Feb 1 - May 24, 2026
The Sense of Beauty
Six Centuries of Painting from Museo de Arte de Ponce
Six Centuries of Painting from Museo de Arte de Ponce
The Sense of Beauty: Six Centuries of Painting from Museo de Arte de Ponce brings together five centuries of extraordinary paintings, including art from the European Renaissance, American Hudson River School, and the Pre-Raphaelites, offering a rare opportunity to experience the depth and diversity of Puerto Rico’s most celebrated museum. Featuring work by luminaries such as Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony van Dyck, Élisabeth Vigée-LeBrun, Gustave Courbet, and John Singer Sargent, as well as Sir Frederic Leighton's iconic masterpiece Flaming June, this exhibition includes a rich array of religious scenes, portraits, landscapes, and figurative paintings. Rarely seen Spanish paintings by El Greco and Francisco Goya are also featured, as are works by Puerto Rican artists such as José Campeche y Jordán and Enoc Perez. Together, the collection celebrates the enduring pursuit of beauty and the diverse traditions that have shaped its expression.
Frederic, Lord Leighton (England, 1830–1896), Flaming June, 1895. Oil on canvas, 46 7/8 × 46 7/8 in. Museo de Arte de Ponce. The Luis A. Ferré Foundation, Inc.
Ponce's collection of Old Masters and Pre-Raphaelite art is exceptional. Seventeen years ago, I had the privilege of taking these treasures to major European institutions like the Prado, Tate Britain, and the Belvedere. More recently, "Flaming June" has been seen at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Frick Collection, where it drew critical acclaim and tens of thousands of visitors. I’m thrilled to now bring this iconic painting to the Crocker, so that audiences in Sacramento, the Bay Area, and across the West Coast can experience it firsthand.
Agustín Arteaga
PhD, Mort and Marcy Friedman Director & CEO
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Interwoven throughout the exhibition are key contemporary works by Puerto Rican artists from the 18th century to today, presented in thematic dialogue with the historical paintings.
The Sense of Beauty will be installed in the Crocker’s historic Victorian gallery building, which has not hosted a traveling exhibition in more than 20 years. Built in 1872 and part of the original Crocker family estate, the building's elegant architecture creates a compelling backdrop for the exhibition. While some of the Museum’s European paintings will be temporarily deinstalled to make way for the show, others will remain on view, creating a rich visual conversation between the Crocker’s holdings and the visiting works from Ponce.
The Sense of Beauty was conceived and curated by Iraida Rodríguez-Negrón, curator at Museo de Arte de Ponce. This exhibition has been organized by Museo de Arte de Ponce in collaboration with the Crocker Art Museum. The project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.
A fully illustrated, bilingual scholarly catalogue accompanies the exhibition. Edited by Rodríguez-Negrón, the catalogue includes an essay chronicling the history of Ponce’s collection and detailed entries on each of the featured paintings, authored by leading scholars from Puerto Rico and the United States.
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