The Stebbins Collection: A Gift for the Morse Museum introduced to the public for the first time a previously held private collection of seventy works of art by fifty-three artists. From paintings and sculpture to works on paper, the Stebbins Collection includes American masters from Thomas Moran (1837–1926) and Albert Bierstadt (1830–1902) to Thomas Eakins (1844–1916) and Fidelia Bridges (1834–1923). Assembled over the course of fifty-five years, the Stebbins Collection features artists of both great renown as well as many who have been largely forgotten.

Each work of art, however, shares the common trait of presenting the artists at the height of their abilities. With particular strength in landscapes, as seen in the work of George Inness (1825–94) and Worthington Whittredge (1820–1910), and still lifes, exemplified through the paintings of George Cochran Lambdin (1830–96) and Martin Johnson Heade (1819–1904), the Stebbins Collection also offers superb watercolors by American Pre-Raphaelites such as Henry Roderick Newman (1843–1917) and Ellen Robbins (1828–1905). The Stebbins Collection complements the Morse’s wonderful collection of Tiffany’s work in all mediums, while broadening the Museum’s holdings of American paintings.

Highlights

Enthroned, modeled 1902; cast 1906
Life without Hope, c. 1848–52
Mixed Flowers in a White Vase, 1861
Barnard Castle, 1862
Castle of Chillon, 1859
Portrait of a Girl with Bisque Doll, c. 1868