American Art

Our collection features three areas: federal portraiture, 19th century landscape paintings, and early 20th century realism.

Portraiture was the dominant form of art in America until the middle of the 19th century. The museum’s collection includes portraits by many leading artists of this period, including John Singleton Copley, Gilbert Stuart, and Thomas Sully. The paintings create a window through which to view the personalities, fashions, and cultural values of Americans during the time. Featured subjects range from important historical figures to charming young children.

As the 19th century unfolded, landscape painting became increasingly popular. Throughout our collection, you can trace the evolution of this genre from the works of the Hudson River School painters, including Thomas Cole and Sanford Gifford, who focused on the natural beauty of our country’s topography, until the rise of Impressionism: a movement whose artists created a more abstract, subjective view of their surroundings.

By the 20th century, a new generation of American artists sought an alternative to Impressionism. These new realists, sometimes known as The Ashcan School focused on everyday life and the common man. The museum holds significant works by many of these artists, including their leader, Robert Henri, and his associates William Glackens, George Bellows, George Luks, Everett Shinn, and Ernest Lawson.

This collection has a featured space in Mint Museum Uptown. In a suite of five galleries, you can find old favorites, new additions, and works not seen for a decade or more that will be rotated alongside furniture, ceramics, and historic costumes that, experienced as a whole, provides visitors with a meaningful view into this country’s rich artistic and historical past.