This season, the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts presents two major exhibitions that highlight the evolution of performance in New York City—from the emotional language of modern dance to the spectacle and storytelling of stage magic. Together, they trace how artists have shaped live performance through movement, illusion, and imagination.
Martha Graham: The Mother of Psychological Dance opened on Wednesday, May 20, and is on view through Saturday, November 7, 2026, in the Donald and Mary Oenslager Gallery of the library’s Shelby Cullen Davis Museum. This centennial exhibition honors one of the most influential figures in modern dance, exploring Martha Graham’s groundbreaking approach to movement as psychological expression and transforming dance into a language of inner life. Through her pioneering technique, she established a codified movement vocabulary that continues to influence choreographers around the world and offered a striking alternative to classical ballet.
The exhibition highlights Graham’s legacy with archival materials, costumes, and set pieces—including designs by Isamu Noguchi—drawn from the Jerome Robbins Dance Division’s Martha Graham archive. Together, these works provide insight into her creative process and enduring impact on modern performance.
Running through Saturday, July 11, 2026, Mystery and Wonder: A Legacy of Golden Age Magicians in New York City explores the rise of stage magic in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a period widely known as the Golden Age of Magic. On view in the Shelby Cullom Davis Museum in the Vincent Astor Gallery, the exhibition draws from the Billy Rose Theatre Division’s historic collections to show how magicians built communities of practice while shaping one of New York’s most popular forms of entertainment.
Magic during this era was closely intertwined with spiritualism, vaudeville, circus performance, and mainstream theater, reflecting broader innovations in science, publishing, and technology. The exhibition features rare materials from the collection of Dr. Saram Ellison, co-founder of the Society of American Magicians, alongside posters, photographs, books, and artifacts that evoke the atmosphere of an early 20th-century magic shop. These works trace the careers of performers such as Harry Houdini and Howard Thurston, capturing the scale of wonder and showmanship that defined the era.
Visitors can explore both exhibitions during their visit and discover the Library’s broader performing arts collections on the third floor, including the Jerome Robbins Dance Division, Music and Recorded Sound Division, and Billy Rose Theatre Division.
Throughout the season, the Library also offers free exhibition gallery tours for Mystery and Wonder: A Legacy of Golden Age Magicians in New York City, with the next scheduled on Wednesday, May 27, offering an in-depth look at key objects, stories, and figures from the Golden Age of Magic. For a full listing of programs and events, visit https://www.nypl.org/events/calendar?location=55.
Image: Martha Graham and Company in “Act of Judgement,” from “American Provincials,” 1934.
Photo © Paul Hansen, by permission of Vicki Quade. Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
