Since 2005, PAFA has been the home to a major late work by Robert Ryman, Philadelphia Prototype 2002. Sited and installed by Ryman in the Samuel M.V. Hamilton Building in close proximity to windows that let in natural light, the work is the culmination of many aspects of Ryman’s practice, from the possibilities of white, faith in materials, exploration of the space around the painting, and the meditative experience of abstraction.

This installation makes connections to works in the PAFA permanent collection that share the artist’s trust in the transformative capacity of the color white and his emphasis on repetition and rigorous structure in Philadelphia Prototype 2002.