PHOTOS: VMFA adds new works to permanent collection

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) has added new works into its permanent collection, many of which are set to be displayed in its new wing and renovated galleries after its expansion is complete.

The museum announced on Tuesday, Sept. 23, that it has added what it describes as a "compelling and diverse group of artworks" to its permanent collection.

The VMFA said it purchased 165 works of art and received 435 gifts from more than 50 donors during fiscal year 2025.

“We are overjoyed to continue expanding our comprehensive art holdings at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, which will enrich the lives of Virginians for generations to come,” said VMFA’s director and CEO Alex Nyerges. “Some of these works will be showcased in the museum’s new wing, which will include expanded galleries for African, American, Indigenous
American and 21st-century art.”

The museum said its permanent collection has grown from 51 artworks when it was founded in 1936 to more than 50,000 works today.

According to the museum, among the new additions are an 18th-century emerald green glass and gold huqqa base, adding to the museum's South Asian holdings.

Another addition is a deep red and blue "Three-Handled Vase" created in the late 19th century by French Art Nouveau ceramicist Pierre-Adrien Dalpayrat.

In addition, the museum received a donation of the 1944 painting "Children's Fear of Idols II" by Chilean surrealist artist Roberto Matta, marking the first time a painting by the artist has been added to the museum's collection.

New acquisitions also include additions to the museum's Indigenous American art holdings, with one of those being "Indian Cowboy and Horse," painted in 1979 by Fritz Scholder.

A series of eight photographic collage works by Carla J. Williams, titled "How to Read Character" has been added to the VMFA's photography collection.

Studies for How to Read Character, 1990, Carla J. Williams (American, born 1965), 60 gelatin silver prints in three framed sections. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Arthur and Margaret Glasgow Endowment, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Holt Massey, by exchange, and Adolph D. and Wilkins C. Williams Fund, by exchange, 2024.287.8a-c. Photograph by Troy Wilkinson © Virginia
Museum of Fine Arts

Artist Mary Lovelace O'Neal's "Blacker Than a Hundred Midnights Down in a Cypress Swamp" painting from the 1970s has also been added. It takes its title from a line in the poem "The Creation" by African American writer, attorney and activist James Weldon Johnson.

In addition, the VMFA acquired three paintings by Ethiopian artist Solomon Wolde, "Masked Memories II" from 2023, and "Eternal Echoes I" and "Eternal Echoes II," both completed in 2024.

For more information about VMFA's permanent collection, visit the museum's website.