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Home>The Corcoran Collection at the National Gallery of Art

# The Corcoran Collection at the National Gallery of Art

Mathew Brady (1822 – 1896), *Mr. William Wilson Corcoran* (detail), 1883, collodion print, Library of Congress, Brady-Handy Photograph Collection LC-BH821-1100

The Corcoran Gallery of Art was the first institution in the United States created specifically as an art museum.

Founded in Washington, D.C., in 1869, the Corcoran remained a vital part of our city for nearly 150 years. After the museum closed in 2014, the National Gallery of Art took responsibility for the collection, ultimately acquiring over 9,000 of its objects. Ranging from antiquities to contemporary works, the broad range of European and American paintings, sculpture, decorative arts, prints, drawings, and photographs in the Corcoran Collection has immeasurably enriched the National Gallery’s holdings.

The Corcoran’s founder, William Wilson Corcoran (1798 – 1888), was a Washington, D.C., banker and philanthropist and one of the country’s first collectors of American art. He was passionate about sharing his collection. In the mid-1850s, he opened the picture gallery in his home for public viewing several times a week. He soon built his namesake museum with the mission of “encouraging American genius.” 

Originally across the street from the White House, the Corcoran later moved nearby to make room for the growing collection and newly founded art school (now part of George Washington University). The Corcoran Gallery of Art created a model for local and national support of the arts. It was the first arts institution given to the American people by an individual, and Corcoran thought of it as a national gallery.

Moses P. Rice (1839 – 1925), *William Wilson Corcoran reading in the library of his home on the northeast corner of H Street and Connecticut Avenue, N.W.*, c. 1886, Corcoran Gallery of Art Archives, George Washington University

*First Corcoran Gallery of Art building, at the cornerof 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. (now the Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian Institution)*, undated photograph, Corcoran Gallery of Art Archives, George Washington University

*Corcoran Gallery of Art, final building, east facade*, c. 1897. Photograph, Library of Congress, negative number USZ62-87608

## Highlights from the Corcoran Collection

See works on view

Hiram Powers, *The Greek Slave*, model 1841-1843, carved 1846, Seravezza marble, Corcoran Collection (Gift of William Wilson Corcoran), 2014.79.37

William Sidney Mount, *The Tough Story - Scene in a Country Tavern*, 1837, oil on wood, Corcoran Collection (Museum Purchase, Gallery Fund), 2014.79.28

Eadweard Muybridge, *Plate Number 189. Dancing (fancy)*, 1887, collotype, Corcoran Collection (Museum Purchase, 1887), 2014.79.232

Mary Cassatt, *Young Girl at a Window*, c. 1883-1884, oil on canvas, Corcoran Collection (Museum Purchase, Gallery Fund), 2014.79.9

Edward Hopper, *Ground Swell*, 1939, oil on canvas, Corcoran Collection (Museum Purchase, William A. Clark Fund), 2014.79.23

Alma Thomas, *Pansies in Washington*, 1969, acrylic on canvas, Corcoran Collection (Gift of Vincent Melzac), 2015.19.144

Frederic Edwin Church, *Niagara*, 1857, oil on canvas, Corcoran Collection (Museum Purchase, Gallery Fund), 2014.79.10

Kara Walker, *Roots and Links, Inc.*, 1997, black paper collage on prepared wove paper, Corcoran Collection (Gift of the Women's Committee of the Corcoran Gallery of Art), 2014.136.226.1-4

Rembrandt van Rijn, *Man with a Sheet of Music*, 1633, oil on panel, Corcoran Collection (William A. Clark Collection), 2014.136.41

Jean-François Millet, *Calling Home the Cows*, c. 1866, pastel and conté crayon on wove paper, Corcoran Collection (William A. Clark Collection), 2014.136.178

John Singer Sargent, *En route pour la pêche (Setting Out to Fish)*, 1878, oil on canvas, Corcoran Collection (Museum Purchase, Gallery Fund), 2014.79.32

Pierre-Philippe Thomire, Robert Robin, *Mantel Clock with Vestals Carrying the Sacred Fire*, 1789, gilded, patinated, and painted bronze, Sevres porcelain, enamel on copper, and marble, Corcoran Collection (William A. Clark Collection. Restored through funds given in memory of Alice Withington Clement, member of the Women's Committee of the Corcoran Gallery of Art), 2015.19.4089

Thomas Cole, *The Departure*, 1837, oil on canvas, Corcoran Collection (Gift of William Wilson Corcoran), 2014.79.13

Thomas Cole, *The Return*, 1837, oil on canvas, Corcoran Collection (Gift of William Wilson Corcoran), 2014.79.12

