film. >>>

Sixth Annual Museum Members’ Showcase
On view through December 31, 2022
Our popular Museum Members’ Showcase, featuring the art of our talented Museum Members, enters its sixth year with a special, extended two-month exhibition! The exhibition is located in the Community Gallery on the second floor.
Young at Art
May 27 – July 19, 2023
Fenimore showcases young, emerging artists of the region through a contest and exhibition each year in which winning middle and high school students have their artwork exhibited for an audience of thousands! Learn more about the Young at Art program >>>
Permanent exhibition (April 1–December 31)
In 1995, the Fenimore Art Museum embarked upon a new era with the addition of a spectacular new American Indian Wing designed to house the extraordinary gift from Eugene and Clare Thaw of their collection of American Indian art. Read More >
Permanent exhibition (April 1–December 31)
Fenimore Art Museum’s folk art collection is one of the nation’s largest and finest. Begun with extensive gifts from Stephen C. Clark, the collection includes a variety of paintings, ship figureheads, quilts, weathervanes, trade signs, cigar-store figures, carvings, and decorated stoneware, all created by American folk artists. Read More >
Permanent exhibition (April 1–December 31)
The fine art collection was largely assembled by connoisseur Stephen C. Clark one of the Museum’s greatest patrons. The collection contains some of the best examples of American landscape, history, and genre painting. Read More >
Permanent exhibition (April 1–December 31)
The Cooper name has been tied to the Otsego Lake region for more than ten generations. It is here that a special bond united a family with the land, prompting a vision that inspired a great American literary tradition and fostered the growth of a small village and its surrounding environs. Read More >
Sixth Annual Museum Members’ Showcase
November 11 – December 31, 2022
Our popular Museum Members’ Showcase enters its sixth year with a special, extended two-month exhibition!
May 20 – September 10, 2023
Day to Night, photographer Stephen Wilkes’ most defining project, began in 2009. Working from a fixed camera angle, Wilkes captures the fleeting moments of humanity and light as time passes… >>>
May 27 – September 4, 2023
M.C. Escher: Infinite Variations spans the Dutch artist’s entire career with more than 180 works from the private collection of Paul and Belinda Firos of Athens, Greece. >>>
Crafting Freedom: The Life and Legacy of Free Black Potter Thomas W. Commeraw
June 24 – September 24, 2023
The New-York Historical Society presents the first exhibition to bring overdue attention to Thomas W. Commeraw, a successful Black craftsman who was long assumed to be white. Formerly enslaved, Commeraw rose to prominence as a free Black entrepreneur, owning and operating a successful pottery in the New York City. More >>>
September 2 – December 31, 2023
Fenimore Art Museum explores the work of James Edward Deeds (1908-1987) while he was a patient at State Hospital for the Insane No. 3 in Nevada, MO. Featuring 23 works generously loaned from the collections of the American Folk Art Museum and the collection of Frank S. Tosto. More >>>
September 16 – December 31, 2023
A Cabinet of Curious Matters is a visual dialogue between the works of the two artists, sculptor Nancy Callahan and painter Richard Whitten, who share an interest in dreams, antique scientific and medical instruments, mythologies, and mysteries. More >>>
September 23 – December 31, 2023
Celebrate the art of Arnold Lobel (1933–1987), author and illustrator of some of the most beloved children’s books produced since the late 1960s. More >>>
September 23 – December 31, 2023
Adrianne Lobel has been painting for over twenty years—a direction taken after her illustrious career as a stage designer for theater, film, dance, and opera in America, Europe, and Japan. More >>>
Following the Thread: Navajo Textiles from the Thaw Collection
October 7 – December 31, 2023
Following the Thread explores the history and transformation of Diné (Navajo) weaving. More >>>
Jonathan Kirk – Abstract Sculpture: Fables, Foibles, and other Machinations
October 1 – December 31, 2022
Jonathan Kirk’s sculptures, while abstract, are evocative of a wide range of sources, from the natural and organic world, to forms of industrial and naval architecture. Read more >>>
