While at the National Gallery of Art, John Wilmerding served as curator of American art and senior curator from 1977 to 1983 and as deputy director from 1983 to 1988. A number of remarkable paintings entered the National Gallery's collection during his tenure, including the Peale, Lane, and Heade canvases seen below. Wilmerding has also served as a member of the advisory board of the Gallery's Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts and, more recently, as a member of the Trustees' Council. He donated Eakins' oil sketch The Chaperone, which is included in this exhibition, in honor of the Gallery's fiftieth anniversary in 1991.

Rembrandt Peale (1778-1860), Rubens Peale with a Geranium, 1801, oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Patrons' Permanent Fund

Fitz Hugh Lane (1804-1865), Lumber Schooners at Evening on Penobscot Bay, 1863, oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Francis W. Hatch, Sr.

Martin Johnson Heade (1819-1904), Cattleya Orchid and Three Brazilian Hummingbirds, 1871, oil on wood, National Gallery of Art, Gift of The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation