FAM Completes $33.8M Acquisition, Installation of Major Artworks

COOPERSTOWN—Fenimore Art Museum announced recently that its acquisition and installation of 27 major works of American art valued at $33.8 million is now complete. The final two pieces, both pastels, were recently installed. “Campanile at Lido” (1879) by James McNeill Whistler and “Still Life with Fruit, Vase and Cup” (1910) by Max Weber are on view through December 29 as part of the exhibition “American Masterworks.”

Acquisition of these works was generously funded by the Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw Charitable Trust.

Over the past nine months, 25 oil paintings and two pastels were added to Fenimore’s collection of American art, officials said in a recent media release. The grouping includes works by Albert Bierstadt, Theodore Earl Butler, Mary Cassatt, William Merritt Chase, Frederic Edwin Church, Samuel Colman, Frederick Carl Frieseke, William Glackens, Childe Hassam, Martin Johnson Heade, Robert Henri, George Inness, David Johnson, Eastman Johnson, Joshua Johnson, Ernest Lawson, Thomas Moran, Georgia O’Keeffe, Maurice Prendergast, John Singer Sargent, Joan Sloan, Max Weber, and James McNeill Whistler. The acquisitions highlight the museum’s effort to expand its already significant collection. This group broadens the scope to include major works created from the 1850s to about 1930, allowing the museum to tell the story of American art and culture as it evolved after the Civil War.

“With the inclusion of these new acquisitions, Fenimore now showcases a comprehensive collection of American Art, representing a group of artists who are considered masters,” said Dr. Paul S. D’Ambrosio, Fenimore Art Museum president and chief executive officer. “The new works build upon the early and mid-19th century works left to the museum by our original benefactor, Stephen C. Clark. Likewise, we continue the legacy of the generous gift of the Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art given to us in 1995 by the Thaws and housed in a new wing funded by Clark’s granddaughter, Jane Forbes Clark.”

In 2025, Fenimore Art Museum will present the exhibition “Mary Cassatt/Berthe Morisot: Allies in Impressionism” (May 24-September 1, 2025) featuring one of the museum’s new acquisitions, the painting “Madame de Fleury and Her Child” (c. 1890-1891) by Mary Cassatt. The exhibition explores the relationship of Cassatt and Berthe Morisot, and how the two navigated the male-dominated Impressionist circle in Paris.

For more information on “American Masterworks,” visit FenimoreArt.org.