Art Market Updates

Howard L. Rehs

Remembering Howard Rehs
Howard L. Rehs, president of Rehs Galleries, passed away this November at the age of 66 following a year-long battle with ALS. One of the most respected authorities on 19th- and early 20th-century French academic art, Rehs joined the family business in 1981 and quickly became a driving force behind its evolution. He became president of the gallery and began shaping the gallery into what it is recognized as today, one of New York’s most distinguished art dealers. Over the course of his career, he became the world’s leading authority on the works of Antoine Blanchard, Émile Munier, Daniel Ridgway Knight and Julien Dupré. More than a scholar and art dealer, Rehs was a mentor to countless artists, colleagues and young professionals who credit him with shaping their understanding of art, business and ethics. Rehs Galleries will continue operating in the tradition he built, guided by his standards of scholarship, trust and passion for the humanities.

Jasper Francis Cropsey (1823-1900), Autumn in the Ramapo Valley, Erie Railway, 1873. Oil on canvas, 385/8 x 681/8 in. J. Jeffrey and Ann Marie Fox Foundation for American Art.

Cropsey masterpiece comes to light
The Brandywine Museum of Art presents a phenomenal landscape by Hudson River School master Jasper Francis Cropsey that has not been seen in the United States since it was painted more than 150 years ago. The painting, Autumn in the Ramapo Valley, Erie Railway, was held in British private collections since 1873 and was recently acquired by the J. Jeffrey and Ann Marie Fox Foundation for American Art. The previously hidden work is now on view in the Brandywine’s special exhibition, Cropsey, Wyeth, and the American Landscape Tradition, through May 31. Following the painting’s global museum debut at the Brandywine, it will travel to venues across the country through 2028.

Dorothy Waugh (1896-1996), Save Our Wildlife (Trumpeter Swan), 1935.

Dorothy Waugh’s park posters
The exhibition Blazing A Trail: Dorothy Waugh’s National Parks Posters will be on view at New York City-based Poster House through February 22. The show features the 17 travel posters that artist and architect Dorothy Waugh created for the National Park Service between 1934 and 1936—significant cultural records of the Great Depression and a definitive turning point in American graphic design. This remarkable poster series was the first time the government had assigned such an ambitious project to a single designer, let alone a female modernist. Poster House highlights the impact, culture and design of posters, both as historical documents and methods of contemporary visual communication through exhibitions, a growing permanent collection and various educational events.

Lucas Museum opens next fall
The brand new Lucas Museum of Narrative Art will open to the public on September 22, 2026. Housed in Los Angeles’, Exposition Park, the Lucas Museum seeks to explore how stories connect people and capture the human experience. “Stories are mythology, and when illustrated, they help humans understand the mysteries of life,” says iconic filmmaker George Lucas, co-founder of the museum. The museum was built on the belief that illustrated storytelling is a universal language. “This is a museum of the people’s art—the images are illustrations of beliefs we live with every day. For that reason, this art belongs to everyone,” says Lucas Museum co-founder Mellody Hobson. “Our hope is that as people move through the galleries, they will see themselves, and their humanity, reflected back.” The Lucas Museum’s permanent collection holds more than 40,000 works, representing one of the most significant collections of narrative art. The building’s 35 galleries occupy 100,000 square feet.