First Retrospective Exploring Betty Parsons’ Dual Legacy As Artist and Gallerist to Open at CCS Bard June 2026
Betty Parsons, Opposition, 1962. Courtesy Alexander Gray Associates, New York © 2025 Betty Parsons and William P. Rayner Foundation
In June 2026, the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College (CCS Bard)’s Hessel Museum of Art presents Betty Parsons: An Expanded World, the first major retrospective to examine the intertwined legacies of Betty Parsons (1900-1982) as both pioneering abstract artist and trailblazing gallerist who shaped the trajectory of 20th-century American art. On view June 27 through October 18, 2026, the exhibition marks the artist’s largest and most comprehensive survey to date.
Best known for ushering in the American avant-garde by establishing the careers of Barnett Newman, Mark Rothko, and Jackson Pollock, among others, Parsons also maintained a dedicated artistic practice throughout her life. This exhibition centers her output as a painter and sculptor, while exploring the radical history of the Betty Parsons Gallery and its support of underrecognized, experimental artists.
“Betty Parsons: An Expanded World embodies the rigorous curatorial approach CCS Bard fosters through both its graduate program and Hessel Museum of Art exhibitions,” said Tom Eccles, Executive Director of the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College. “While the Abstract Expressionist artists Parsons championed have been well documented and celebrated, this exhibition offers an overdue exploration of her game-changing vision and of Parsons as a formidable artist in her own right.”
“Looking expansively at her role in defining 20th-century American art, this retrospective provides a comprehensive understanding of who Betty Parsons was: an artist, visionary art dealer, poet, aesthete, and restless traveler who was drawn to and supportive of otherness and outsiderness,” said curator Kelly Taxter (CCS Bard '03). “Decades ahead of institutional norms or validation, she gave equal weight to women and queer artists through her eponymous gallery, as well as artists positioned well outside of the established and narrow circuits of the art world, while simultaneously forging her own distinctive artistic path.”
Organized by Taxter with artist Amy Sillman, An Expanded World features approximately 80 works spanning painting, sculpture, and works on paper, tracing Parsons’ voluminous output as she evolved from a young academic painter to a mature abstractionist over a six-decade career. A revelatory and newly commissioned, multi-channel film by G. Anthony Svatek and Kaija Siirala will bring to life the largely unknown history of the Betty Parsons Gallery.
"Aptly co-organized by an artist and a curator, this milestone exhibition illuminates the dynamic relationship between Parson’s artistic practice and her gallery, and how these legacies continue to impact art-making and curatorial practice today,” added Lauren Cornell, Artistic Director of the Hessel Museum of Art.
While Parsons exhibited her work years before opening her gallery in 1946, her artistic output has remained largely underrecognized. An Expanded World charts the full range of Parsons’ output from 1922 to 1982, looking at how early watercolors led to developments in abstractions; a prolific 1960s and 70s that expanded her practice to include prismatically hued sculptures; and an evolution into a mature, skillful painter who continued to explore oddball color combinations and compositions through the end of her life.
The exhibition also revisits the significant history and lesser-known figures of the Betty Parsons Gallery, credited for nearly single-handedly ushering in the American avant-garde. Though Parsons launched the careers of many major Abstract Expressionists, including Adolph Gottlieb, Barnett Newman, Clyfford Still, Mark Rothko, and Jackson Pollock, many of these predominantly male artists left after growing frustrated by her minimal interest in the market and ceaseless search for the new and undiscovered. She remained devoted to artists who were excluded by galleries and major arts institutions at the time, including Agnes Martin, Forrest Bess, Robert Rauschenberg, Ellsworth Kelly, Leon Polk Smith, Sonja Sekula, and Barbara Chase-Riboud, all of whom went on to great acclaim. Parsons also made efforts to present Indigenous art during her lifetime, recognizing its foundational importance to the artists of her generation.
Through the works on view—presented in tandem with the new film, featuring firsthand recollections by Parsons herself and the artists she exhibited—a deeply curious and restless woman is revealed. Betty Parsons: An Expanded World considers how she was continually propelled towards what she called “the expanding world,” a theme informed by her understanding of American modernism and reflected in her practices as both an artist and art dealer.
Also on View
Opening alongside Betty Parsons: An Expanded World are two solo exhibitions dedicated to contemporary artists whose practices resonate with Parsons’ commitment to expanding the possibilities of abstraction and color:
Betty Parsons (b.1900, New York, NY – d.1982, Southold, NY) was an abstract painter and sculptor best known as a dealer of mid-century art. Born into a prominent New York City family, Parsons attended the watershed 1913 Armory Show at age 13—a formative experience that compelled Parsons to pursue a life in art. Throughout her career as a gallerist, she maintained a rigorous artistic practice by creating works in a variety of media including paintings, sculpture, and works on paper. Her eye for innovative talent was deeply informed by her own artistic training, and her curatorial choices helped to shape the course of 20th-century art in the United States.
Represented by Alexander Gray Associates and Alison Jacques, Parsons has been the subject of solo exhibitions at venues including De La Warr Pavilion, UK (2025); Marion Art Center, MA (2022); Art Omi, Ghent, NY (2018); The Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center, East Hampton, NY (1992); the Montclair Museum of Art, NJ (1974); and Whitechapel Gallery, London (1968). Her work is represented in the collections of the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, NY; High Museum, Atlanta, GA; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA; Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin; The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C.; Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, among others.
