European

The Museum's Collection of European Art comprises painting, sculpture, and works on paper from 1300 to 1945 and encompasses all of the major artistic movements from the Renaissance through Impressionism and Modernism.
Works created before 1850 provide fine examples of religious and mythological painting, portraiture, landscape, and still life. In 2006, Valerie Delacorte, a Hungarian film star who later became a philanthropist, transformed the European Collection with her gift of more than 60 paintings and works on paper, primarily from the 17th and 18th centuries. Important Renaissance and Baroque artists represented include Lucas Cranach the Elder, Ludovico Carracci, and Peter Paul Rubens. The 18th century is represented by painters like Horace Vernet and Jean-Baptiste Greuze, and sculptors Guillaume Coustou the Younger and Bartolommeo Cavaceppi.
The early Modern period begins with Realist, Impressionist, and Post-Impressionist canvases by Gustave Courbet, Claude Monet, and Paul Gauguin. The Modern Collection contains work from every important movement and is replete with significant paintings and sculpture by Constantin Brancusi, Georges Braque, Marc Chagall, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, and Chaim Soutine, among others. The collection of works on paper spans more than five centuries, from the earliest soft-metal cuts to prints and drawings by young living artists.
The collection of works on paper has benefited from a significant gift of prints and support from David J. Patten. The extensive holdings of watercolors reflect a special passion of founder Ralph Norton.
European Collection Highlights

Lucas Cranach the Elder (German, 1472-1553), The Betrayal and Capture of Christ, 1515

Gaetano Gandolfi (Italian, 1734-1802), Jacob Stealing Esau's Blessing, circa 1780-1790

Paul Gauguin (French, 1848-1903), Christ in the Garden of Olives, 1889

Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881-1973), Head of a Woman, 1909

Constantin Brancusi (French, born Romainian, 1876-1957), Constantin Brancusi (French, born Romanian, 1876-1957), Mademoiselle Pogany II, 1925

Sir Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577-1640), Study for Head of Saint John the Evangelist, circa 1611-1612

Claude Monet (French, 1840-1926), Gardens of the Villa Moreno, Bordighera, 1884

Paul Cézanne (French, 1839-1906), Portrait of Alfred Hauge, 1899

Chaim Soutine (French, born Russia, 1893-1943), Landscape at Céret, circa 1921