Collection: Paintings and Drawings

The Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts has led the way in researching and collecting work by Southern artisans, allowing us to better understand the rich cultural complexity of artistic production in the South. While it is true that with only a handful of significant urban centers, fewer painters settled and remained in the South, the painting collection at MESDA ably demonstrates the diversity of training and styles with works by European-trained and native-born artists living in urban and rural settings.