
Welcome to Our Collection
The Terra Foundation collection of American art, begun by Daniel J. Terra in the 1970s and growing to this day, reflects the rich artistic and cultural heritage of the United States. An inextricable part of our history and an active agent of our global mission, the collection includes nearly 800 paintings, prints, drawings, photographs, and sculptures spanning the colonial period to 1945. In this section, you will find extensive information about each object, with a brief biography provided for each of the 235 artists represented in the collection. +
The collection features work by artists such as George Bellows, Mary Cassatt, John Singleton Copley, Stuart Davis, Childe Hassam, Robert Henri, Maurice Prendergast (whose 60 monotypes in the collection compose the largest institutional holding of his work in this medium), and James McNeill Whistler, as well as the early American masterpiece by Samuel F. B. Morse, Gallery of the Louvre (1831–33). Entries include full "tombstone" data (title, date, medium, dimensions, and inscriptions); provenance; exhibition history; published references; and interpretive essays, aiding research for the general user.
Today, the Terra Foundation continues to acquire works of art and employ advanced conservation practices to preserve collection objects. The Collection Team also conducts regular research on collection objects, examining particular artworks or groups of works in relation to technique, attribution, provenance, and exhibition history. All of this information can be found in our "Collection in Focus" feature.
Please address questions and comments about the Terra Foundation collection to [email protected].
Acknowledgments
The majority of the artists' biographies and interpretive essays for paintings, drawings, and sculpture were written by independent art historian Wendy Greenhouse, PhD. The artists' biographies and interpretive essays for prints were written by Marilyn Symmes, Director of the Morse Research Center for Graphic Arts at the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University, with contributions by Wendy Greenhouse. Former Terra Foundation Curator of Collection Elizabeth Kennedy, PhD, oversaw the project from its inception and wrote the essays for monotypes by Maurice Prendergast. Annelise Madsen, PhD, wrote the interpretive essay for Frederic E. Church’s Our Banner in the Sky.
The following people have contributed in significant ways to the creation and ongoing maintenance of the Terra Foundation's online collection catalog: staff members Katherine Bourguignon, Peter John Brownlee, Lindsay Hightower, Laura Kalas, Annelise Madsen, Eleanore Neumann, Catherine Ricciardelli, Shelly Roman, Jennifer Siegenthaler, and Ariane Westin-McCaw; librarian Janice McNeill; consulting conservators Kimberly Nichols, Bonnie Rimer, and Véronique Roca; and interns Jessica Beck, Sara Jatcko, Bree Lehman, and Naomi Hood Slipp.
Selected Artworks
Edward Hopper
Dawn in Pennsylvania
1942Charles Demuth
Welcome to Our City
1921John Taylor Arms
The Gates of the City
1922Charles Demuth
Rue du singe qui pêche
1921Marsden Hartley
Painting No. 50
1914–15Joseph Stella
Telegraph Poles with Buildings
1917George Josimovich
Illinois Central
1927Arthur Dove
Boat Going Through Inlet
c. 1929