Triumphs in Craftsmanship: Masterpieces of American Furniture from the Kaufman Collection, 1700-1830

November 2012 - Wendy A. Cooper, Lois F. and Henry S. McNeil Senior Curator of Furniture, Winterthur Museum, University of Delaware. Curator Wendy A. Cooper celebrated the landmark installation of early American furniture and related decorative arts at the National Gallery of Art in this lecture recorded on October 28, 2012. The Kaufman Collection is one of the largest and most refined collections of early American furniture in private hands, acquired with great connoisseurship over five decades by George M. (1932–2001) and Linda H. Kaufman (born 1938). The collection, a gift promised to the Gallery in October 2010, comprises more than 200 works of art including American furniture, paintings, and works on paper. These fine examples of American decorative arts in the Kaufman Collection will be complemented by outstanding American paintings from the Gallery's own collection, including portraits by artists such as John Wollaston (active 1742/1775), Ralph Earl (1751–1801), and Gilbert Stuart (1755–1828). Located on the Ground Floor of the West Building, Masterpieces of American Furniture from the Kaufman Collection, 1700–1830 is the first major presentation of such objects to be on continuous public view in the nation's capital.