Berea College Art Collection

John La Farge was mainly known for his stained glass work. In the late nineteenth century, La Farge created numerous stained glass pieces for buildings that are now national treasures. Born in New York City to French parents, La Farge grew up bilingually and studied art when at Mount St. Mary’s University in Maryland and [...]

Lester F. Pross was one of the most pioneering members of the Berea College faculty during his time here. Born in Bristol, Connecticut and graduating from Oberlin College, Pross joined the Berea College art department in 1946. He retired after 45 years in 1991, only to return to the College in 2000 to teach painting [...]

Kara Walker is a contemporary African American artist who received her MFA at the Rhode Island School of Design and currently teaches at Columbia University. Her work deals with issues of race, gender, sexuality, and violence. She is best known for black silhouettes like the one depicted here, but has also worked with sculpture and [...]

Roman coinage has existed about as long as Rome. Even emperors whose reigns did not last long often minted one or two coins in their image. Hadrian was Emperor of Rome between 117-138 C.E. The Roman Empire at that time was huge, and Hadrian halted outward expansion of the borders.  As Roman Emperor, Hadrian was [...]

In this icon, Shiva is performing the tandava, in which he is shown destroying the old universe and dancing a new one into creation. In his hands he holds fire to destroy the universe and a hand drum whose sound creates the universe. His lower right hand makes the abhayamudra, the gesture which removes fear, [...]

Tara is an important deity in Tibetan Buddhism. In Tibet and among Tibetans in Nepal, Tara is a Buddha of compassion and is very commonly worshipped. She is also a savioress, similar to the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, who remains on the Earth to guide humanity between the era of the Gautama Buddha and the Maitreya Buddha. [...]

Benjamin Williams Leader was born in the West Midlands of England in 1831. As a young man he attended the Royal Grammar School and studied at the Worcester School of Design in the evenings. In his free time, Leader painted en plein air. In 1854, after working several years for his father, Leader decided to [...]

Charles Warren Eaton’s artistic success came as a young man. His entrance into the art world coincided with a profound change in the prevailing artistic style in America. In the late 1870s the highly realistic and detailed Hudson River School manner, which had dominated the American art scene for over forty years, was giving way [...]

The huipil is the most common traditional garment worn by indigenous women from central Mexico to Central America. It is a loose-fitting tunic, generally made from two or three rectangular pieces of fabric which are then joined together with stitching, ribbons or fabric strips, with an opening for the head and, if the sides are [...]

Clare Romano is an American printmaker notable for her fascination with landscape. She was especially moved by her first encounter with the Grand Canyon in 1975. She responded not only to the colours of the landscape and to intensity of the light, but also to the dramatic monolithic formation of the canyons. Her simplification and [...]