The Skiffy Enters the Permanent Collection of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

Michelle Gagliano’s studio is thrilled to announce that the painting The Skiffy has recently entered the permanent collection of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Based in Richmond, the Museum is one of the largest comprehensive art institutions in the United States. With a growing encyclopedic collection spanning 6,000 years of world history, it welcomes over 400,000 visitors each year.

The Skiffy is part of Gagliano’s pivotal series Lexicon of Landscape, developed in the wake of a transformative residency at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts in 2016, where she deepened her research on the interplay between landscape and poetry.

This acquisition holds special significance. As a VMFA Fellow in 2021, Gagliano benefited from the Museum’s support for her extensive research into Raphael’s pigments, and seeing The Skiffy join the permanent collection represents a continuation of that dialogue, a profound full circle in her artistic journey.

As Jeffrey Allison, Director of Statewide Programs and Exhibitions at VMFA, shared:

“I am so excited that the VMFA has included Michelle Gagliano's painting in our permanent collection. We look forward to sharing this work with our audiences throughout Virginia and beyond.”

We are delighted to celebrate this ongoing relationship and to welcome The Skiffy into such a vibrant, inspiring institution, where it will engage audiences and continue its dialogue with the landscape, poetry, and the subtle language of perception.