The Albany Institute of History and Art holds a fine collection of art and historical objects documenting the life and culture of New York’s Upper Hudson Valley from the late 17th-century to the present. Well-represented are 18th-century Dutch limner portraits, Hudson River school landscape paintings, work from the studio of Albany sculptor Erastus Dow Palmer, and contemporary art by regional artists. Other objects in the collections originated in China, Japan, Egypt, the Netherlands, France, and elsewhere.
The curatorial collections number more than 35,000 objects, including 1,600 paintings, 1,600 drawings 4,000 prints, and 600 pieces of sculpture. Additionally, there are extensive holdings of furniture, silver, pewter, copper, cast iron, and other metals, glass, 1200 ceramic items, and almost 5000 pieces of clothing, accessories and textiles. More than 5000 historical artifacts round out the collection.