The Grinnell College Art Collection began with 28 etchings given in honor of Maude Little Macy (1845-1926) and $1,200 raised for the purchase of art during the endowment campaign of 1908.
Since then, gifts, bequests, and judicious purchases with endowed acquisition funds have helped to build a collection of more than 5,000 works of art.
The collection is distinguished by its social and political commentary by artists who have taken up pen and stylus as weapons against oppression, exploitation and human folly. It includes prints by William Hogarth, Francisco Goya, Honoré Daumier, Käthe Kollwitz, the German Expressionists, and Pablo Picasso. Drawings from the former Soviet Union and graphic work from Eastern Europe and the Baltic States were acquired in the 1980s and 1990s. In recent years, acquisitions have enriched holdings of photography, painting, and sculpture, while the focus remains on works on paper. Many of these works are used regularly in teaching and research.