September 21 – December 31, 2022
The carved wooden reliefs featured in this exhibition by this Ithaca based artist are a sort of “picture diary” or “picture story” in which Shelley documents life events, emotions, and places important to her life. Read more >>>
The Art of Observation: The Best of Photographer Elliott Erwitt
September 17 – December 31, 2022
This exhibition offers an enticing window into Elliott Erwitt’s body of work. Read more. >>>
Tales from the Rockabout Hills: Paintings by D. Michael Price
September 17 – December 31, 2022
D. Michael Price is a fantasy artist whose work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally. Well-respected as a successful fine artist as well as a published children’s book author/illustrator. Read more >>>
May 28 – September 5, 2022
Unmasking Venice: American Artists and the City of Water features paintings and etchings that explore the two Venetian worlds depicted by American artists during the late 19th to early 20th centuries. Read More >
May 7 – September 5, 2022
The Wyeths’ honed their expertise through rigorous academic exercises conducted both in the studio and in some cases, the morgue… Read More >
April 1 – September 18, 2022
Ralph Fasanella (1914-1997) is best known for his large, dynamic paintings of American politics and urban life that include crowds of people involved in struggle, protest, or celebration. Read More >
North by Nuuk: Greenland After Rockwell Kent—Photographs by Denis Defibaugh
April 1 – December 31, 2022
Photographer Denis Defibaugh presents his journey from Nuuk to the settlement of Illorsuit, 300 miles north of the Arctic Circle, following Rockwell Kent’s earlier footsteps and offers a fresh look at timeless Greenland. Read More >
April 1 – September 11, 2022
During his eight-decade career, Hirschfeld gained fame by illustrating the actors, singers, and dancers of Broadway plays, films, and popular entertainment. His portfolio reads as a who’s who of 20th-century entertainers. Read More >
May 29–October 11, 2021
Fenimore Art Museum celebrates both the icon and his iconography in Keith Haring: Radiant Vision, a premier exhibition that introduces a new generation to Haring. Read More >
August 7–December 31, 2021
Marc Brown is the creator of the bestselling Arthur adventure book series as well as numerous other children’s books. Read More >
August 7–December 31, 2021
Brown makes small art that sparks curiosity and invites the viewer in for a closer examination. Read More >
October 23–December 31, 2021
On view are 23 garments drawn from the Museum’s collection, displaying the taste and elegance of denizens and dressmakers of New York City and upstate through… Read More >
Karl Bodmer: Travels in North America
Prints of Watercolors by Karl Bodmer (1809-1893)
Prints of Watercolors by Karl Bodmer (1809-1893)
April 1–December 31, 2021
Between 1832-34, Karl Bodmer created 427 watercolors and a volume of sketches during the yearlong trek into the furthest reaches of the American Interior. Read More >
Elegant Line/Powerful Shape: Elements of Native American Art
April 1–December 31, 2021
Art is created using a universal language comprised of visual elements – line, color, and shape. Artists choose to combine these elements in an infinite array of creative combinations based on cultural influences and styles as well as personal preferences and material limitations. Read More >
New Textiles: The 12th Annual Contemporary Iroquois Art Biennial
September 24–December 31, 2021
Three women chosen for this year’s Iroquois Biennial carry on the textile tradition begun over 400 years ago. Read More >
Painting New York 2020: The Year of Clearer Vision
Joan Margaret Nichols
Joan Margaret Nichols
September 10–October 31
Joan Margaret is inspired by nature, brilliant colors and random acts of kindness. She began painting as… Read More >
April 1–September 12, 2021
Mary Nolan’s paintings of water reflect the timeless beauty of Otsego Lake. With rich colors and deep textures, her work is layered onto the canvas, creating densely pigmented impressions of the area’s storybook geography. Read More >
Onsite Insight by Phil Young
July 2–July 25, 2021
Phil Young, Professor Emeritus of Art at Hartwick College in Oneonta, New York, exhibits artwork including new and recent pieces. Read more >
April 1–July 25, 2021
