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Rebecca Ness’s exhibition “Inheritance” reimagines historical paintings through contemporary scenes and personal references. The works include a version of Manet’s “A Bar at the Folies-Bergère” set at the West Village lesbian bar Cubbyhole. The source review describes the show’s approach and its strongest point as the personal dimension of Ness’s reinterpretations.
Artist Rebecca Ness is reworking canonical paintings in “Inheritance,” a show that places historical art in contemporary settings, including a version of Édouard Manet’s “A Bar at the Folies-Bergère” relocated to Cubbyhole, the West Village lesbian bar. A review published by Hyperallergic presents the exhibition as Ness’s way of treating art history not as a closed inheritance, but as material that can be transformed and claimed anew.
In Ness’s reinterpretation of Manet’s 1882 painting, the scene moves from the original Parisian bar to Cubbyhole, a New York gathering place. The review describes the new work, “A seat at Cubbyhole,” as a crowded, sweaty setting. It is an example of the show’s broader method: retaining a relationship to a recognized historical image while changing its social and contemporary frame.
Other works update the visual language of trompe l’oeil paintings by William Harnett and John F. Peto, known for carefully rendered arrangements of objects. Ness replaces their familiar motifs with a corkboard bearing cut-out and crumpled pages from art history textbooks alongside photographs of the artist. Hyperallergic compares the result to a Pinterest board brought into physical form.
The review says the exhibition is most compelling when Ness’s reinterpretations become personal. That is the reviewer’s assessment, rather than a claim that all viewers will respond the same way. The source identifies the show as “Inheritance” and lists Morgan Presents New York, but does not provide an exhibition address, opening date, closing date or full list of works.
A Personal Claim on Canonical Art
Ness’s approach puts questions of ownership and access at the center of familiar art-historical images. Instead of treating canonical works as untouchable objects from the past, “Inheritance” uses them as starting points for new scenes and associations. Moving Manet’s bar setting to Cubbyhole, for example, gives a well-known composition a contemporary New York location and a different cultural reference.
The works also make inheritance more than a matter of money or family possessions. In the review’s framing, it can mean taking what came before and changing it. That idea speaks to how artists engage with established traditions: they can quote, revise and personalize them without presenting history as fixed. The exhibition’s significance is therefore in its specific artistic argument, not in a claim that it changes the art-historical canon or represents a first.
The review’s qualification matters, too: Ness’s work is described as shining when it is most personal. That points readers toward the tension at the heart of the show—between recognizable references and the artist’s own experience. The source does not report audience reactions or institutional responses, so the wider reception remains unknown.
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From Manet to Cubbyhole
Manet’s “A Bar at the Folies-Bergère” dates to 1882 and depicts a barmaid in a crowded Parisian venue, with a mirror expanding the scene behind her. Ness’s “A seat at Cubbyhole” takes the historical work as a point of departure, shifting its setting to a lesbian bar in Manhattan’s West Village. The source calls the new work a reinterpretation; it does not describe every compositional detail or state that Ness intended a direct, one-to-one recreation.
The exhibition also draws on American trompe l’oeil painting, associated in the review with Harnett and Peto. Their paintings made everyday objects appear convincingly present. Ness’s textbook pages and photographs bring the history of art itself into that kind of constructed arrangement, turning reference material and personal images into the subject. These connections explain the show’s title and method without establishing a broader historical claim beyond what the review reports.
““Inheritance makes me think of money.””
— Hyperallergic review
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Exhibition Details Not Supplied
The source material does not state when or where “Inheritance” is on view, how long it runs, or whether it is still open. Although Morgan Presents New York appears with the review information, the supplied text does not confirm whether that is the exhibition venue. It also offers no attendance figures, artist statement, gallery announcement or independent responses from visitors and critics.
The review describes selected works but does not give a complete checklist or explain Ness’s process in her own words. Its judgments about the show’s strengths should be understood as the reviewer’s interpretation. Further details about the exhibition’s scope and reception cannot be established from the supplied material.
art display corkboard with crumpled pages
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Further Show Information Needed
The supplied report does not announce a coming exhibition milestone or future project by Ness. Readers seeking to visit the show would need to check current information from Morgan Presents New York or the artist, since dates and venue details are absent from the source. Any account of audience response, additional works or later plans would require further reporting.
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Key Questions
What is Rebecca Ness’s “Inheritance” about?
The show reinterprets historical paintings in contemporary settings and through personal imagery. The review frames inheritance as transforming older material into something new.
Which famous painting does Ness revisit?
Ness reworks Édouard Manet’s “A Bar at the Folies-Bergère”, relocating its bar scene to Cubbyhole in New York’s West Village.
What does the show borrow from Harnett and Peto?
The review connects Ness’s work to the trompe l’oeil paintings of William Harnett and John F. Peto. Ness uses textbook pages and photographs on a corkboard as contemporary visual material.
Where and when can the exhibition be seen?
The source identifies “Inheritance” but does not give confirmed venue or exhibition dates. It mentions Morgan Presents New York in connection with the review, without specifying that it hosted the show.
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