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      American Art

      PEM’s vibrant American art collection tells compelling stories of four centuries of art, culture and human creativity.

      American Art Collection

      Renowned for its expansive holdings of 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.

      American painting has been present in the museum’s collection since the first acquisitions of the East India Marine Society, when a group of Salem ship captains began exhibiting the fine and decorative art of the United States as well as art by Indigenous North Americans. The painting collection grew in earnest with the founding of the Essex Institute in 1821, which became a national leader in the preservation, interpretation and scholarship of American history, art and cultural experiences through the 20th century.

      An early focus on portraits of prominent local people in a variety of mediums led to a wide-ranging collection of portraiture by masters such as Robert Feke, Benjamin Blyth, John Singleton Copley, John Singer Sargent and Salem’s Frank Weston Benson, as well as depth in works by American women artists such as Fidelia Bridges and Grace Hartigan. Sheila and Samuel Robbins’ 2015 gift of 70 paintings expanded the museum’s historical holdings of 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 and Hank Willis Thomas’s Rich Black Specimen #460, exemplify the trajectory of collecting American art at PEM and enable us to tell more complex stories of the intersection of art and human experience in the United States.

      The vital contributions of American artists can also be found across other collecting areas at the museum, including photography, Native American art, maritime art, contemporary art, fashion and textiles, and even European and Asian export art, in light of the many ways that global artistic traditions have shaped American aesthetics, media and tastes. In recent years, through acquisitions and exhibitions, PEM has also recognized that the field of American art must account for not only Euro-American traditions but also Native American artists, as well as African American and African Diasporic, Asian American and Latin American artists in the United States.

      Highlights from this collection

      Weight, 2012

      ON VIEW

      Weight, 2012
      Alison Saar (born 1956, United States)

      On view in On This Ground: Being and Belonging in America.

      Collection American Art George Ropes Jr 1200px

      ON VIEW

      Salem Common on Training Day, 1808

      George Ropes Jr. (1788–1819, United States)

      On view in On This Ground: Being and Belonging in America.

      Collection American Art Edward Ludlow Mooney 1200px
      Portrait of Ahmad bin Na'aman, 1840

      Edward Ludlow Mooney (1813–1887, United States)

      Collection American Art E Ambrose Webster 1200px

      ON VIEW

      Webster House, Provincetown, 1931

      E. Ambrose Webster (1869–1935, United States)

      On view in the American Art Gallery.

      Collection American Art Felrath Hines 1200px
      Untitled, 1967–73

      Felrath Hines (1913–1993, United States)

      Collection American Art Childe Hassam 1200px
      East Headland, Appledore, Isles of Shoals, 1911

      Childe Hassam (1859–1935, United States)

      Collection American Art Fitz Henry Lane 1200px

      ON VIEW

      Twilight on the Kennebec, 1849

      Fitz Henry Lane (1804–1865, United States)

      On view in On This Ground: Being and Belonging in America.

      Portrait of Judge Richard Saltonstall, ca. 1750

      ON VIEW

      Portrait of Judge Richard Saltonstall, about 1750

      Robert Feke (1705–1750, United States)

      On view in On This Ground: Being and Belonging in America.

      Collection American Art Fidelia Bridges 1200px

      ON VIEW

      Pastures by the Sea, 1880–89

      Fidelia Bridges (1834–1923, United States)

      On view in On This Ground: Being and Belonging in America.

      Portrait of Sarah Erving Waldo, 1764-1765

      ON VIEW

      Portrait of Sarah Erving Waldo, 1764-1765

      John Singleton Copley (1737–1815, United States)

      On view in On This Ground: Being and Belonging in America.

      Rich Black Specimen #460, 2017

      ON VIEW

      Rich Black Specimen #460, 2017

      Hank Willis Thomas (b. 1976, United States)

      On view in On This Ground: Being and Belonging in America.

      La belle époque, 1995

      ON VIEW

      La belle époque, 1995

      Grace Hartigan (1922–2008, United States)

      On view in On This Ground: Being and Belonging in America.

      Weight, 2012
      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.

      Collection American Art George Ropes Jr 1200px
      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.

      Collection American Art Edward Ludlow Mooney 1200px
      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.

      Collection American Art E Ambrose Webster 1200px
      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.

      Collection American Art Felrath Hines 1200px
      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.

      Collection American Art Childe Hassam 1200px
      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.

      Collection American Art Fitz Henry Lane 1200px
      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.

      Portrait of Judge Richard Saltonstall, ca. 1750
      Portrait of Judge Richard Saltonstall, about 1750

      Robert Feke (1705–1750, United States), Portrait of Judge Richard Saltonstall, about 1750. Oil on canvas. 100183.

      On view in On This Ground: Being and Belonging in America.

      Collection American Art Fidelia Bridges 1200px
      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.

      Portrait of Sarah Erving Waldo, 1764-1765
      Portrait of Sarah Erving Waldo, 1764-1765

      John Singleton Copley (1737–1815, United States), Portrait of Sarah Erving Waldo, 1764-1765. Oil on canvas. M12561. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Edward Cotting, 1976. Courtesy of the Peabody Essex Museum.

      On view in On This Ground: Being and Belonging in America.

      Rich Black Specimen #460, 2017
      Rich Black Specimen #460, 2017

      Hank Willis Thomas (b. 1976, United States), Rich Black Specimen #460, 2017. Aluminum with powder coat and automotive paint. Museum Purchase, made possible by the Elizabeth Rogers Acquisition Fund. 2019.23.1ab. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.

      On view in On This Ground: Being and Belonging in America.

      La belle époque, 1995
      La belle époque, 1995

      Grace Hartigan (1922–2008, United States), La belle époque, 1995. Oil on canvas. Gift of Fay Chandler, 2008. 138704.

      On view in On This Ground: Being and Belonging in America.

      Loans and acquisitions

      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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