The Spirit of Independence: Artists’ Reflections on Freedom

With works created around the 1976 Bicentennial, these artists looked back to founding narratives while considering what ​“liberty” meant in their own time. From Robert Indiana’s jubilant Liberty ​’76 to Alex Katz’s coolly iconic Young Washington and Joseph Hirsch’s dynamic The Boston Tea Party, the imagery ranges from commemoration to critique. Jacob Lawrence’s ballot box scene shows Black people exercising their right to vote, presenting participation as the lifeblood of freedom. Marisol’s Women’s Equality and Fritz Scholder’s Bicentennial Indian press for additional voices historically left out of the promise. Ed Ruscha’s wry America Her Best Product, alongside works by Colleen Browning, Larry Rivers, and Will Barnet, frames independence as both an aspiration and a challenge. Now fifty years after the Bicentennial, these works invite us to reflect on how independence is renewed, expanded, and defended by every generation.