Three grazing cows amble across the foreground of a verdant green landscape; a cluster of their bovine companions gather under the shade of a massive oak nearby. The sky is a serene blue-grey, and the whole scene is washed in a dusty golden hue. Albert Bierstadt’s painting, “Weeping Oaks, Clear Creek, California” (ca. 1881) is one of the University Art Collection’s oldest and most valued acquisitions. It’s easy to see the artist’s mastery of form and light in this lovely landscape. Unfortunately, the piece was not shown to best advantage in its original frame, which had been poorly “restored” and...

This quarter, Professor of Art History, Annette Stott, is teaching a graduate seminar on the History of Collecting in the United States. The graduate seminar  studies the history of art collecting in the United States from the colonial era to the present.  Since September, the students have been learning about theories and philosophies of collecting, some important private and corporate collectors, issues in museum collections, dealers and auction houses, artists’ relations with collectors, the wide variety of types of art collected in the USA, and trends in contemporary global art collecting. Last Monday, the class culminated with this visit to the University’s...