Collection European Art

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Artur von Ferraris | The Last Audience of the Hapsburgs | oil on canvas | Au31:Fe1

Ranging from antiquity to the modern era, the European collection at the JSMA features over one thousand objects, including sculpture, painting, ceramic, prints, and decorative arts. Works from Germany, Spain, England, Italy, France, and Russia are well-represented, with a strong focus in 19th and 20th-century prints. Notable highlights from the collection include: Artur von Ferraris’ The Last Audience of the Hapsburgs (1918), brought to the United States rolled inside a carpet when the owner fled the Nazi invasion of Austria; a double-sided painting by German expressionist Max Pechstein; Madonna of the Cherries, a 16th-century oil painting of Virgin and Child by a follower of Joos Van Cleeve; as well as works by European artists Rembrandt van Rijn, Albrecht Dürer, Pablo Picasso, Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Käthe Kollwitz, Francisco Goya, and Salvador Dalí. It also features a sizeable special collection of Russian and Greek Orthodox icons, formed from the personal collection of our founder Gertrude Bass Warner and from the generous gift of Jacob B. Kolliner in 1987.

Collection Highlights

A black and white drawing with intricate line work, depicting several women in traditional attire surrounded by plants, with abstract figures and architectural elements above.
Pablo Picasso, David and Bathsheba, 1947
An impressionist painting of a seascape with several small sailboats on a choppy blue sea, under a light blue sky with soft clouds, with a prominent boat in the foreground carrying three figures.
Leon-Gustave Ravanne, Twenty Sailboat Fishing Fleet, 1902
A detailed woodcut print depicting a biblical scene with a bearded figure holding an open book and a starburst, surrounded by candlesticks and an acolyte bowing below, against a backdrop of clouds.
Albrecht Dürer, Vision of the Seven Candlesticks, 1497-98
A painted Russian lacquer box showing a fairy-tale scene with three figures in a forest clearing, set against a dark background with trees and foliage, with rich autumnal colors.
Chistov Sergeri Sergeevich, Autumn (Осень / Osen’), 1983
A Renaissance-style painting of the Madonna and Child, where the Madonna is holding the Christ child in her arms while seated, both framed within an ornate gold frame, with a serene landscape visible through a window.
Follower of Joos van Cleeve, Madonna of the Cherries, 16th century
A traditional Russian icon of the Virgin Mary holding the Christ Child, both depicted with solemn expressions and haloed, against a gold-leaf background with intricate patterns.
Unknown, Mother of God of Kazan (Bogomater’ Kazanskaia), 18th century copy
An ornate Russian icon depicting a group of saints, including the Virgin Mary, standing in front of architectural structures, with a smaller icon scene above, all against a rich gold background.
Apparition of the Mother of God to St. Sergius, late 16th century