
Founded in 1930 by Frank S. Schwarz, the Schwarz Gallery opened on Atlantic City’s celebrated boardwalk as specialists in furniture and silver. Relocation to Philadelphia during the Second World War prompted an emphasis on the arts of Philadelphia, and paintings became the Gallery’s focus when Frank Schwarz’s son Robert joined the firm during the 1960s. In the following years, under the direction of the founder’s son Robert D. Schwarz, Sr. and widow Marie D. Schwarz, the Gallery focused on nineteenth- and twentieth-century European and American paintings and became recognized as the nation’s major source for the work of Philadelphia artists from Pennsylvania’s founding through the mid-twentieth century.
Robert D. Schwarz, Sr. earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Dickinson College, and supplemented his studies in the fine arts at the University of Vienna and the Barnes Foundation. As curator of The Stephen Girard Collection from 1970 to 1980, he documented this important Philadelphia collection in a scholarly catalog. Subsequently, his publication of more than seventy informative catalogs in conjunction with the Gallery’s exhibitions has established the firm’s excellence in its field.
Robert D. Schwarz, Jr. joined the firm in 2002 and became the Gallery’s third generation president after the untimely death of Robert Sr. in 2004. As the Gallery looks toward the future, its focus on nineteenth century American art remains the backbone of its renowned collection.
Museum Sales
The Gallery is fortunate to have placed works in the following museums:
Adirondack Museum,
Blue Mt. Lake, NY
Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, TX
Athenaeum of Philadelphia,
Philadelphia, PA
Baltimore Museum of Art,
Baltimore, MD
Biggs Museum of American Art,
Dover, DE
Birmingham Museum of Art,
Birmingham, AL
Boston Athenaeum,
Boston, MA
Brandywine River Museum,
Chadds Ford, PA
Chrysler Museum of Art,
Norfolk, VA
Cigna Museum,
Philadelphia, PA
Columbus Museum of Art,
Columbus, OH
Corcoran Gallery of Art,
Washington, DC
Dallas Museum of Art,
Dallas, TX
Daughters of the American Revolution,
Washington, DC
Davis Museum at Wellesley College,
Wellesley, MA
Delaware Art Museum,
Wilmington, DE
Detroit Institute of Arts,
Detroit, MI
Federal Reserve Board,
Washington, DC
Folger Shakespeare Library,
Washington, DC
George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate & Gardens,
Mount Vernon, VA
Greenville Museum of Art,
Greenville, NC
Haggin Museum,
Stockton, CA
Harvard Art Museum,
Cambridge, MA
High Museum of Art,
Atlanta, GA
Hillwood Estate, Museum and Garden, Washington, DC
Hunter Museum of American Art,
Chattanooga, TN
Independence Seaport Museum,
Philadelphia, PA
Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, MI
Lancaster Museum of Art,
Lancaster, PA
LaSalle University Art Museum,
Philadelphia, PA
Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI
Library Company of Philadelphia,
Philadelphia, PA
Library of Congress,
Washington, DC
Ligonier Memorial Foundation, PA
Louisiana State Museum of Art,
New Orleans, LA
Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art, Manhattan, KS
Maryland Center for History and Culture, Baltimore, MD
Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York, NY
Montclair Art Museum,
Montclair, NJ
Munson Williams Proctor Museum,
Utica, NY
National Gallery of Art,
Washington, DC
National Museum of American Art,
Washington, DC
National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC
National Portrait Gallery,
Washington, DC
New Jersey State Museum,
Trenton, NJ
New York Historical Society,
New York, NY
New York State Museum,
Albany, NY
Newport News Maritime Museum, VA
Oklahoma City Museum of Art,
Oklahoma City, OK
Peabody Essex Museum,
Salem, MA
Peale Museum, Baltimore, MD
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, PA
Philadelphia Museum of Art,
Philadelphia, PA
Portland Art Museum,
Portland, OR
Princeton University Art Museum,
Princeton, NJ
San Antonio Museum of Art,
San Antonio, TX
San Francisco Museum,
San Francisco, CA
Seattle Art Museum,
Seattle, WA
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC
State Historical Museum of Iowa,
Des Moines, IA
Strong Museum,
Rochester, NY
Timken Museum of Art,
San Diego, CA
Trout Gallery,
Dickinson College, PA
Virginia Historical Society,
Richmond, VA
Virginia Museum of Art,
Richmond, VA
Wagner Free Institute of Science,
Philadelphia, PA
Washington County Museum of Fine Arts,
Hagerstown, MD
William Penn Museum,
Harrisburg, PA
Williams College Museum of Art,
Williamstown, MA
Winterthur Museum,
Winterthur, DE
Woodlawn Foundation,
Mount Vernon, VA
Woodmere Art Museum,
Philadelphia, PA