Fine and Decorative Art Collections
The Museum's collection of fine arts documents the progression and history of art in Illinois. It is the only such public collection in Illinois. Especially significant collections include: the 20th-century paintings (relating to Illinois); the Illinois WPA collection of paintings, prints, and sculpture; the nineteenth-century folk art collection, and the historical and contemporary Illinois photograph collections, including the Sadorus Collection and photographs of Nathan Lerner.
The Museum's decorative arts collections contain more than 14,000 aesthetic and historical objects that enhance our understanding of the quality of life in Illinois. In support of the Museum's mission, collecting focuses on objects of historical and cultural importance that were made in Illinois. These collections primarily document domestic life and include food service tools and equipment, food processing tools, furniture, household accessories, bedding, lighting devices, phonographs and recordings, clocks, window and floor coverings, toys and games, clothing, personal gear, and personal adornment. In addition, the collection includes armaments, small numbers of tools (farm and woodworking), paperweights, and documentary artifacts. Especially important collections include quilts, coverlets, the Orozco dolls, images of life on the Illinois River, Illinois ceramics (manufactured when Illinois was the second largest clay producing state); and waterfowl decoys (which is one of the best, representing the work of carvers along the Mississippi Flyway).
- Amish Quilt Gallery
- You can learn about the history of quilts created by Illinois Amish women of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The images and information are from the Museum publication Illinois Amish Quilts: Sharing Threads of Tradition, which can be purchased from the Museum by consulting the Publications Web page or telephoning the Museum.
- Morton D. Barker Paperweight Collection Gallery
- View the Barker Collection of Classical French, British, American, and other Paperweights. The prestigious Morton D. Barker Paperweight Collection of 252 glass objects, including more than 200 outstanding examples of antique French paperweights of the Classic Period (1845 - 1860) manufactured by the glass companies Baccarat, Saint Louis, Clichy, and Pantin.