1. About Us
   1. History
   2. Foundation Reports
   3. Board & Staff
   4. Contact Us
2. Collection
   1. Search Collection Online
      1. Artists List
      2. Thematic Groups
   2. Collection in Focus
      1. Recent Aquisitions
      2. Conservation Notes
      3. Objects in Depth
   3. Terra Collection Initiatives
   4. Collection on View
   5. History of the Collection
   6. Loans/ Rights & Reproductions
   7. Browse Collection
3. Grants
   1. Exhibition Guidelines
      1. Guidelines
      2. Deadlines
   2. Academic Program Guidelines
   3. Public Programs Guidelines
   4. K-12 Education Guidelines
      1. Guidelines
      2. Deadlines
   5. How to Apply
   6. Grants Awarded
4. Scholarship
   1. Fellowships
   2. Symposia
      1. Past Symposia
   3. Publications
5. K-12 Education
   1. Teacher Lab
      1. About
      2. Tools
      3. Classroom Projects
      4. Participants
      5. Apply
   2. Resources
   3. K-12 Grant Program
6. Calendar
7. News
   1. Press Releases
      1. Current
      2. Archived
9. Europe
   1. European Programs
   2. TFAA Europe Library
   3. European Calendar
   4. Contact Us
10. Chicago
    1. Featured Programs
    2. Collection in Chicago
    3. Chicago Calendar

History of the Collection

Begun by Daniel J. Terra in the 1970s and growing to this day, the Terra Foundation's collection of American art spans the colonial era through 1945 and includes more than seven hundred paintings, prints, drawings, photographs, and sculptures. The collection features work by such artists as George Bellows, Mary Cassatt, John Singleton Copley, Stuart Davis, Childe Hassam, Robert Henri, Maurice Prendergast (whose sixty 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.

This online presentation of the foundation's collection is designed for the art enthusiast and scholar alike, and makes available information about the collection that has been gathered to date. Research of the collection is ongoing, and information is added and updated regularly to reflect new findings.

There is no substitution for seeing original works of art in person! We encourage you to experience works of art in the foundation's collection at these national and international venues.

Musée d'Art Américain Giverny

For fifteen years, the Musée d'Art Américain Giverny in France was dedicated to promoting the understanding of American art. The museum, which focused particularly on transatlantic exchange, operated under the auspices of the Terra Foundation for American Art. In May 2009, the museum reopened as the Musée des Impressionnismes, Giverny. The new museum focuses on Impressionism, its history, reach, and wide-ranging impact on the world and American Impressionism is an important part of that story. The Musée des Impressionnismes is overseen by a team of cultural partners and the French government, including the Department of the Eure, the Terra Foundation for American Art, the Musée d'Orsay, the Région Haute-Normandie, the Fondation Claude Monet, and the Department of Seine-Maritime.

Read the exhibition history.

Terra Museum of American Art

The Terra Museum of American Art closed on October 31, 2004 after 24 years of operation. Charged by the Terra Foundation for the Arts with exhibiting and interpreting original works of American art, the museum opened to the public in 1980. During its tenure, the museum presented more than 200 exhibitions on American art and provided related programs and events for schoolchildren, teachers, families, general adult audiences, and scholars.

Read the exhibition history.