European Art

Works from this collection are on view on the Museum's second floor.

The Museum’s collection of European art started with the Crocker family’s purchase of 700 paintings during their grand tour of Europe between 1869-71. The family assembled their collection for public viewing in order to link the capital of the new state of California to the culture of the Old World. This core collection emphasizes Central European painting of the 19th century, Dutch and Flemish 16th- and 17th-century painting, and Italian Baroque painting.

Major works include: Pieter Brueghel the Younger's Peasant Wedding Dance, Gerrit van Honthorst's Allegory of Painting, and Thomas Willeboirts' Venus and Adonis.

Central European Paintings
The Crocker's collection of 285 Central European works boasts strengths in history painting, literary narrative, and genre scenes, in addition to 90 rare 19th-century miniatures. Among the artists represented are Johann Michael Rottmayer, Johann Christian Klengel, Johann Evangelist Holzer, Andreas and Oswald Achenbach, Theobald von Oir, Adolf Wichmann, and Bernhard Reinhold.

Haukohl Family Collection
In addition to our permanent collection, a selection from the Haukohl Family Collection of Florentine Baroque painting is on view in the galleries.

This selection, drawn from the largest collection of Florentine Baroque painting in the United States, illustrates the newly reformed Baroque style of the 17th century, characterized by intense emotion, saturated color, and refined brushwork. The mythologies, biblical subjects, and devotional works in the galleries include works by key artists such as Jacopo da Empoli and Francesco Furini.

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Beekhuis Foundation Gallery
Within the European paintings galleries is the Beekhuis Foundation Gallery, which features a broad history of Dutch 19th-century paintings. From the Romanticism of the early 19th century to the Hague School which lasted into the 20th, the gallery features works by the members of the well-known Koekkoek family, Hendrik Mesdag, and Theophile de Bock.