October 26, 2010–February 13, 2011 | The American art that remains at Dumbarton Oaks offers an important insight into the remarkable breadth of the Blisses’ collecting vision.
Mildred and Robert Woods Bliss, the founders of Dumbarton Oaks, were not, per se, collectors of American art. Nevertheless, along with their parents, Anna and William Henry Bliss, they acquired noteworthy paintings, drawings, prints, and sculptures from living American artists. Such acquisitions were but a part of an overall collection that today is most famous for its Byzantine and Pre-Columbian artworks. However, the American art that remains at Dumbarton Oaks offers an important insight into the remarkable breadth of the Blisses’ collecting vision.