Browse by Period | American Art to 1900
The American Collections Galleries feature objects owned by the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Layton Art Collection (housed at the Museum since 1957), and the Chipstone Foundation (a Milwaukee based institution dedicated to furthering scholarship in the decorative arts).
The core of the paintings collection was formed by Frederick Layton in the late 19th century and includes such highlights as Eastman Johnson’s The Old Stagecoach (1871) and John Kensett’s Lakes of Killarney (1857). The collections of decorative arts are noted for breadth (spanning from the 17th century through the 21st century) and depth (with particular strength in the 18th century). Highlights include the Layton Art Collection’s 17th-century turned Great Chair from New York, the Chipstone Foundation’s 18th-century Philadelphia rococo Card Table, and the Milwaukee Art Museum’s mid-19th-century rococo revival Sofa made by John and Henry Belter of New York.
In the Museum galleries, the paintings, furniture, ceramics, glass, silver and other decorative arts are arranged thematically, rather than chronologically, so that objects are paired in creative and unexpected ways.
Search Collection Highlights
Browse by Artist
a b c d e f g h i j k l m
n o p q r s t u v w x y z
Browse by Period
19th Century European Art
American Art to 1900
Ancient Art
Contemporary Art
Early European Art
Folk, Self-Taught, Outsider
Haitian Art
Modern Art
©2009 Milwaukee Art Museum