"By the Sea: Avery, Gottlieb & Rothko" Opens October 24 at The Phillips Collection in Washington: Some 90 Works Trace Four Decades of Friendship
A new exhibition, "Avery, Gottlieb & Rothko: By the Sea," opened on October 24 at The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., and runs through January 24, 2027, at the museum at 1600 21st Street NW. It is the first exhibition to examine in depth the friendship, artistic exchange and shared summers on Cape Ann in Gloucester, Massachusetts, of three influential 20th-century American artists: Milton Avery (1885–1965), Adolph Gottlieb (1903–1974) and Mark Rothko (1903–1970). The exhibition brings together approximately 90 paintings, watercolors, drawings and sketches revealing the personal and artistic connections that developed among the artists over four decades.
The three met in New York City. Avery, the oldest, first visited Cape Ann in the 1920s, introduced Gottlieb and Rothko to the region in the 1930s and mentored them; the summers they spent painting, drawing and exchanging ideas became a foundation for experimentation and discovery throughout their careers. Sally Michel Avery, the artist and Avery's wife, described Gloucester as a place to "live like an artist." The exhibition is organized by the Cape Ann Museum in partnership with The Phillips Collection, guest-curated by Eliza Rathbone with Renée Maurer as coordinating curator at the Phillips; it was shown earlier at the Cape Ann Museum from June 30 to September 27, 2026. Sixteen museums are lending works, including the National Gallery of Art, which is contributing ten works by Rothko, and several works have never been on public view. A 224-page catalogue of the same title is published by Rizzoli Electa.
The Phillips Collection has longstanding ties to all three artists: it was the first museum in the United States to acquire work by Avery, established a permanent gallery for Rothko's paintings in 1960, and holds significant paintings by Gottlieb. "This exhibition reveals something we haven't fully seen before: how a shared sense of place and deep friendship gave rise to some of the most important art of the 20th century," said Jonathan P. Binstock, the museum's Vradenburg Director and CEO. Coordinating curator Renée Maurer said the artists' Cape Ann summers offer a fresh perspective on their development. Admission is $20, $15 for seniors aged 62 and over, $10 for students and teachers with valid ID, and free for visitors aged 18 and under and for members; the museum is open Tuesday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and is closed on Monday.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于美国华盛顿的 The Phillips Collection 馆舍外观（资料照片）。照片：AgnosticPreachersKid 摄，CC BY-SA 3.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / File photo: The exterior of The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. Photo by AgnosticPreachersKid, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
