The freedom of the League’s educational system has attracted many visionary artists—including Georgia O’Keeffe, Romare Bearden, Mark Rothko, Ai Weiwei, and Yayoi Kasuma—making it one of the most historically significant and influential art schools in the world.
Since the League has spent the last century and a half providing a haven for artists, artistic freedom and artistic exploration, its 150th anniversary involves a number of stellar exhibitions and events over the course of the year. Anniversary celebrations kicked off with “Shaping American Art: A Celebration of the Art Students League of New York at 150,” which ran from May 29 to August 17. Other anniversary exhibitions include “The Abstract Expressionists,” which sheds light on how the League’s unique structure encouraged the birth of this pivotal movement; “Reexamining Realism,” which examines Realist works on paper from the League’s collection; and “The Society of American Fakirs Revisited,” highlighting a student group from the turn of the last century that created satirical parodies of famous paintings, bringing some levity to heavy times. All three exhibitions are on view throughout the League’s 57th Street location, September 4–December 31, 2025.
Assistant Curator Esther Moerdler is elated at reception for “Shaping American Art.” She says many visitors shared stories of friends and family who attended the League, while the exhibition has drawn others with no idea that the League even existed. “It’s this city’s best kept secret. So it’s been really great to have people come in off the street and see the exhibition ... people have enjoyed it and have gotten so much out of it.” Moerdler is happy that the exhibition brought “people into this amazing institution that is so much a part of American history, New York history, and art history.” She says it’s “been an honor to curate a gateway into the world of the League.”
The exhibition tells the story of the League—beginning with the founders’ early figure drawings, then branching out “into more thematic explorations by League artists, including portraiture, abstraction, painting and prints, sculpture, and photographs.” Based primarily on the League’s collection and supplemented with strategic loans, the exhibition creates dialogues between artworks. An early student work by O’Keeffe was placed near work by her teacher, William Merritt Chase, illustrating their influential teacher-student relationship. “There’s this amazing connection at the League between instructors and students,” Moerdler says.
Another exciting part of the anniversary festivities is an anthology titled 150 Stories. A collaboration with almost 150 writers, including artists, art historians and curators, the book delves into the League’s development, power, and importance as a cultural institution in New York City with a global reach, sharing stories about the educational experiences, formative relationships and ideas that informed the arcs of League artists’ careers.
*This article originally appeared in Art & Object Magazine's Fall 2025 issue.
