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Highlights of the American Collection
Now Open
Free
Visit the exhibition site.
This exhibition showcases a selection of the finest American paintings from the Museum’s American Collection, which has been off view since June 2007. The approximately 20 paintings will be arranged thematically, allowing for interesting and surprising conversations among works by different artists from different generations.
The star of the exhibition is the stunning portrait of Sir William Pepperrell and His Family, one of the true masterpieces of John Singleton Copley, America’s first great artist. The Museum’s conservators have recently completed the first extensive cleaning of this painting—taken off view in July 2005—in 40 years. Cleaning has revealed new details of the composition and restored much of the 18th-century luster to this celebrated portrayal of an American Tory gentleman and his young family.
Presented by:
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John Singleton Copley, Sir William Pepperrell and His Family, 1778, oil on canvas, 90 x 108 in., Purchased with funds from the State of North Carolina
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