Collection Overview

The Zimmerli Art Museum was founded in 1966 as the Rutgers University Art Gallery to celebrate the university’s bicentennial. The gallery was expanded in 1983 and renamed the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum in honor of the mother of Ralph and Alan Voorhees, the major benefactors for the museum’s expansion.  

Today, the museum’s permanent collection totals more than 60,000 works in a wide range of media and includes a survey of Western art from the fifteenth century to the present. The Zimmerli has particularly strong holdings in:

• Nineteenth-century French art, particularly prints and rare books
• Russian art and Soviet nonconformist art from the Dodge Collection
• American art, especially prints

Selections from these holdings, along with focused presentations of European art, art inspired by Japan, ancient Greek and Roman art, Pre-Columbian art, and American illustrations for children’s books, are always on view at the Zimmerli.

The Zimmerli's American, European, and Russian works are included on Google Art Project.