Artists' Heroes

Artists’ Heroes: From the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation brings together 71 works by 33 artists spanning 74 years, from Jackson Pollock’s photographic screenprints, originally created in 1951, to new works made in 2025 by Alex Katz, Wendy Red Star, and Hank Willis Thomas.

The exhibition considers the people, places, histories, and ideas that influence artists and inform the work they make. Here, the notion of the “hero” is expansive, encompassing artists and activists, family and collaborators, teachers and printmakers. These connections range from Pollock’s engagement with Jungian theories of the unconscious and Red Star’s exploration of family lineage to the artistic networks of Chuck Close and Alex Katz and the civil rights activists invoked by Thomas. Across generations and perspectives, Artists’ Heroes reveals how influence becomes embedded in the work artists make.