The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) has announced a group of recent acquisitions across all ten of its curatorial departments. In the past year, the MFA reports, it has purchased 808 works of art and received 2,506 gifts from more than 50 donors, including the donation of 1,989 photographs by the Joy of Giving Something, Inc.
Comprising both contemporary and historical artworks, new additions to the museum’s holdings range from a 2025 wall relief by Vietnamese-born artist Tuan Andrew Nguyen to an 1865 silver print by French photographer Nadar.
In addition to supporting artists throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia through its fellowship program, the museum acquired works by, among other Virginia natives, Ben Durham, Kevin Jerome Everson, Michelle Gagliano, Emmet Gowin, Virginia Granbery, Allyson Gray, Rebecca Hill, Susan Iverson, Aimee Joyaux, Adam Pendleton, Glenn Scarboro, and Rippling Water/Christine Custalow.
“This remarkable roster of purchases and gifts demonstrates our ongoing commitment to expanding the museum’s holdings and enhancing accessibility to art,” said VMFA director Alex Nyerges. “Many of the newly acquired works will be shown in the new wing and renovated galleries after the completion of our transformative expansion project.”
“These acquisitions affirm VMFA’s commitment to collecting artists that reshape the canon, expand the narratives of art history, and create points of connection for new audiences,” said chief curator Michael Taylor. “Over the past year the museum’s 17 curators have researched and acquired a wonderful array of artworks that reflect artistic innovation, storytelling, beauty and creativity in our region and across the globe.”
Below, a look at five artworks newly acquired by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.
