DAYTON, OH.- The Dayton Art Institute kicks off its 2026 Special Exhibition season with Tony Foster, Exploring Time: A Painter’s Perspective, on view February 21–May 17, 2026. This remarkable exhibition features a series of watercolor paintings created en plein air during Tony Foster’s celebrated expeditions to remote and fragile landscapes around the globe.

An explorer-artist, Tony Foster is recognized for his remarkable ‘Journeys’, watercolor painting expeditions that unfold over many years in which he reflects and responds to place. In more than 40 years of practice, Foster has never strayed from his purpose to share the extraordinary nature of the world and the importance of its protection. Visiting remote areas, Foster examines how time shapes the natural world, from fleeting changes in light and weather to geological and biological transformations unfolding over millennia.

“Tony Foster’s paintings are detailed observations of nature that convey a holistic vision of the artist’s expression and experiences visiting remote locations,” said Head Curator & Curatorial Affairs Director Jerry N. Smith. “The paintings, often quite large for watercolors, act as invitations to experience the quiet power of nature shaped by time and to discover moments of stillness, which are increasingly rare in modern life.”

The concept for this collection of works emerged during a 2007 expedition to Mount Everest when a monk handed the artist an ammonite fossil found near the summit. The discovery provided tangible evidence that the world’s highest mountain had once been beneath the sea and sparked Foster’s ongoing exploration of deep time and environmental change. With a discerning eye, Foster records not only nature’s strength and resilience but also its vulnerability.

The majority of works in Tony Foster, Exploring Time: A Painter’s Perspective were created between 2007 and 2025 during the artist’s 19th ‘Journey’ and reflect a sustained investigation of change across overlapping natural and human contexts. For this ‘Journey’, Foster made a series of expeditions to specific wilderness locations in Arizona, California, Colorado, the Caribbean, Greece, the Maldives, Galapagos, Tibet and Cornwall in the United Kingdom. Each watercolor work is accompanied by diary excerpts, maps and objects collected during Foster’s expeditions, offering insight into his artistic process and the physical experience of working in extreme environments.

“Tony Foster’s work invites us to slow down and truly consider the forces that shape the landscapes we inhabit,” said Interim DAI Director & President Mark Shaker. “This exhibition reminds us that museums can be ideal spaces for contemplation, where art deepens our understanding of the planet and our responsibility to it.”

The exhibition is organized into four thematic sections–Geological Time, Biological Time, Human Time and Fleeting Moments–each inviting viewers to engage with time at every scale, from the span of a moment to vast geological eras, while reflecting on the enduring impact of human presence.

“The work is all about trying to bring to people's attention the extraordinary nature of the world we live in, its fragility and its complexity, and hoping to evoke a sense that we should protect everything we've got,” said Foster.

Tony Foster is the only living English painter with an American museum dedicated to his work. He has exhibited widely in the United States and the United Kingdom, including at the Yale Center for British Art and the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Tony Foster, Exploring Time: A Painter’s Perspective is organized and toured by The Foster Museum in Palo Alto, California. The Foster Museum serves as a major archive of Foster’s work.

Tony Foster (born 1946) is an English painter known for his painting expeditions into the world’s great wildernesses. He creates large-scale watercolor works en plein air that closely observe the remote natural world, relatively untouched by humans. His expeditions from Everest to the Grand Canyon and the ocean floor are personal watercolor diaries, reflecting on the concept and experience of wilderness. He has exhibited widely both in the UK and the USA, including at the Yale Center for British Art and the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC. The Foster Museum in Palo Alto, California, is dedicated to his work.

A ‘Journey’ is a series of watercolor paintings with accompanying notes and symbolic objects or small souvenirs from wilderness locations. Inspired by Henry David Thoreau, each ‘Journey’ involves multiple expeditions and can take years to complete. From this, Tony Foster has presented nineteen major exhibitions focused on wilderness, particularly in the United States.

His works have been in exhibitions throughout the world including at the Robert Cripps Gallery, Magdalene College, Cambridge (solo); Royal Academy London (invited artist), London; Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter (solo); Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (solo); Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro (solo); Royal Geographical Society, London (solo); Royal Watercolour Society, London (solo); Science Museum, London (group) as well as the following solo exhibitions in the USA: Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff, AZ; Frye Art Museum, Seattle, WA (retrospective exhibition); Phoenix Art Museum, AZ; Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC; Sun Valley Museum of Art, Ketchum, ID; Whitney Western Art Museum, Cody, WY and Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT (solo).

His works can be found in many public and private collections including Falmouth Museum and Art Gallery; Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge; Magdalene College, Cambridge; Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital as well as the Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles, CA; Denver Art Museum, CO; Nevada Art Museum, Reno, NV; Phoenix Art Museum, AZ; Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA; The Foster Museum, Palo Alto, CA and the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT.