about the collection
The Goucher Museum Collection brings together more than 3,000 artworks and cultural objects from across the world, offering students, scholars, and visitors opportunities for discovery, study, and inspiration.
Founded in 1894 by Dr. John Goucher, the Goucher Museum Collection today includes more than 3,000 works of art and cultural objects spanning continents, cultures, and centuries. The collection serves as a dynamic resource for teaching and research, supporting the college’s mission of curiosity, creativity, and discovery.
The holdings are wide-ranging, with strengths in painting, prints, photography, drawings, sculpture, textiles, and ethnographic objects. Highlights include works by Picasso, Matisse, Louise Nevelson, Marisol, Toulouse-Lautrec, Klee, Goya, Calder, Whistler, Grace Hartigan, James Rosenquist, Thomas Hart Benton, and many others, alongside historical and cultural materials from Ancient civilizations such as Egypt, Mesopotamia, Mesoamerica, and more recent items from Asia and Africa. The collection also features natural history specimens, numismatics, and objects representing Babylonian, Russian, Japanese, and Greek traditions.
The Goucher Museum Collection is not defined by a single focus, but by its remarkable diversity, offering students, faculty, and visiting scholars countless opportunities to explore art and material culture from multiple perspectives.
The collection is available for study, sketching, and learning by appointment.