Untitled (George and Martha Washington) (detail), c. 1876, Artist/maker unknown, 43-2026-1.
Untitled (George and Martha Washington) (detail), c. 1876, Artist/maker unknown, 43-2026-1.
Important: By downloading this image, you are agreeing to the following permissions: Images are provided exclusively to the press, and only for purposes of publicity for the duration of an exhibition at the PMA. The Museum grants permission to use images only to the extent of its ownership rights relating to those images--the responsibility for any additional permissions remains solely with the party reproducing the images. In addition, the images must be accompanied by the credit line and any copyright information as it appears above, and the party reproducing the images must not distort or mutilate the images.
Download
16
July
2026
|
09:32 AM
America/New_York

Americana: Photographs 1850–1950

Opens July 23
Honickman Galleries 156 and 157
  • Untitled (George and Martha Washington) (detail), c. 1876, Artist/maker unknown, 43-2026-1.
    Important: By downloading this image, you are agreeing to the following permissions: Images are provided exclusively to the press, and only for purposes of publicity for the duration of an exhibition at the PMA. The Museum grants permission to use images only to the extent of its ownership rights relating to those images--the responsibility for any additional permissions remains solely with the party reproducing the images. In addition, the images must be accompanied by the credit line and any copyright information as it appears above, and the party reproducing the images must not distort or mutilate the images.
  • John Williams - Tonkawa, 1898, Frank A. Rinehart. Gift of Harvey S. Shipley Miller, 2014-199-160.
    Important: By downloading this image, you are agreeing to the following permissions: Images are provided exclusively to the press, and only for purposes of publicity for the duration of an exhibition at the PMA. The Museum grants permission to use images only to the extent of its ownership rights relating to those images--the responsibility for any additional permissions remains solely with the party reproducing the images. In addition, the images must be accompanied by the credit line and any copyright information as it appears above, and the party reproducing the images must not distort or mutilate the images.
  • Untitled (Basketball), 1895-1905, Artist/maker unknown. Gift of Peter J. Cohen, 2018-80-2.
    Important: By downloading this image, you are agreeing to the following permissions: Images are provided exclusively to the press, and only for purposes of publicity for the duration of an exhibition at the PMA. The Museum grants permission to use images only to the extent of its ownership rights relating to those images--the responsibility for any additional permissions remains solely with the party reproducing the images. In addition, the images must be accompanied by the credit line and any copyright information as it appears above, and the party reproducing the images must not distort or mutilate the images.
  • "Working for Victory" Certificate Awarded to Master Painter Willie C. Webb, c. 1942-1945, Artist/maker unknown. Purchased with funds contributed by Harvey S. Shipley Miller,2025-24-1.
    Important: By downloading this image, you are agreeing to the following permissions: Images are provided exclusively to the press, and only for purposes of publicity for the duration of an exhibition at the PMA. The Museum grants permission to use images only to the extent of its ownership rights relating to those images--the responsibility for any additional permissions remains solely with the party reproducing the images. In addition, the images must be accompanied by the credit line and any copyright information as it appears above, and the party reproducing the images must not distort or mutilate the images.
  • Standing Man in Tilted Hat, 1860s, Artist/maker unknown. The Paul Cava Tintype Collection. Purchased with funds contributed by Julie Jensen Bryan and Robert Bryan2018-179-45.
    Important: By downloading this image, you are agreeing to the following permissions: Images are provided exclusively to the press, and only for purposes of publicity for the duration of an exhibition at the PMA. The Museum grants permission to use images only to the extent of its ownership rights relating to those images--the responsibility for any additional permissions remains solely with the party reproducing the images. In addition, the images must be accompanied by the credit line and any copyright information as it appears above, and the party reproducing the images must not distort or mutilate the images.
Download

Philadelphia, July 16, 2026–The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is pleased to announce Americana: Photographs 1850-1950, an exhibition exploring how individuals and communities used the camera to document their lives and define their place within a changing nation. On view alongside A Nation of Artists and marking 250th anniversary of American independence, Americana will highlight the diverse histories and perspectives that photography has helped record and sustain.

On view from July 23 – October 11, 2026, Americana will reveal an expansive and complex vision of American identity. From its earliest years in the 1840s, Americans embraced photography as a medium that brought self-representation within reach of more people than ever before. Spanning a century marked by the Civil War, the nation’s centennial, industrialization, mass immigration, and two world wars, this exhibition will present a wide range of photographic practices and formats. Many images were made not by celebrated photographers, but by unknown professionals and amateurs whose images preserve experiences that might otherwise have been lost to history.

“This summer marks a momentous time in Philadelphia as we welcome visitors from around the world,” said Daniel Weiss, the George D. Widener Director and CEO of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. “Americana highlights the strength and diversity of the museum’s photography collection, including compelling depictions of people and communities historically overlooked or ignored in dominant narratives of American identity. The exhibition opens a timely discussion of what it means to be an American as the nation celebrates its semiquincentennial.”

Americana places a spotlight on several of photography’s most important popular formats, beginning with tintypes, which are among the most ubiquitous photographs from the 1800s due to their inexpensive and durable nature. By the late 1850s, most portrait studios offered tintypes, and many itinerant practitioners traveled with their wares, setting up tents at carnivals, fairs, and town centers for a few days before moving on. These traveling photographers primarily made portraits, but were often commissioned to take pictures of homes, businesses, and other scenes. Many of the tintypes in this exhibition were collected by the artist and art dealer Paul Cava, who focused on large-format examples and sought out subjects with mysterious and charged qualities.

By 1907, a fad for photographic postcards took hold in the United States. For a small fee, the Eastman Kodak Company printed any photograph for its customers on postcard stock, with room for senders to include stamps, addresses, and personal notes on the back. Millions of these postcards were made and sent over the subsequent few decades. Their subjects are innumerable, ranging from notable local landmarks to prank images and mundane home scenes for far-away friends. The exhibition includes a group that record small-town baseball teams, which had become a near-universal presence in communities across the land by the early 1900s.

Also on display will be rare examples of American collage, highlighting three particularly large and ambitious productions donated to the PMA by Jennifer Anne Tucker and Gerald Lang, and Robert Yoskowitz and Elissa Orlandi-Young.

“What makes something quintessentially American? The term ‘Americana’ often conjures artifacts, traditions, and symbols preserved as distinctly American—apple pie, baseball, and ideals such as democracy, simplicity, hard work, and civic engagement. But these references are often selective, elevating certain stories and experiences while obscuring others,” said Peter Barberie, Brodsky Curator of Photographs, Alfred Stieglitz Center. “This exhibition aims to invite an open-ended, ever-evolving definition of what it is to be American.”

Media Contact
Carolynn McCormack, Philadelphia Museum of Art | pressroom@philamuseum.org | 215-684-7859

 

Curators
Peter Barberie, the Brodsky Curator of Photographs and Head of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs
Renée Brown, the Horace W. Goldsmith Curatorial Fellow in Photography

 

About the Philadelphia Museum of Art 
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is a national and international destination for art, but first, we are Philadelphia’s art museum—for all of the many diverse communities of the city. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations, and more, the museum is a storyteller, and we welcome everyone to be part of the story—our doors are wide open. To learn more, visit www.philamuseum.org

Instagram/Facebook/TikTok/X/Threads/YouTube: @philamuseumart