Permanent Collection

The Museum of Art's permanent collection of more than 25,000 objects originated in the taste and interests of the Williams and Proctor families, who collected American and European paintings, and decorative arts in the late 19th and 20th centuries. The expansion of the collection began in earnest after World War II. This effort intensified in 1957 when Edward W. Root bequeathed more than 200 major 20th-century American paintings and drawings to the Museum of Art, thereby distinguishing it as a major repository of the art of this era.

All the works of art mentioned in this site are not necessarily always on view.

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Modern & Contemporary

The museum has a nationally-significant collection of 20th-century American paintings and drawings. It has important holdings of the New York School, which was the dominant movement in American painting during the 1940s and 1950s.

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19th-century American Art

The museum's collection is noteworthy for its works by the Hudson River School and also includes sculptures and paintings by William M. Chase, Frederic E. Church, William Harnett, Winslow Homer, James Peale, Raphaelle Peale, Hiram Powers, Augustus Saint-Gaudens.

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19th-century American Decorative Arts

The decorative arts collection comprises 19th-century American silver, glass, ceramics, furniture and textiles. Decorative arts are on view in the paintings galleries, as well as in period room settings and galleries in Fountain Elms, an 1850 historic Italianate mansion.

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Thomas Cole's "The Voyage of Life"

Thomas Cole's series of four paintings entitled The Voyage of Life was his synthesis of three related ideas: life is a pilgrimage; a person's life can be divided into four distinct stages; the course of a person's life can be metaphorically compared to a journey on a river through a magical landscape.

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