Floor plan

Time and placeThe United States

The United States

The image shows two large quilt blocks with a matching design, side by side. Each block consists of red and beige fabric with quilted stitching creating a textured appearance. The color palette includes primarily red, beige, and dark stitching outlining the patterns. The quilt blocks are placed centrally on a light-colored surface.
A Rose, by Thomas Anshutz, 1907
The image shows a wooden duck decoy against a plain, light-colored background. The duck is crafted in various shades of brown, black, and green with subtle highlights in lighter tones. The duck is facing to the right side of the frame, with its head slightly tilted upward.
We look across and down into a valley with a person sitting near a tall tree and a train puffing smoke beyond, all enclosed by a band of mountains in the distance in this horizontal landscape painting. Closest to us, several broken, jagged tree stumps are spaced across the painting’s width. A little distance away and to our left, the person wears a yellow, broad-brimmed hat, red vest, and gray pants. He reclines propped on his left elbow near a walking path beside a tall, slender tree with golden leaves. The green meadow stretching in front of him is dotted with tree stumps cut close to the ground. Beyond the meadow, puffs of white smoke trail behind a long steam locomotive that crosses a bridge spanning a tree-filled ravine, headed to our left. The ravine creates a diagonal line across the canvas, moving subtly away from us to our left. The train has climbed out of the valley, away from a cluster of brick-red buildings. The most prominent structure is a train roundhouse, a large building with a high, domed roof to the right of the tracks. Smoke rises from chimneys on long, warehouse-like buildings, and a steeple and smaller structures suggest a church and homes to our left. Hazy in the distance, a row of mountains lines the horizon, which comes about halfway up the composition. The sky above deepens from pale, shell pink over the mountains to watery, pale blue above. The artist signed the work in tiny letters in the lower left corner: “G. Inness.”
The Knapp Children, by Samuel Lovett Waldo, ca. 1833–34
NEAR MEADOW CREEK, UTAH

The works in this room are listed below.

Works in this room

Works made in the United States, from every century in the collection.

First room, north wall

  1. The image shows two large quilt blocks with a matching design, side by side. Each block consists of red and beige fabric with quilted stitching creating a textured appearance. The color palette includes primarily red, beige, and dark stitching outlining the patterns. The quilt blocks are placed centrally on a light-colored surface.
    Patchwork QuiltPaul Ward, c. 1936Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. A Rose, by Thomas Anshutz, 1907
    A RoseThomas Anshutz, 1907Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. The image shows a wooden duck decoy against a plain, light-colored background. The duck is crafted in various shades of brown, black, and green with subtle highlights in lighter tones. The duck is facing to the right side of the frame, with its head slightly tilted upward.
    DecoyMina Lowry, c. 1940Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

First room, south wall

  1. We look across and down into a valley with a person sitting near a tall tree and a train puffing smoke beyond, all enclosed by a band of mountains in the distance in this horizontal landscape painting. Closest to us, several broken, jagged tree stumps are spaced across the painting’s width. A little distance away and to our left, the person wears a yellow, broad-brimmed hat, red vest, and gray pants. He reclines propped on his left elbow near a walking path beside a tall, slender tree with golden leaves. The green meadow stretching in front of him is dotted with tree stumps cut close to the ground. Beyond the meadow, puffs of white smoke trail behind a long steam locomotive that crosses a bridge spanning a tree-filled ravine, headed to our left. The ravine creates a diagonal line across the canvas, moving subtly away from us to our left. The train has climbed out of the valley, away from a cluster of brick-red buildings. The most prominent structure is a train roundhouse, a large building with a high, domed roof to the right of the tracks. Smoke rises from chimneys on long, warehouse-like buildings, and a steeple and smaller structures suggest a church and homes to our left. Hazy in the distance, a row of mountains lines the horizon, which comes about halfway up the composition. The sky above deepens from pale, shell pink over the mountains to watery, pale blue above. The artist signed the work in tiny letters in the lower left corner: “G. Inness.”
    The Lackawanna ValleyGeorge Inness, c. 1856Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. The Knapp Children, by Samuel Lovett Waldo, ca. 1833–34
    The Knapp ChildrenSamuel Lovett Waldo, ca. 1833–34Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. NEAR MEADOW CREEK, UTAH
    Near Meadow Creek, UtahThomas Moran, July 25, 1871Courtesy of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Second room, south wall