Aelbert Cuyp, *Landscape with Herdsmen*, mid-1650s, oil on panel, Corcoran Collection (William A. Clark Collection), 2014.79.707

Thomas Eakins, *Singing a Pathetic Song*, 1881, oil on canvas, Corcoran Collection (Museum Purchase, Gallery Fund), 2014.79.19

Joshua Johnson, *Grace Allison McCurdy (Mrs. Hugh McCurdy) and Her Daughters, Mary Jane and Letitia Grace*, c. 1806, oil on canvas, Corcoran Collection (Museum Purchase through the gifts of William Wilson Corcoran, Elizabeth Donner Norment, Francis Biddle, Erich Cohn, Hardinge Scholle and the William A. Clark Fund), 2014.136.146

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, *The Repose*, 1860, reworked c. 1865/1870, oil on canvas, Corcoran Collection (William A. Clark Collection), 2014.79.709

Sanford Robinson Gifford, *Ruins of the Parthenon*, 1880, oil on canvas, Corcoran Collection (Museum Purchase, Gallery Fund), 2014.79.20

Edgar Degas, *The Dance Class*, c. 1873, oil on canvas, Corcoran Collection (William A. Clark Collection), 2014.79.710

David C. Driskell, *Peak and Plane*, 1980, egg tempera, mesh fabric, and collage on wove paper, Corcoran Collection (Gift of the Women's Committee of the Corcoran Gallery of Art), 2015.143.169

George Bellows, *Forty-two Kids*, 1907, oil on canvas, Corcoran Collection (Museum Purchase, William A. Clark Fund), 2014.79.2

Aaron Douglas, *Into Bondage*, 1936, oil on canvas, Corcoran Collection (Museum Purchase and partial gift from Thurlow Evans Tibbs, Jr., The Evans-Tibbs Collection), 2014.79.17

Joan Mitchell, *Salut Tom*, 1979, oil on canvas, Corcoran Collection (Gift of the Women's Committee of the Corcoran Gallery of Art, and Museum Purchase with the aid of funds from the National Endowment for the Arts), 2014.136.135

Kerry James Marshall, *Voyager*, 1992, acrylic and collage on canvas, Corcoran Collection (Gift of the Women’s Committee of the Corcoran Gallery of Art), 2014.79.52

Frederic Remington, *Off the Range (Coming Through the Rye)*, model 1902, cast 1903, bronze, Corcoran Collection (Museum Purchase), 2014.79.38

Louise Bourgeois, *La tapisserie de mon enfance—montains in Aubusson (The Tapestry of My Childhood—Mountains in Aubusson)*, 1947, brush and black ink with gouache on wove paper, Corcoran Collection (Gift of William H. G. FitzGerald, Desmond FitzGerald, and B. Francis Saul II), 2014.136.212

Deruta 15th Century, Faenza 15th Century, *Basin with geometric patterns and dragon*, c. 1480/1500, tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica), Corcoran Collection (William A. Clark Collection), 2014.136.308

Gordon Parks, *Ethel Shariff in Chicago*, 1963, gelatin silver print, Corcoran Collection (The Gordon Parks Collection), 2015.19.4631

William Eggleston, *Memphis*, 1969-1970, printed 1980, dye imbibition print, Corcoran Collection (Gift of Mr. Morris R. Garfinkle), 2014.136.409

Jean Siméon Chardin, *The Scullery Maid*, c. 1738, oil on canvas, Corcoran Collection (William A. Clark Collection), 2014.79.708

Jules Breton, *The Colza (Harvesting Rapeseed)*, 1860, oil on canvas, Corcoran Collection (William A. Clark Collection), 2014.136.21

Andrea di Vanni, *Scenes from the Passion of Christ: The Descent into Limbo [right panel]*, 1380s, tempera on panel, Corcoran Collection (William A. Clark Collection), 2014.79.711.c

Arthur Dove, *#4 Creek*, c. 1923, charcoal and graphite on wove paper, Corcoran Collection (Museum Purchase), 2014.136.206

Childe Hassam, *Au Grand Prix de Paris (At the Grand Prix de Paris)*, 1887, pastel over graphite on paperboard coated with sawdust, Corcoran Collection (Bequest of James Parmelee), 2014.79.39

Albert Bierstadt, *Mount Corcoran*, c. 1876-1877, oil on canvas, Corcoran Collection (Museum Purchase, Gallery Fund), 2014.79.4

 

 

See more of the Corcoran Collection in other D.C.-area museums and galleries.

While the National Gallery acquired approximately half of the Corcoran Collection, most of the balance of the objects were distributed to other museums in the Washington, D.C., area. Download a full list here.

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