Fenimore Art Museum Online Collections Database
Fenimore Art Museum is proud to offer comprehensive access to its art collections for the first time in its history. On this site you will find more than 2,000 artworks representing our fine art, American Folk Art, and American Indian collections, with new high quality photography and updated catalogue information. This online database will let you know what is on view, and will allow you to save your favorites for later viewing. Importantly, if you know something about any of the artworks you are viewing, please feel free to contact us through the main website. Our knowledge of our collections is always growing. Happy browsing!
About Fenimore Art Museum
Fenimore Art Museum is named for the property on which it stands, land once owned by the novelist James Fenimore Cooper. The museum occupies a 1933 mansion built by Edward Severin Clark, an heir to the Singer Manufacturing Company fortune. Following his death the building was given to the Museum by his brother, philanthropist and art collector Stephen Carleton Clark, who also gave much of the fine art and folk art collections. Stephen later turned his brother’s farm complex across the road into The Farmers’ Museum, which to this day shares much of its staff with Fenimore Art Museum. The American Indian Art collection came from Eugene V. Thaw, a well-respected art dealer, and his wife Clare. A new wing, constructed in 1995 to showcase the Thaw Collection, was donated by Clark’s granddaughter Jane Forbes Clark.
For a museum of its size, Fenimore Art Museum tells a remarkable range of American stories. Its fine art collection illustrates everyday life in early America and chronicles the development of the young nation. Its folk art collection shows the work of self-taught Americans who probably never thought their work would be in an art museum: traveling portrait painters, quilters, ship carvers, sign painters, students in female academies, and people from many different backgrounds and all walks of life who were inspired to create. Lastly, the Thaw Collection of American Indian Art shows the masterful artistry of Native peoples from across North America from prehistory to the present.
Fenimore Art Museum, and the stories it tells, aspires to provide an engaging experience leading to a renewed or enhanced appreciation of American art, history, and culture, and the many and varied people who comprise the American story.
Special thanks go to our lead sponsors, Mr. and Mrs. Robert S. Hanft, and our other generous donors, who made the project possible including: American Folk Art Society, Thomas and Christine Berk, Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw Charitable Trust, Susan and Henry Fradkin, Nellie and Robert Gipson, Estate of Gunleif Jacobsen, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas O. Putnam, and Mr. Frank Tosto.
Browsing the Online Collection
There are a few ways to browse the Online Collection:
Homepage/Collections
On the homepage, you can browse curated selections from our collection.
People Page
On the people page, you can browse individuals and/or institutions related to objects in the collection, along with relevant biographies and objects.
Community Favorites
On the Favorites page, you can browse user-created collections. You can add your own favorites to Community Favorites by registering on the site and creating sets that are marked "public".
Searching the Online Collection
Quick Search/Advanced Search
Enter keywords or names in the search box (Quick Search) to find objects or other records in our collection. To search on specific criteria, you can use the advanced search to search within certain data fields. You can search using multiple criteria, such as the term "portrait" in the title + a date range of "1800-1900". If you are not getting any results with advanced search, try broadening your search by removing criteria.
Search Tips
- You can use an * (asterisk) as a wildcard in searches, to match partial terms (e.g. draw* will return results for draw, drawn, drawings, etc.)
- Use quotation marks to get more exact results - e.g. John Doe will return any results with John or Doe, but "John Doe" will return results with this exact phrase.
Viewing Search Results
Types of Results
There are different types of search results, such as object records and people records. When there is more than one type of result, you can choose different types of records to view.
GRID/LIST VIEWS
You can view a set of results in an image grid or list view. Use the dropdown to switch between different types of views.
Filters
You can refine a result set by using filters to narrow down results. For example, you can filter to see only works that have images within any result set. You can also clear each filter to revert to a larger result set, or clear all filters to get to your original result set.
Images
Why is an image shown as not available?
An image may be shown as not available if it is not yet available in our database, or if it cannot be displayed for copyright reasons.
Favorites
What Are Favorites?
Favorites allows you to create your own sets from the collection objects available on this site. You can share your Favorites with others, or create sets of artworks for your own viewing (Favorites are private by default).
You can optionally add a description for each Favorites set. You can view your collection sets by going to the "Favorites" page and logging into your account.
How Do I Use Favorites?
To use Favorites, you must first register an account. Once you have completed registration, you can start creating Favorites sets and adding artworks to them.
You can add artworks to your sets by clicking on the heart symbol while viewing objects, and selecting which set to add the artwork(s). After selection, you can choose to add all selected works on the page to a Favorite. You can also add the entire result set or all objects on a page.
How Do I Share a Favorite With Someone Else?
If you mark your Favorites set public, this Favorite will be visible to others in the Community Favorites section. The option to mark a set as public is available when you edit your Favorite.
After setting a Favorite set as public, you can also share the link to allow others to view your set.
