Harn Collections

Ancient American objects in the collection are primarily from Mesoamerica, Central America and the Central Andes. There is a strong collection of West Mexican ceramic figures from Nayarit, Colima and Jalisco areas. Other Mesoamerican works include a small Olmec head, Mayan ceramic vessels and jade adornments, and a small collection of Maya stucco portrait heads. The Harn also has a small collection of Toltec and Zapotec ceramics and two Aztec stone feathered serpents. Central American objects, mainly from Costa Rica, include a collection of ceramic vessels, whistles, grinding stones and jade adornments.

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The Oceanic Collection includes objects from Melanesia, primarily various regions of Papua New Guinea. Most are 20th century objects from the Sepik River region. Several ethnic groups are represented including Iatmul, Abelam and Sawos among others. Object types include masks, headdresses, figurative sculpture, canoe prows, costumes, vessels, shields, tools, stools, architectural elements, and objects for personal adornment. Two notable works from New Ireland include Malangan area objects, a boar mask and a tatanua mask.

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The Prints and Drawings Collection includes more than 200 works dated from the late Middle Ages through the mid-19th century representing artists from England, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and the United States. Special highlights include Michael Wolgemut’s woodcut from the illustrated world history, the Nuremberg Chronicle (1493), Theodor de Bry’s engravings for Brief Narration of Europeans in Florida (1591), and Henry Fuseli’s c. 1818 drawing based on Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy. Additional prints of special importance include woodcuts by Albrecht Dürer; mythological subjects by Agostino Carracci and Salvator Rosa; subjects drawn from contemporary life by Jacques Callot and Anthony van Dyck; and satirical prints by Francisco Goya, William Hogarth and Honoré Daumier. The Prints and Drawings Collection also includes a strong representation of naturalist and botanical prints dated c. 1550-1850. These include important works by John James Audubon, Leonhart Fuchs, John Gould, Maria Sibylla Merian, and Pierre-Joseph Redouté, among other artists. Prints and drawings dated after 1850 are housed in the Modern, Contemporary and Asian collections.

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In the interests of improving the collection and maintaining its high intellectual and aesthetic standards, the Museum periodically evaluates its collection to identify candidates for deaccessioning (e.g. sale, transfer, or exchange). Deaccessioning is guided by the Museum’s long-term policies and goals and should not reflect the popular trends of a given period or the personal tastes of the people involved. Proposals for deaccessioning objects from the Museum collection originate with the Director and curatorial staff and are reviewed and approved by the Provost-appointed Committee on the Collections.

The criteria applied to deaccessioning and disposal are as stringent as those applied to the Museum’s acquisition process, and reflect the professional standards and ethics as established by the Association of Art Museum Directors and the American Association of Museums. Criteria that justify deaccessioning an object include lack of art historical importance, low aesthetic quality, redundancy, lack of conformity to the Museum’s declared collecting interests, and poor physical condition. All income generated through the sale of deaccessioned works of art will be reapplied towards the purchase of new works of art.

These efforts will allow the Museum to exchange select objects for others believed by the Director and curatorial leadership to be better aligned with its mission.