Philadelphia's two-museum exhibition "A Nation of Artists" opens at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) to commemorate the United States' 250th anniversary. The show begins and ends with flags, from silken regimental flags of the American Revolution to Jasper Johns' iconic "Flag" (1960-66), and includes works by Childe Hassam, Edward Hopper, John Singer Sargent, Thomas Moran, Mary Cassatt, and Jackson Pollock. The exhibition draws heavily on the Middleton family collection, assembled by businessman and Phillies owner John S. Middleton and his wife Leigh Middleton, filling gaps in both museums' holdings.
The exhibition matters because it represents a rare collaboration between two major Philadelphia institutions, leveraging a private collection to create a broadly conceived, diverse, and challenging survey of American art. By centering on the American flag as both symbol and subject, the show invites viewers to reconsider patriotic imagery and the act of seeing itself. The involvement of the Middleton collection highlights the growing role of private collectors in shaping public museum exhibitions, while the semiquincentennial timing underscores the ongoing relevance of American identity in art.