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The Department of American Art covers a broad range of artistic endeavors spanning the early Colonial period through World War II. The holdings include paintings, sculptures, furniture, decorative arts and architecture. The strength of the American holdings is the painting collection. Ranked third in the country, it contains leading works such as: John Singleton Copley’s Watson and the Shark, George Caleb Bingham’s The Trappers Return, Frederic Edwin Church’s Cotopaxi, James Abbott McNeill Whistler’s Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket, John Singer Sargent’s Mosquito Nets, and John Sloan’s, McSorley’s Bar.
The American furniture collection is rich in materials from the 1700’s, while also representing leading makers from the 1800’s such as Duncan Phyfe, Henry Belter, the Herter Brothers and Louis Comfort Tiffany. Works from silversmiths like Paul Revere, Gorham and Tiffany & Co. highlight the silver collection, with strength in the ceramic collection coming from the art pottery holdings of Pewabic Pottery and renowned Arts and Crafts potter Adelaide Robineau. The American glass collection chronicles the burgeoning stages of design in the US through the art glass production of the early 1900’s.
The collection also includes the famous Detroit Industry fresco cycle by Diego Rivera, the finest work by a Mexican muralist in the United States. Commissioned by Edsel Ford and museum director William Valentiner, this stunning work depicts the importance of industry to the city while surrounding visitors with vibrant color and bold forms.
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