A Standout 250th Show Confronts Centuries of American Contradictions
“Democracy Matters,” curated by Wendy Nālani E. Ikemoto, is the inaugural exhibition in the new Tang Wing for American Democracy at the New York Historical and is presented in connection with the United States’ 250th anniversary. The show opens with fragments of an equestrian statue of King George III toppled at Bowling Green in 1776, alongside musket balls reportedly made from the statue and an animation reenacting the toppling, with a related painting by Johannes Oertel displayed nearby. It examines enduring conflicts in US history by pairing fine art and historical objects, including Mel Chin’s Flag of America (2020) shown above the Declaration of Independence and a 547-signature loyalist petition the museum calls a “declaration of dependence.” A major section features Thomas Cole’s five-painting series The Course of Empire (1833–1836), and another juxtaposition pairs John J. Audubon bird prints with brooches made by Yoneguma and Kiyoka Takahashi while they were interned during World War II among roughly 120,000 people of Japanese descent.
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This story was covered in Museums on Tour, Money Haunts Masterpieces