This fully illustrated catalogue is the first complete record of this well-known collection. Scholarly documentation of 277 works presents most of the principal artists and stylistic currents in American painting from the mid-18th century to the present. Artists such as Thomas Cole, Sanford Gifford, Ralph Blakelock, William Merritt Chase, and Childe Hassam are represented by paintings considered to be among their finest works. Included are many works of outstanding merit in oil, watercolor, tempera, and pastel. The text section provides a separate entry for each painting, including a biography of the artist, physical data, listings of provenance and exhibitions, and a full bibliography. Brief critical commentaries on attribution, iconography, dating, and other topics are also included.An introduction by WIlliam Hutton, the Museum's Senior Curator, surveys the collection's seventy-five-year development, showing the importance attached to American art in the Museum's early days and the more recent expansion of the collection in which paintings from the 19th century and since 1945 have been added.