George Harvey
Pittsford on the Erie Canal, 1837
Gift of the Margaret M. McDonald Memorial Fund, 2005.33
The Permanent Collection of the Memorial Art Gallery – A Community Treasure
Since its founding in 1913, the Memorial Art Gallery’s collection has grown from its first acquisition, the gift of a lappet of lace, to a holding of nearly 11,000 works of art. Representing cultures from around the world and across millennia, the permanent collection is renowned for its breadth and its quality.
Visitors are frequently surprised to find classic examples at every turn. Three paintings by Monet, a Rembrandt portrait, and a Chinese Guanyin sculpture are among the treasures in the European and Asian galleries, while Winslow Homer’s painting of his studio at Prout’s Neck, Maine, Thomas Hart Benton’s view of a Texas boomtown and a major collection of sculptures by Gaston Lachaise are but a sampling from the American collection. Changing exhibitions in the Lockhart Gallery and study cases showcase prints and drawings from the extensive archive of works on paper.
The Gallery’s Masterpiece in Context initiative in the Gill Center contextualizes works from the permanent collection in ways that make them accessible to visitors of all ages. Currently, two magnificent Egyptian coffins are the centerpieces of the Gill Center installation. Related objects, activities, and videos create a memorable and stimulating experience that brings people back again and again.
New acquisitions include a dramatic seventeenth century Italian Baroque painting, The Entombment, by Luca Giordano, and a celebrated view of the Erie Canal by 19th-century painter George Harvey and a beautifully decorated suit of etched armor made in Germany in the 16th century.
Reflecting the strong craft tradition of Upstate New York State, exciting works by Rochester-based artists Wendell Castle and Albert Paley are always on view. Important ceramists, including Stephen Merritt, Wayne Higby and Anne Currier, are represented as well.
The Memorial Art Gallery’s permanent collection has for nearly a century represented the best in the visual arts, a tradition that continues with new work by Binh Danh and Deborah Butterfield.