On July 11, 1804, one of the most infamous duels in history took place, which led to the death of one of America’s Founding Fathers—Alexander Hamilton. The Fenimore marks this tragic occurrence with Hamilton’s Final Act: Enemies and Allies. Read More >
April 1–July 25, 2021
Adams’s Manzanar photographs, created in 1943, are a departure from his signature style of landscape photography and serve as documentation of the American concentration camp in California. Read More >
April 1–May 16, 2021
This fun and educational traveling exhibit invites visitors to step into the stories of the admired children’s author/illustrator Jan Brett. Original artwork introduces diverse cultures and draws visitors into the world of their favorite books. Read More >
December 5–December 31, 2020
See ornaments, cards, music, and photographs as Fenimore explores the history of some of our favorite holiday traditions. Read More >
July 3–December 31, 2020
This series of photographs by Steve Gross and Susan Daley centers on the gardens and landscape of America’s plantations and gilded age estates. The locations range from the South East to the Hudson Valley and New England including Newport, Rhode Island, and The Berkshires. Read More >
September 5–December 31, 2020
Two Presidents, One Photographer showcases 56 of Pete Souza’s photographs of two presidents from opposite ends of the political spectrum. Read More >
August 11–November 22, 2020
This engaging exhibition features more than thirty woodblock prints and engravings by (or after) the German Renaissance master printmaker Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528). Read More >
July 3 – August 25, 2020
American Art has been largely limited to academic painting, and heavily influenced by European culture. In recent decades, art historians… Read More >
November 23–December 31, 2019
Discover the sports that provided past residents with joy during the cold and snowy Cooperstown winters. Read More >
September 21–December 31, 2019
Harvey, known for her large dreamlike landscapes, turns her attention to watercolors. Read More >
September 19–December 31, 2019
The Abstract Expressionist movement is best known by its male superstars, but women were also pioneers of the genre. Read More >
The Critical Indigenous Photographic Exchange (CIPX): Photographs by Will Wilson
April 2–December 31, 2019
Photographer Will Wilson created the Critical Indigenous Photographic Exchange (CIPX) as a way to link history, form, and a critical dialogue about Native American representation. Read More >
April 2–December 31, 2019
Discover the most outstanding items from the Thaw Collection American Indian Art. Read More >
April 2–December 31, 2019
On July 11, 1804, one of the most infamous duels in history took place, which led to the death of one of America’s Founding Fathers—Alexander Hamilton. Read More >
June 28–December 31, 2019
The exhibit will contain approximately 40 jugs from the Meyer collection of early American stoneware face vessels and related period American ceramic objects, all dating from the mid 19th century to before 1950. Read More >
September 14–November 10, 2019
Duane Michals: The Portraitist presents the first comprehensive overview of inventive photographic portraits by one of the medium’s most influential artists. Read More >
June 29–September 15, 2019
The 1926 Broadway musical Showboat, based on the novel by Edna Ferber of the same name, followed the lives of the performers and workers on the Cotton Blossom, a Mississippi River boat. Read More >
Perfect Harmony: The Musical Art & Life of William Sidney Mount
May 25–September 8, 2019
Explore the confluence of William Sidney Mount’s (1807-1868) music and art through nearly twenty-five oil paintings, pencil drawings, musical instruments, and related objects. Read More >
April 2–September 2, 2019
Known for his elegant and minimalist work, photographer Herb Ritts (1952-2002) had a gift for turning stars into icons. Read More >
April 2–June 16, 2019
Well known as masters of beadwork, this exhibit will feature over 120 pieces of Haudensaunee art from a private collection. Read More >
April 2–May 15, 2019
Mo Willems’s best-selling, award-winning early reader series features best friends Elephant Gerald and Piggie, who are ready to hit the road in a special touring exhibition organized by The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. Read More >
