Permanent Collection

The Telfair Museum of Art's permanent collection of paintings, works on paper, photography, sculpture, and decorative arts contains over 4,500 objects from America, Europe, and Asia, dating primarily from the 18th-20th centuries.

Highlights include impressive examples of American Impressionism, with major paintings by Childe Hassam, Frederick Frieseke, and Gari Melchers. Ashcan School paintings filled with strong colors and bravura brush strokes are superbly represented at the Telfair with works by Robert Henri, George Bellows and George Luks. The collection also includes several works by European expatriate Julian Story. His monumental painting Black Prince of Crécy (pictured, upper left), which depicts a pivotal 14th-century battle, is a favorite with Telfair visitors.

The Telfair Museum of Art boasts the largest public collection of visual art by Lebanese writer Kahlil Gibran, best known as author of The Prophet, in North America. The museum has over 80 art works, including both paintings and drawings, by the popular literary figure.

The Telfair's sculpture collection is complemented by the long-term loan of Sylvia Shaw Judson's Bird Girl, known for its appearance on the dust jacket of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

Recent acquisitions include important works by respected 20th century artists Gari Melchers, Romare Bearden, Helen Levitt, and Max Bill.

Friday, July 25, 2008