Heckscher Museum of Art presents Eclipse of the Sun Now

One hundred years ago, George Grosz painted Eclipse of the Sun, a scathing critique of fascism and one of the most significant artworks in the Heckscher Museum’s collection. This exhibition explores the painting’s enduring message alongside politically engaged art created over the last century. Born in Berlin in 1893, Grosz became a political artist in the aftermath of World War I. His Eclipse of the Sun, created in 1926, satirizes the corruption, violence, and apathy of the German government and society during this period. In the 1930s, when the Nazis labeled him a “degenerate” artist, Grosz fled to the United States. He and his family moved here, to Huntington, New York, in 1947. Following his death in 1959, the Heckscher Museum led a community fundraising campaign to purchase Eclipse of the Sun, ensuring that it would remain accessible to the public as a cornerstone of the collection. This exhibition places Eclipse of the Sun and other art by Grosz in dialogue with work by leading artists of our time drawn from the collections of the Heckscher Museum and the Art Bridges Foundation. The artworks on view address interrelated themes including war, immigration, civil rights, mass media, and the environment. Eclipse of the Sun Now celebrates the power of art—to offer solace, to foster resistance, and to channel hope. Curated by Karli Wurzelbacher, PhD, Chief Curator with Meredith A. Brown, PhD, Consulting Curator of Contemporary Art