October 27–December 30, 2018
Before the mid-20th-century advent of electric blankets, smart wool, and micro fiber, people fended off chilly winters with goods handcrafted from natural materials. Read More >
October 13–December 30, 2018
In late December of 2007, Lonni Sue Johnson, an artist and illustrator, suddenly contracted viral encephalitis, an infection that led to severe brain damage. As a consequence, Lonni Sue developed profound amnesia—a deficit in memory. Read More >
March 31–December 30, 2018
Iconic historical moments, often portrayed in paintings or on film, have served as the inspiration for David Levinthal’s recent body of work, History. Read More >
The Barber Surreal: Eugene Berman’s Reimagined Barber of Seville
March 31–December 30, 2018
Surrealist artist Eugene Berman was well-known for his set and costume designs for the opera. Read More >
Native Celebrations of the Inland Northwest: Photographs by Jeff Ferguson
March 31–December 30, 2018
Jeff Ferguson is a Spokane tribal member who finds inspiration from the Inland Northwest and his Native heritage. Read More >
March 31–December 30, 2018
Over the last year, Fenimore Art Museum lost its beloved friends and benefactors, Clare E. and Eugene V. Thaw. Read More >
August 11-October 14, 2018
The photographs of Imogen Cunningham (1883-1976) reflect vital developments in 20th century art and photography. She is recognized for helping to establish photography as an art form. Read More >
May 25–September 30, 2018
The exhibition centers on Cole’s masterwork Expulsion from the Garden of Eden, lent by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), and explores his aspirations for landscape painting at the start of his career in the 1820s and early 1830s. Read More >
March 31–August 5, 2018
Over the course of his fifty-year career, American photographer Edward Weston (1886 – 1958) blazed a path into Photo-Modernism rendering portraits, landscapes, still-lifes, and nudes. Read More >
March 31 – May 13, 2018
The Fenimore’s remarkable collection of American folk art was originated by Stephen Carlton Clark over seventy years ago and is now regarded as one of the most comprehensive and significant assemblages in the United States. The exhibition includes select items from the collection such as weathervanes, portraits, pottery, and more. Read More >
Our Strength Is Our People: The Humanist Photographs of Lewis Hine
September 16 – December 31, 2017
Lewis Wickes Hine (1874–1940) was considered the father of American documentary photography. This exhibition consists of rare vintage prints, and covers the three overarching themes of Hine’s three-decade career: the immigrant experience; child labor; and the American worker, culminating in his magnificent studies of the construction of the Empire State Building. Read More >
April 1 – December 31, 2017
In 1900, photographer Edward S. Curtis began a massive project to photograph the Native American people of the United States. Thirty years later, it resulted in a 20-volume, 20 portfolio set of handmade books entitled The North American Indian—one of the most ambitious publishing projects in American history. In this exhibit, see rare images from Volume 10 of the series, focusing on the Kwakiutl. Read More >
The Art of Figure Skating Through the Ages: The Dick Button Collection
April 1 – December 31, 2017
Dick Button is widely considered one of the premiere male figure skaters. He dominated the world of figure skating for a seven-year period, winning two Olympic gold medals (1948 and 1952), five consecutive World Championships, seven U.S. National titles and North American and European Championships. Button has since had a long and illustrious broadcasting career from 1960-2010, becoming the first winner of an Emmy Award… Read more >
Between Observation and Imagination: Paintings by Tracy Helgeson
April 1 – December 31, 2017
Between Observation and Imagination is a collection of new work that epitomize how artist Tracy Helgeson sees and feels about the landscapes, structures and scenes that surround her daily life in Cooperstown. Simplicity in forms and layers of color juxtaposed with bits of painted detail and other textural elements create images that define a specific place, yet also seem otherworldly. Read More >
April 1 – December 31, 2017
