The Museum welcomes two masterpieces made for Philadelphia by two of nineteenth-century America’s finest artists, Thomas Eakins and Augustus Saint-Gaudens. Close contemporaries and friends, they both trained in Paris and traveled in Europe before returning to the United States about 1870 to begin distinguished careers. Sharing a belief in the expressive power of the human body as a subject for modern painting and sculpture, they developed different styles.

The fashion industry during 1850-1925 was a period of tremendous change and innovation. This exhibition, designed to complement Shopping in Paris: French Fashion 1850–1925, explores the world of fashion and consumer culture through printed publications. On display are books, periodicals, department store souvenirs, trade catalogs, and fashion plates from the Library’s collection of fashion-related material.

Comprising more than 40 photographs from the Museum’s collection, this exhibition explores the manner in which photographers from the nineteenth-century through the present day have documented spectacular scenes and events along with the curious spectators who observe them.