Spanning approximately two centuries--from the mid-18th to the mid-20th century--the core of this collection area consists of the original 60 paintings of the Preston Morton Collection given in 1960, now expanded through gifts and purchases to include some 400 paintings and sculptures. Examples of portraiture and still life are strong in each historical period, while the development of American landscape painting is represented with an outstanding selection by key artists of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Works of importance by Albert Bierstadt, George Inness, John Singer Sargent, Frederic Remington, William Merritt Chase, Robert Henri, Marsden Hartley, and Milton Avery place this survey collection among the best in California.

Selected works from our American Art collection:

click thumbnails to view larger images
click to enlarge	John Frederick Peto American, 1854-1907 My Studio Door, 1895 Oil on canvas 49 3/8 x 29 1/2" (32.7 x 25.4cm) Gift of Mrs. Sterling Morton to the Preston Morton Collection 1960.76	click to enlarge	Clarence Hinkle American, 1880-1960 Coast Line, Laguna, ca. 1924 Oil on canvas 30 x 36" (76.2 x 91.4cm) Gift of Mabel Bain Hinkle 1961.18
click to enlarge	George Inness American, 1825-1894 Morning, Catskill Valley, 1894 Oil on canvas 35 3/8 x 53 3/4" (89.9 x 136.5cm) Gift of Mrs. Sterling Morton to the Preston Morton Collection 1960.66	click to enlarge	Thomas W. Eakins American, 1844-1916 Portrait of Master Douty, 1906 Oil on canvas 20 x 16 1/8" Gift of Mrs. Sterling Morton to the Preston Morton Collection 1960.56
click to enlarge	George Wesley Bellows American, 1882-1925 Steaming Streets, 1908 Oil on canvas 38 3/8 x 30 1/4" (97.5 x 76.8cm) Gift of Mrs. Sterling Morton to the Preston Morton Collection 1960.50	click to enlarge	Frederic Remington American, 1861-1909 Fight Over a Waterhole, 1897 Oil on canvas 27 x 40" Gift of Barbara D. Dupee 1996.24
click to enlarge	Albert Bierstadt German (active America), 1830-1902 Mirror Lake, Yosemite Valley, 1864 Oil on canvas 21 3/4 x 30 1/8" (55.2 x 76.5cm) Gift of Mrs. Sterling Morton for the Preston Morton Collection. 1960.51	click to enlarge	Abram Poole American, 1882-1961 Portrait of Mercedes de Acosta, 1923 Oil on canvas 79 x 39 1/2" (200.7 x 100.3cm) Gift of Mercedes de Acosta in honor of Ala Story 1960.26