Still and Solemn Chambers focuses on Farmer’s paintings based primarily on the interiors spaces of temples in India, Burma, Cambodia, Laos and some churches in France and England. Abstracted from photographs, the images in the paintings remain referential but without identifiable symbols. The subjects of these paintings can be vibrant places, full of people, ringing with activity or as often, still and solemn chambers. Read More >
April 1 – December 31, 2017
Home is a place full of activity—growing children, sizzling food, and the crafting of objects that serve the family and celebrate beauty. Whether a tipi, longhouse, wigwam, earth lodge, or wooden house, the home has traditionally been the domain of women. Read More >
September 16 – December 31, 2017
The Fenimore’s remarkable collection of American folk art was originated by Stephen Carlton Clark over seventy years ago and is now regarded as one of the most comprehensive and significant assemblages in the United States. The exhibition includes select items from the collection such as weathervanes, portraits, pottery, and more. Read More >
May 27 – September 4, 2017
This exhibition celebrates Andrew Wyeth’s 100th birthday as expressed by his granddaughter and guest curator, Victoria Wyeth. The exhibition will include objects from Ms. Wyeth’s personal collection, many never-before exhibited, including Andrew Wyeth’s sketches, studies, paintings, artifacts, and ephemera, as well as Ms. Wyeth’s own photographs of her grandfather. Read More >
May 27 – September 4, 2017
Photographer Herman Leonard (1923-2010) was renowned for his photographs of many of the 20th century’s greatest jazz artists. This exhibition features Leonard’s portraits of jazz legends such as Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie, and Lena Horne. Read More >
50 Years, 50 Works, 50 Reasons Maurice Sendak: The Memorial Exhibition
April 1 – May 14, 2017
In words and images, Maurice Sendak gave form to the fierce power of a child’s imagination. This commemorative exhibition will include many highlights from his 60-year-long career, including original illustrations from Where the Wild Things Are, Little Bear, In the Night Kitchen, and other books; set design and costume sketches; animation reels; posters; sculpture; and more. Read more >
The Elegant Eye: The 11th Contemporary Iroquois Art Biennial
April 1 – May 14, 2017
Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) beadwork began to flourish in the 17th century, as more and more trade beads came to North America through the fur trade. Glass beads first enhanced quilled pouches and then supplanted the quills as greater variety and colors of beads arrived. In the 19th century, Haudenosaunee beadwork devolved from a spiritually based activity, with designs guided by dreams, to souvenirs for tourists. Read more >
April 1 – December 31, 2016
The exhibition focuses on the masterful small-scale prints by Adams from the 1920s into the 1950s. In this time period, Adams’ technique significantly evolved from the soft focus, warm-toned, painterly “Parmelian prints” of the 1920s. Read more>
Arnold Newman: Luminaries of the Twentieth Century in Art, Politics and Culture
October 19- December 31, 2016
Arnold Newman: Luminaries of the Twentieth Century in Art, Politics and Culture is an exhibition of the innovative minds and personalities that defined a century as seen through the eyes of one of its own; Arnold Newman. Recognized as the ‘Father of Environmental Portraiture,’ Newman’s work is collected and exhibited in major museums and collections around the world. Read more >
The Instruction of Young Ladies: Arts from Private Girls’ Schools and Academies in Early America
Spetember 24 – December 31, 2016
The curriculum for “young ladies” who attended private boarding schools and female academies in early America included a wide range of artistic endeavors in addition to the reading, writing, and arithmetic emphasized in public schools of the time. Read more >
September 24 – December 31, 2016
Our Clothing Project exhibit transitions into the fall and winter with a look at the Fenimore Art Museum and The Farmers’ Museum collection of apparel for the colder months. The exhibit includes seldom seen winter clothing from upstate New York’s past including mittens, muffs, capes, dresses, hats, and more. Just in time for the holidays! Read more >
No exhibitions traveling at this time.