The DeMell Jacobsen Collection is one of the finest privately held collections of American art in the United States. Although works from the collection can be found on loan to museums across the country, this exhibition marks the first time works from the collection have been brought together to be viewed together in one exhibition. The mission of the Thomas H. and Diane DeMell Jacobsen PhD Foundation is: “To carefully research and obtain American masterpieces, provide restoration (if necessary), and facilitate long-term loans to accredited museums and traveling exhibitions.”

The Mint’s relationship with the Thomas H. and Diane DeMell Jacobsen PhD Foundation began with the arrival of the Mint’s President and CEO Todd Herman, PhD, who had previously worked with the foundation to host its exhibition The Art of Seating: 200 Years of American Design at not one, but two, of the museums where he worked prior to joining the Mint. Jonathan Stuhlman, senior curator of American art at the Mint, also worked with the foundation borrow its painting by John Leslie Breck for the Mint’s recent exhibition John Leslie Breck: American Impressionist. Over the past few years, Herman and Stuhlman have been working closely with Diane Jacobsen, PhD, and her foundation’s staff to develop the first-ever exhibition of highlights from the deep holdings of both the foundation’s and Jacobsen’s own personal collections of American paintings and sculpture.

The Mint is honored to be the first venue for this exhibition, which will go on to four other museums. Accompanying the show will be a beautiful catalogue of the foundation’s entire collection of fine art, published by D. Giles Ltd., available in The Mint Museum Store.