Harvard Collects American Art

Harvard’s collections are among the nation’s most distinguished but least known holdings of American art. The University has been acquiring portraits by leading American artists since the 18th century, and the Fogg Museum was founded in 1895 with a bequest of American paintings. This exhibition of approximately 80 paintings and sculptures will trace the evolution of the collection through changing tastes and styles, and will bring to light works by American painters and sculptors from the colonial period through the 20th century, including John Singleton Copley, Washington Allston, Thomas Cole, Albert Bierstadt, Winslow Homer, Thomas Eakins, John Singer Sargent, Marsden Hartley, Charles Sheeler, and Jackson Pollock.

Organized by Theodore E. Stebbins, Jr., curator of American art.

Funded in part by a generous gift from James W. and Frances McGlothlin.