With this exhibition at the National Gallery, running until February 15, 2026, we are taken on a journey from Philadelphia to the English countryside, and then to the infinite blue of the sky. Edwin Austin Abbey (1852–1911), a close friend of John Singer Sargent and one of the most successful illustrators of his era, is not a name that rings as loudly today. Yet the massive work “The Hours,” covering the walls of Room 1, is determined to break that silence.
This piece, the pinnacle and farewell kiss of Abbey’s career, was designed to adorn the ceiling of the Pennsylvania State Capitol. Brought to life in the artist’s Gloucestershire studio—said to be the largest in Europe at the time—this work traps us in a cosmic cycle. Allegorical female figures symbolizing the transition from night to dawn glide rhythmically across the canvas under a starry sky. This shift from the deepest tones of blue to the golden yellow of the sun reminds the viewer that time is not merely a concept but a visual poem.
The exhibition lays bare not only the finished masterpiece but also the painful and meticulous process leading to it. Sketches and drawings from Yale University prove how Abbey choreographed his figures to capture that perfect rhythm, and how he infused each brushstroke with the “American dream” and optimism.
