Collection
American Art
PEM’s vibrant American art collection tells four centuries’ worth of compelling stories of creativity and artistic expression in this place.
Renowned for its expansive holdings of decorative arts, paintings and sculpture, PEM’s American art collection spans four centuries of creative expression in colonial America and the United States.
Rooted in historic holdings that celebrate the rich, diverse artistic and cultural heritage of Essex County, Massachusetts, the collection has continued to grow to embrace a broader representation of the art of this country. Together, these works tell compelling stories of American life and the ongoing cultural exchanges between the people of the region, the country and the wider world.
The museum was among the first in the country to collect decorative arts, and the depth and quality of this collection makes it among the most important. The collection comprises a wide range of finely crafted furniture, interior furnishings and everyday objects that reflect the material experience and skilled craftsmanship of early New England. Beginning with its earliest acquisition — a rare, fully carved armchair by Ipswich joiner Thomas Dennis — PEM’s furniture holdings document the styles and preeminence of Salem- and Boston-area cabinet makers over the course of three centuries. These shifting tastes are also evident in our significant holdings of early domestic wares made of glass, ceramic, metal and wood. Major recent acquisitions in these areas further enrich these holdings with examples dating to the 20th and 21st centuries.
American painting has been present in the museum’s collection since the first acquisitions of the East India Marine Society. The painting collection grew in earnest with the founding of the Essex Historical Society and its focus on portraits of prominent local people in a variety of mediums by masters such as John Singleton Copley, John Singer Sargent and Salem’s Frank Weston Benson. Sheila and Samuel Robbins’ 2015 gift of 70 paintings added the museum’s first works by several talented and often undervalued artists with strong connections to New England. Three years later, gifts from the Carolyn and Peter Lynch collection brought the first works by Childe Hassam and Georgia O’Keeffe into the collection. Major acquisitions of contemporary art, including Alison Saar’s Weight, exemplify the trajectory of collecting American art at PEM and enable us to tell more complex stories of the intersection of life and art in the United States.
Highlights from this collection
ON VIEW
Salem Common on Training Day, 1808
On view in On This Ground: Being and Belonging in America.
ON VIEW
Valuables cabinet owned by Joseph and Bathsheba Pope, 1679
On view in On This Ground: Being and Belonging in America.
Weight, 2012
Alison Saar (born 1956, United States), Weight, 2012. Fiberglass coated with coal dust–infused resin, found metal and wood objects, and rope. Museum purchase, made possible by the Willoughby Stuart Memorial Fund. 2018.35.1A-E.
On view in On This Ground: Being and Belonging in America.
Salem Common on Training Day, 1808
George Ropes Jr. (1788–1819, United States), Salem Common on Training Day, 1808. Oil on canvas. Museum purchase, made possible by William Crowninshield Endicott, Mrs. Lucy Bowdoin, Mrs. Francis Lee Higginson, Dudley P. Rogers, Henry Wyckoff Belknap, George A. Peabody, Charles S. Rea, William H. Gove, George R. Lord, Arthur H. Phippen, R. Osgood, William O. Chapman, Frank Weston Benson, Henry P. Benson, John Albree, William H. Ropes, Henry Morrill Batchelder, Hardy Phippen, William M. Jelly, Arthur F. Benson, and Lawrence W. Jenkins, 1919. 107924.
On view in On This Ground: Being and Belonging in America.
Portrait of Ahmad bin Na'aman, 1840
Edward Ludlow Mooney (1813–1887, United States), Portrait of Ahmad bin Na'aman, 1840. Oil on canvas. Gift of Mrs. William P. McMullan, 1918. M4473.
Webster House, Provincetown, 1931
E. Ambrose Webster (1869–1935, United States), Webster House, Provincetown, 1931. Oil on canvas. The Sheila W. and Samuel M. Robbins Collection. 2015.44.66.
On view in the American Art Gallery.
Untitled, 1967–73
Felrath Hines (1913–1993, United States), Untitled, 1967–73. Oil on canvas. Gift of Dorothy Fisher, widow of the artist. 2014.59.2.
East Headland, Appledore, Isles of Shoals, 1911
Childe Hassam (1859–1935, United States), East Headland, Appledore, Isles of Shoals, 1911. Oil on canvas. Gift of Peter S. Lynch in memory of Carolyn A. Lynch. 2018.72.1.
Pastures by the Sea, 1880–89
Fidelia Bridges (1834–1923, United States), Pastures by the Sea, 1880–89. Oil on canvas. Gift of the artist, 1918. 106746.
On view in On This Ground: Being and Belonging in America.
Twilight on the Kennebec, 1849
Fitz Henry Lane (1804–1865, United States), Twilight on the Kennebec, 1849. Oil on canvas. Gift of Serena M. Hatch in honor of Francis W. Hatch, 2014. M22672.
On view in On This Ground: Being and Belonging in America.
Chair, 1670–1690
Thomas Dennis (1638–1706, United Kingdom), Chair, 1670–1690. Oak. Gift of Robert Brookhouse, 1821. 108886.
On view in On This Ground: Being and Belonging in America.
Valuables cabinet owned by Joseph and Bathsheba Pope, 1679
James Symonds (1633–1714, United States), Salem, Massachusetts, Valuables cabinet owned by Joseph and Bathsheba Pope, 1679. Oak, maple, iron, and paint. Museum purchase, made possible by anonymous donors, 2000. 138011. Photo by Dennis Helmar.
On view in On This Ground: Being and Belonging in America.
Side chair, 1795–1800
Cabinetmaker in Salem, Massachusetts (active 18th and 19th century) with carving by Samuel McIntire (1757–1811, Salem, Massachusetts), Side chair, 1795–1800. Mahogany and reproduction upholstery. Gift of Mary B. Yusko, 1975. 133582.
On view in Salem Stories.
Dressing chest, about 1810
Thomas Seymour (1771–1848, United States) with Carving attributed to Thomas Wightman (1759–1827, United States), Dressing chest, about 1810. Mahogany, bird’s-eye maple, satinwood veneer, brass, and glass. Gift of Miriam Shaw and Francis Shaw Jr., 1935. 122350.
On view in On This Ground: Being and Belonging in America.
Melon Droplet, 2019
Nancy Callan (born 1964, United States), Melon Droplet, 2019, from the series Droplets, 2017-present. Blown glass. Gift of Carl and Betty Pforzheimer. 2022.6.18. Courtesy of the artist. Photo © Russell Johnson. © Nancy Callan.
Sea of Plenty, 2008
Roy Superior (1934–2013, United States) and Mara Superior (born 1951, United States), Sea of Plenty, 2008. Painted and gilded wood and porcelain. Gift of Kohler Foundation, Inc. 2019.4.3A-K.
On view on Level 1: Art in Public Spaces.
Coffee Service, 1999
Michael Banner (born 1939, United States), Maureen Banner (born 1946, United States), Coffee Service, 1999. Silver and rosewood. Museum purchase, made possible by exchange in honor of the Museum's Bicentennial Year, 1999. 137986.1AB-4.
On view in On This Ground: Being and Belonging in America.
Loans and acquisitions
PEM is committed to providing the broadest possible access to its collection through the loan of objects for educational and scholarly purposes. Learn how to request a loan from the museum’s collection.
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