Permanent Collection
Early in its 50-year history, The Academy Art Museum began its permanent collection with 11 works of art. Today, the collection contains more than 1,000 pieces including core holdings of European and American works on paper.
Through the generosity of Berlin Vorhees, Donald and Ruth Saff, Grover Batts and others, the Museum has developed a survey of printmaking from 1850 to the present. Represented in this group are key sheets by James A. M. Whistler, Félix Buhot, Frank W. Benson, Thomas Hart Benton, Rufino Tamayo, Phillip Pearlstein, Robert Motherwell, Richard Diebenkorn, Jim Dine, James Rosenquist and others.
Drawings are another important area for the Museum. Among the prominent works are pieces by Pierre Bonnard, John Sloan, Arthur Bowen Davies, Walt Kuhn, Ossip Zadkine, Elisabeth Frink, Gene Davis, Anne Truitt and Grace Hartigan.
The photography collection has been elevated also. Recent acquisitions include the Chinese Summerhall suite by Robert Rauschenberg, two gelatin silver prints by Aaron Siskind and a unique portrait by Imogen Cunningham.
Other significant additions include nearly three dozen plein-air paintings from Easton’s annual competition; Anne Truitt's canvas Hesperides; Rauschenberg’s mixed media Tibetan Garden Song; and gifts including the painting Daniel Webster by Larry Rivers.