Collections

Established in 1903, the Dallas Museum of Art features an outstanding collection of more than 24,000 works of art from around the world, from ancient to modern times. This online collection database currently contains over 7,000 objects from the collections at the Dallas Museum of Art. Each curatorial department is represented in the series of links under "Collections" in the main navigation bar to the left and is described on this page. While not all records have digital images available, more images will be added as works of art are photographed and copyright permissions are acquired.

African Art

The African collection at the Dallas Museum of Art focuses on sub-Saharan art from two important collections: the Clark and Frances Stillman Collection of Congo Sculpture and the collection of Gustave and Franyo Schindler.

American Painting & Sculpture

The Museum’s collection of American art includes paintings, sculptures, and works on
paper spanning three centuries and encompassing the three countries of North America: the United States, Mexico, and Canada.

Ancient American Art

Works in the ancient American collection span 3,000 years and represent twelve countries. Highlights include ceramics from the southwestern United States; ceramics and stone sculpture from Mexico and Guatemala; gold from Panama, Colombia, and Peru; and textiles and ceramics from Peru.

Ancient Mediterranean Art

The Dallas Museum of Art has excellent works covering the major eras of ancient Mediterranean history, from c. 3000 B.C. to the fall of the Roman Empire.

Asian Art

The Asian collections range from Gandharan Buddhist art of the 2nd to 4th centuries to the arts of the Mughal Empire in India from the 15th to the 19th century. The world religions of Hinduisim, Buddhism, and Islam are all represented.

Contemporary Art

The contemporary art collection spans from 1945 to the present. Recently the Museum has focused on major German artists such as Gerhard Richter, Sigmar Polke, and Anselm Kiefer, while simultaneously collecting the young artists of the time.

Decorative Arts and Design

Numbering over 8,000 works, the Museum's collections of American and European decorative arts and design feature objects in a wide range of media. The collection of 19th- and 20th-century American silver is widely considered among the finest in the world.

European Painting & Sculpture

The collection of European art at the Dallas Museum of Art is an exquisite grouping of
paintings, sculptures, and works on paper, with strengths in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries.

Pacific Islands Art

Sculpture and textiles in the regional art styles of Indonesia and Sarawak distinguish the Museum’s Pacific collections. Highlights include works from the Mentawai Islands, Sumatra, Borneo, Sulawesi, Sumba, Flores, and the Southeast Moluccas.