Upcoming Exhibitions

Golden Legacy: Original Art from 80 Years of Golden Books
February 27–May 25, 2025

In 1942, the first full year of American involvement in World War II, a groundbreaking line of children’s picture books arrived on store shelves to cheer and comfort a nation and revolutionize the business of juvenile publishing forever. Fueled by the bold application of mass-market sales and distribution techniques to a sleepy backwater industry, Golden Books retailed for a fraction of the cost of traditional children’s books and could be found almost anywhere that young parents shopped: at five-and-dimes, drugstores, and supermarkets.

Easily as appealing as the affordable price tag was the books’ bright, unfussy signature design and the extraordinary art they featured—the work of some of twentieth-century America’s leading illustrators. Three of the most prolific Golden artists—Garth Williams, Tibor Gergely, and Feodor Rojankovsky—were wartime refugees who had fled to New York as the conflict in Europe began. Several more–Gustaf Tenggren, J.P. Miller, Aurelius Battaglia, Martin Provensen, and Mary Blair—were Disney Studio alumni who had played key roles in the making of Snow White, Pinocchio, and other animation classics before opting for the picture-book artist’s life of greater creative freedom. Richard Scarry launched his remarkable worldwide illustration career as a Golden artist. Eloise Wilkin achieved enduring cult status as one. Today, innovative illustrators like Dan Yaccarino and Bob Staake are creating new books for the imprint that first inspired them as children to love books and make art.

This exhibition was organized by the National Center for Children's Illustrated Literature, Abilene, Texas.

–Leonard Marcus, Exhibition Curator

OTHER UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS

In Focus: Artwork by LSU Faculty
April 24–August 3, 2025
In honor of the LSU Museum of Art’s twentieth anniversary in the Shaw Center for the Arts, the Museum showcases the multifaceted talent of tenure and tenure-track professors from LSU’s School of Art in the College of Art and Design. Featuring eighteen artists, works range in media, including examples of photography, printmaking, digital art, and collage.

A Bayou State of Mind
Fall 2025
A collection of works exploring how artists have drawn inspiration from the Louisiana Landscape over the past 100 years. In addition to ceramics, prints, and photography by many of the South’s preeminent artists, the exhibition showcases George Rodrigue’s Bayou series, a collection of forty early paintings in his distinctive Cajun style, including the first depiction of the Blue Dog, Tiffany. 

For more information on exhibitions, please email LSUMOA chief curator Michelle Schulte at mschulte@lsu.edu