The American Collection
ROCKWELL KENT American 1882-1972
Glenlough (Muckross Head), 1926-1927
oil on panel
24 x 30 inches
gift of Charles C. Rumsey, 1960
After its founding in 1913, the Museum acquired not only European works but gathered, in strength, a collection of nineteenth- and twentieth-century American paintings, drawings and sculptures. A considerable portion of the American Collection is regionally or locally significant. The Hudson River School, one of the first American art movements, is represented in the collection with works from Thomas Cole, Jasper Cropsey, Paul Weber, and more. The Museum also has a number of works by well-known local landscape artist, George W. Waters, Elmira’s first prominent artist in the 1800’s was a follower of the Hudson River School and, in 1869, became the first director of Elmira College’s Art Department. His works in the collection include paintings done in Europe, landscapes and drawings, as well as one of his rare still-life oils.
The American Collection is also includes of a small selection of paintings done by artists from a group called The Eight, the inner circle of the so-called “Ashcan School of painters.” The influences of Arthur Davies and Robert Henri are evident in these works.