American Painting & Sculpture

American artists have continually reimagined what it means to picture a nation in the making. The BMA’s American Painting & Sculpture collection brings together nearly 900 paintings and 300 sculptures created between the mid-18th century and 1960, capturing moments of ambition, conflict, experimentation, and change.

Strengths of the collection include early portraiture, sweeping landscapes, works by African American artists, and bold examples of 20th-century modernism. Across generations, artists absorbed global influences while confronting local realities—grappling with identity, power, freedom, and belonging.

Seen together, these works reveal American art as restless and inventive. The collection challenges visitors to consider how artists shaped national narratives, questioned inherited ideals, and expanded the possibilities of artistic expression.