  1. This painting is a birth record for Sarah Campion, daughter of Joseph and Mary Campion, born on November 16th, 1777. It features elaborate calligraphy and ornamental designs. The borders contain floral patterns with red and orange-colored flowers and green leaves. The central text is decorative, and at the bottom are human-like figures in colonial attire standing beside a flower vase. The artwork reflects a style reminiscent of early American folk art, created by an anonymous folk artist capturing the essence of 18th-century American artistry.
    Pa. German Birth CertificateGlenn Pearce, c. 1936Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. The image shows a large, copper-colored pitcher with a hammered texture and a curving handle on the right side. The color palette consists of muted, warm tones of copper and brown against a pale beige background. The pitcher is centrally placed in the image, with its handle positioned on the right side.
    Copper CruetEdward Jewett, 1937Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  3. George Washington, by Gilbert Stuart, begun 1795
    George WashingtonGilbert Stuart, begun 1795Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  4. The image displays a harbor filled with boats and ships. The perspective is slightly elevated, likely from a dock, with a partially visible boat and dock at the forefront. The horizon is in the upper third of the image, showing a distant cityscape with spires and structures. The brushwork is delicate, with fine, linear strokes typical of etching. The color palette is monochromatic, sepia tones creating a vintage and serene mood. The ships with tall masts populate the water, with reflections giving a sense of stillness. In the distance, faint impressions of buildings line the harbor, blending into the horizon.
    San GiorgioJames McNeill Whistler, 1880Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

Second room, north wall

  1. A pale-skinned, clean-shaven man with a heavily lined, paunchy face sits against a green and red wall in this vertical portrait painting. The man sits in a wooden chair painted forest green and rests both hands on the closer arm. His body and knees are angled to our left, and he turns his wide, square face to look at with heavy-lidded eyes. One brow seems slightly cocked, and he has a large nose. His lips are pulled up on one side over a round double chin. He wears a white, shoulder-length wig and a sable-brown suit. The cuffs of a white shirt are visible at his wrists where his hands are stacked on the arm of the chair. The knee-length breeches are buckled at the knee over black stockings. His legs are crossed away from us, and his feet extend off the bottom edge of the composition. The bottom half of the wall behind him is painted burgundy red up to and including a chair rail, and the wall above is moss green. The wall is lined with a gold scallop pattern along the top of the chair rail and a sliver of brown on across the bottom of the composition suggests a wood floor. The artist signed and dated the painting as if he had inscribed the red wall near the man’s knees, “John Singleton Copley pinx 1772. Boston.”
    Eleazer TyngJohn Singleton Copley, 1772Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. Still Life—Violin and Music, by William Michael Harnett, 1888
    Still Life—Violin and MusicWilliam Michael Harnett, 1888Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. The image shows a dress with a pink and white vertical striped pattern. The color palette is predominantly soft pinks and whites with subtle shading for light and shadow effects on the fabric. The dress is positioned at the center of the image, with sleeves extending slightly outward to the sides.
    Child's DressLucien Verbeke, c. 1937Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  4. Diving Cormorant, by Otto H. Bacher, 1900
    Diving CormorantOtto H. Bacher, 1900Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art

Third room, north wall

  1. This painting shows a person seated on a stool or chair, wearing a long, dark-blue robe or gown. They are slightly turned toward the right, looking downward at something they hold in their hands, and their head is covered with a cloth or cap. The background is textured with earthy tones, mostly tan with some patches of yellow ochre and gray.
    The ChaperoneThomas Eakins, c. 1908Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. The image shows an illustration of a decorative cup with a relief design and handle to the left. The cup is brown with leaf patterns. The background is light tan. In the top right corner, there is a sketch of the cup's underside.
    Wooden Shaving MugJesse W. Skeen, c. 1936Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington