UPCOMING

NUMINOUS

July 12 - September 1, 2025

“She is, quite simply put, the world’s pre-eminent watercolorist, persisting over the past four decades in the mastery of her idiom.”               Museum Director Charles Riley

New York and Port Clyde, ME:  In celebration of our 25th season Barbara Prey Projects unveils a bold new collection of monumental paintings by acclaimed American artist Barbara Ernst Prey in her latest exhibition, Numinous. Numinous is defined as eliciting a sense of wonder or awe. Challenging traditional norms of the medium—both in scale and concept—this body of watercolors continues her long-standing exploration of the intersection between reality, imagination and abstraction.

In an age where virtual worlds shape our perceptions and daily experiences, Prey draws inspiration from the natural world to deepen our connection to the tangible and keep us grounded.  Drawing from her distinguished academic background in art history from Williams College and Harvard, Prey pushes the boundaries of her artistic expression. Her paintings not only engage with themes of memory and art history but also offer a fresh, contemporary reinterpretation of American art, contributing to its evolving narrative.

Her attention to details recalls Vermeer..it’s a painter’s job to notice, and to draw out the nuance and light in what the rest of us ignore.  Prey has that eye and hand... what she makes touches the divine and  has  staying power.                -The Boston Globe

Prey’s paintings, celebrated for her signature approach to watercolor, are in prominent collections worldwide including The National Gallery of Art, The Brooklyn Museum, The Smithsonian American Art Museum, Kennedy Space Center and The White House permanent collection, where she is one of two living female artists represented. Commissioned by NASA (the only female commissioned four times) and recently commissioned by MASS MoCA to paint the largest watercolor in the world (8’ x 15’ currently on long term exhibition at the museum), she steers her way between realism and abstraction, painterliness and reduction, perception and synthesis. Prey incorporates into her visual practice diverse references to the rich traditions of American and European art. Her layered, luminous, and nuanced paintings and drawings speak to issues of gender, climate and ecology, and spiritual wonder.

Included in the exhibit are her never before seen painting Island Exploration – a deeply personal figurative painting of her daughter and dog on a remote Maine island. Drying Sails highlights her use of color and light and continues the interior themes of her Presidential commissioned White House Christmas Card and her recent museum commission for MASS MoCA (8’ x 15’).  Her work establishes a 21st-century female perspective in the trajectory of watercolor in American Art but also contributes to expanding this historical male tradition.

Barbara Prey Projects, situated in the village setting of Port Clyde, provides the perfect backdrop for Numinous. The exhibition is a testament to Prey's artistic versatility and her commitment to pushing the boundaries of creative expression.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Barbara Prey is considered one of America’s foremost painters. Her recently completed commission for MASS MoCA, described as a “technical tour de force” by commissioning Director Joe Thompson, is the largest watercolor ever exhibited. Her paintings are in the collections of the National Gallery of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the White House, the Kennedy Space Center, among many other public and private collections including Tom Hanks and Orlando Bloom.

For over a decade she has been a Presidential Appointee to the National Council for the Arts, the governing body of the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2003 her painting of the Diplomatic Reception Room was featured on the White House Christmas card. With dozens of artworks commissioned by government agencies and institutions, such as four paintings for NASA, Prey is a global ambassador for American Art. Tapped annually for the U.S. Art in Embassies program, Prey’s work has been on display in over one hundred U.S. Embassies and Consulates worldwide, including those in Paris, Hong Kong, and Madrid. Her painting Gallantly Streaming is currently on exhibit in the lobby of the U.S. Mission to the U.N. and three others in the Ambassadors Office.

Prey earned a Bachelor’s degree from Williams College, where she is an adjunct faculty member, and a Master’s degree from Harvard University. She has received numerous institutional accolades, including a grant from the Henry Luce Foundation, a Fulbright Scholarship and the New York Senate’s “Women of Distinction” Award, joining Eleanor Roosevelt and Susan B. Anthony,  awarded to outstanding New York women.