Post Date: 12-17-2025
Best known for ushering in the American avant-garde by establishing the careers of Barnett Newman, Mark Rothko, and Jackson Pollock, among others, Parsons also maintained a dedicated artistic practice throughout her life. This exhibition centers her output as a painter and sculptor, while exploring the radical history of the Betty Parsons Gallery and its support of underrecognized, experimental artists.
“Betty Parsons: An Expanded World embodies the rigorous curatorial approach CCS Bard fosters through both its graduate program and Hessel Museum of Art exhibitions,” said Tom Eccles, Executive Director of the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College. “While the Abstract Expressionist artists Parsons championed have been well documented and celebrated, this exhibition offers an overdue exploration of her game-changing vision and of Parsons as a formidable artist in her own right.”
“Looking expansively at her role in defining 20th-century American art, this retrospective provides a comprehensive understanding of who Betty Parsons was: an artist, visionary art dealer, poet, aesthete, and restless traveler who was drawn to and supportive of otherness and outsiderness,” said curator Kelly Taxter (CCS Bard '03). “Decades ahead of institutional norms or validation, she gave equal weight to women and queer artists through her eponymous gallery, as well as artists positioned well outside of the established and narrow circuits of the art world, while simultaneously forging her own distinctive artistic path.”
Organized by Taxter with artist Amy Sillman, An Expanded World features approximately 80 works spanning painting, sculpture, and works on paper, tracing Parsons’ voluminous output as she evolved from a young academic painter to a mature abstractionist over a six-decade career. A revelatory and newly commissioned, multi-channel film by G. Anthony Svatek and Kaija Siirala will bring to life the largely unknown history of the Betty Parsons Gallery.
"Aptly co-organized by an artist and a curator, this milestone exhibition illuminates the dynamic relationship between Parson’s artistic practice and her gallery, and how these legacies continue to impact art-making and curatorial practice today,” added Lauren Cornell, Artistic Director of the Hessel Museum of Art.
While Parsons exhibited her work years before opening her gallery in 1946, her artistic output has remained largely underrecognized. An Expanded World charts the full range of Parsons’ output from 1922 to 1982, looking at how early watercolors led to developments in abstractions; a prolific 1960s and 70s that expanded her practice to include prismatically hued sculptures; and an evolution into a mature, skillful painter who continued to explore oddball color combinations and compositions through the end of her life.
The exhibition also revisits the significant history and lesser-known figures of the Betty Parsons Gallery, credited for nearly single-handedly ushering in the American avant-garde. Though Parsons launched the careers of many major Abstract Expressionists, including Adolph Gottlieb, Barnett Newman, Clyfford Still, Mark Rothko, and Jackson Pollock, many of these predominantly male artists left after growing frustrated by her minimal interest in the market and ceaseless search for the new and undiscovered. She remained devoted to artists who were excluded by galleries and major arts institutions at the time, including Agnes Martin, Forrest Bess, Robert Rauschenberg, Ellsworth Kelly, Leon Polk Smith, Sonja Sekula, and Barbara Chase-Riboud, all of whom went on to great acclaim. Parsons also made efforts to present Indigenous art during her lifetime, recognizing its foundational importance to the artists of her generation.
Through the works on view—presented in tandem with the new film, featuring firsthand recollections by Parsons herself and the artists she exhibited—a deeply curious and restless woman is revealed. Betty Parsons: An Expanded World considers how she was continually propelled towards what she called “the expanding world,” a theme informed by her understanding of American modernism and reflected in her practices as both an artist and art dealer.
Also on View
Opening alongside Betty Parsons: An Expanded World are two solo exhibitions dedicated to contemporary artists whose practices resonate with Parsons’ commitment to expanding the possibilities of abstraction and color:
- Uman: In Between (June 27 – November 29, 2026), a solo exhibition exploring over two decades of creative practice by the pathbreaking contemporary painter Uman;
- Replica of a Chip: The Weaving Technology of Marilou Schultz (June 27 – November 29, 2026), the firstever survey of the acclaimed Navajo/Diné weaver whose innovative practice across a 65year career has influenced art, weaving, and computer architecture.
Betty Parsons (b.1900, New York, NY – d.1982, Southold, NY) was an abstract painter and sculptor best known as a dealer of mid-century art. Born into a prominent New York City family, Parsons attended the watershed 1913 Armory Show at age 13—a formative experience that compelled Parsons to pursue a life in art. Throughout her career as a gallerist, she maintained a rigorous artistic practice by creating works in a variety of media including paintings, sculpture, and works on paper. Her eye for innovative talent was deeply informed by her own artistic training, and her curatorial choices helped to shape the course of 20th-century art in the United States.
Represented by Alexander Gray Associates and Alison Jacques, Parsons has been the subject of solo exhibitions at venues including De La Warr Pavilion, UK (2025); Marion Art Center, MA (2022); Art Omi, Ghent, NY (2018); The Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center, East Hampton, NY (1992); the Montclair Museum of Art, NJ (1974); and Whitechapel Gallery, London (1968). Her work is represented in the collections of the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, NY; High Museum, Atlanta, GA; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA; Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin; The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C.; Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, among others.
Post Date: 12-17-2025