The European art collection contains painting and sculpture from the medieval period to the late 19th century.

Highlights of the German and Netherlandish paintings of the 15th through 17th century include Virgin and Child in a Gothic Interior by Petrus Christus, Cranach the Elder’s Three Graces, portraits by Rembrandt and Frans Hals and a fantasy interior scene by Jan Steen.

Sculpture and Drawings

Highlights of the sculpture collection include the monumental Atalanta and Meleager with the Calydonian Boar by Mosca, as well as an exceptional 18th-century terracotta bust by Pajou. The collection also includes works on paper, such as exceptional pastels by Degas and superb drawings by Tiepolo and Ingres.

French Painting

The French painting collection includes masterpieces of classical Baroque and Rococo paintings by Poussin, Boucher and Vigée Le Brun, as well Romantic and Naturalist paintings by Delacroix, Millet and Courbet.

The museum’s strong collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings, which includes Monet’s Boulevard des Capucines, Van Gogh’s Olive Trees, Gauguin’s Faaturuma and Mont Sainte-Victoire by Cezanne, was doubled in size and significance with the addition of the Henry W. and Marion H. Bloch collection in 2015.

A transformative gift housed in the newly renovated Bloch Galleries, the Bloch collection features exceptional paintings by Manet, Morisot, Cezanne, Caillebotte and Seurat, among others, as well as the first paintings by Toulouse-Lautrec, Vuillard and Matisse to enter the Nelson-Atkins.

Learn more about the collection in the museum’s first digital catalogue, French Paintings and Pastels, 1600–1945

View Catalogue

starr miniatures

The Starr Collection of Miniatures provides an excellent illustration of European portrait miniatures, with more than 250 examples ranging from the late-16th century to the 19th century.