This photograph features representatives of the National Academy of Design's Hanging Committee—the group responsible for selecting and hanging works for its annual juried exhibition. Founded in New York City in 1825 as both an art school and an exhibition space for contemporary artists, the National Academy of Design earned over time a reputation for its conservative taste. Although a 1942 tribute in ARTnews proclaimed the institution "an essential vertebra in America's artistic backbone," the academy's annual exhibition was renowned for "taking in the new only after it has been thoroughly tested." This philosophy often alienated young artists and led many to criticize in particular the Hanging Committee.

Gray Photo Studio (active 1938)
Gelatin silver print, 1938
Published January 1942
ARTnews Collection, New York City