The Pulitzer Arts Foundation is marking 25 years of thoughtful exhibitions in 2026 by going back to their roots—and those of founder Emily Rauh Pulitzer.
Dialogues & Conversations, on view at the Pulitzer from March 6 to August 9, draws on Mrs. Pulitzer’s background as both a curator and collector to place art and artists together in ways that explore the nature of artistic exchange and key arcs of both art history and Mrs. Pulitzer’s career.
Stay up-to-date with the local arts scene
Subscribe to the weekly St. Louis Arts+Culture newsletter to discover must-attend art exhibits, performances, festivals, and more.
“We’re celebrating [this anniversary] by having Emily Rauh Pulitzer curate a show. Her background is in curating, and she brought that to the foundation of the museum,” says curatorial associate Molly Moog, who worked alongside Mrs. Pulitzer, 92, to organize Dialogues & Conversations. “Her curatorial ethics and curatorial practice informed everything about the museum, so this was a perfect opportunity for her to curate this show. She’s always involved in foundation business, but to be doing this hands-on curating is really special.”
They spent around a year and a half planning the exhibition, acquiring loans from collections such as the Saint Louis Art Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Harvard Art Museum. The result is a far-reaching exhibition that spans three centuries and includes work by more than 35 artists, including Edgar Degas, Henry Moore, Willem de Kooning, Doris Salcedo, Alberto Giacometti, and many more.
“A large percentage of this show is pulled from [Mrs. Pulitzer’s] collection, and she’s just so knowledgeable about those works. She lives with them, she’s always thinking about them and considering them,” Moog says. “Putting them in this space and placing them in dialogue with loans and in new groupings—it’s been a wonderful opportunity for her to think about her collection in new ways.”
Dialogues & Conversations not only places artists in conversation with one another, but encourages conversation and interpretation among visitors. As with previous Pulitzer exhibitions, interpretive text is sparse and available on cards that guests can pick up in the galleries. Those who wish to wander and simply take in the works free of additional details and context can do so, giving them the freedom to form their own thoughts and opinions beyond the academic perspective.
“I hope that [visitors] get a chance to do some close looking, because these direct experiences with art are so much of what the Pulitzer has been about,” Moog says. “We allow people to experience art without labels on the walls. First and foremost, you can experience the art in conversation…There’s a lot of opportunity for visitors to immerse themselves one-on-one with the artwork and think about artist decisions and how they informed one another.”
Dialogues & Conversations will kick off with an opening reception on March 6 from 6-9 p.m., followed by an opening weekend tour on March 7 from noon to 1 p.m. On April 7 & 8, composer Christopher Stark will take his turn at capturing the legacy of the Pulitzer with an iteration of the St. Louis Symphony Live at the Pulitzer series inspired by Dialogues & Conversations.
“It’s just been so interesting to look back as part of curating this show and see some of the wonderful artists that the institution has worked with, the interesting and creative shows we’ve done in the past, and see the threads that connect those projects,” Moog says. “[Dialogues & Conversations] is looking back at the past, but also putting those works in dialogue in new ways…it allows for creative thinking, new ways of considering.”
