The Union College Permanent Art Collection
Union College holds over 2,800 works of art and material culture in the Permanent Collection, including significant cultural resources from internationally recognized artists and objects from Eastern and Ancient cultures.
As a cultural resource at Union College, the Permanent Collection’s mission is to enhance the cultural life and the academic programs of the College community and the public at large. Selections of the collection are on view in public and in administrative areas campus wide. Our strongest holdings are: works on paper from the 14th to 21st century, contemporary art, Asian collections, Luristan bronzes, 19th century portraits, and historical scientific instruments, including the largest collection of Olivier models held by one institution.
Our collection development focuses on acquiring artworks selected with established curricula in mind, to provide students and faculty opportunities to expand their knowledge through transdisciplinary connections, and to further efforts to create an inclusive visual presence on campus to reflect our community and values.
Images available via our online collections fall under distinctive copyright classifications. Some artwork images are not available in high resolution or viewable as full-size images on this platform due to copyright restrictions. All of the images on this website are presented under fair use as educational resources and commercial use is strictly prohibited. The Union College Permanent Collection encourages the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. Please contact the department rights and reproductions staff here to inquire about how to request a full-size image for personal or scholarly use. We ask that users include appropriate caption information, which can be found on each individual artwork page, and credit the Union College Permanent Collection.
Research on our collection is ongoing, and our records are frequently revised and updated.