The Terra Museum of American Art opened in 1980 in a former flower shop in Evanston, Illinois, a northern suburb of Chicago, displaying Daniel J. Terra’s burgeoning collection of approximately 50 paintings and holding special exhibitions.

Images

Daniel J. Terra seated in a gallery space, holding a small framed work of art.

Daniel J. Terra with Frederic Edwin Church's 1861 painting Our Banner in the Sky, at the original Terra Museum of American Art, in Evanston, Illinois.

Terra Museum of American Art (Evanston, Illinois) Complete Exhibition History, 1980–1987

American Impressionism
May 17–June 28, 1980
Catalogue published
Organized by the Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington

Henry Farrer Watercolors
July 6–July 25, 1980
Organized by the Terra Museum of American Art

Treasures from the Hirshhorn
July 29–September 30, 1980
Organized by the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, and the Terra Museum of American Art

Important Western Art from Chicago Collections
November 5–December 14, 1980
Organized by the Terra Museum of American Art

A Mirror of Creation: 150 Years of American Nature Painting
December 20, 1980–March 15, 1981
Catalogue published
Organized by the Vatican Museums, Rome, Italy

Five American Masters of Watercolor
May 5–July 12, 1981
Catalogue published
Organized by the Terra Museum of American Art

Life in 19th-Century America: An Exhibition of American Genre Painting
September 11–November 15, 1981
Catalogue published
Organized by the Terra Museum of American Art

American Naive Paintings from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
December 19, 1981–March 14, 1982
Catalogue title: American Naive Paintings from the National Gallery of Art
Organized by the Terra Museum of American Art

The Boston Tradition: Two Hundred Years of American Paintings, 1720–1920
March 27–June 30, 1982
Catalogue title: The Boston Tradition: American Paintings from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts

American Masters of the Twentieth Century
July 11–September 15, 1982
Organized by the Oklahoma Art Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (now the Oklahoma City Art Museum) and the Terra Museum of American Art

Solitude: Inner Visions in American Art
September 25–December 30, 1982
Catalogue published
Organized by the Terra Museum of American Art

An International Episode: Millet, Monet and their North American Counterparts
January 8–February 13, 1983
Catalogue published
Organized by the Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis, Tennessee

The Lithographs of James McNeill Whistler
February 20–March 27, 1983
Catalogue published
Organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, Washington, DC

Early Rebels in American Art
April 1–May 8, 1983
Organized by the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC

George Bellows: Lithographs
May 14–June 17, 1983
Organized by the Minnesota Museum of Art, St. Paul, Minnesota (now the Minnesota Museum of American Art)

Stuart Davis: The Formative Years, 1910–1930
May 14–June 17, 1983
Catalogue published
Organized by the Rahr West Museum, Manitowoc, Wisconsin

Two Hundred Years of American Painting from Private Chicago Collections
June 25–September 2, 1983
Catalogue published
Organized by the Terra Museum of American Art

Reginald Marsh’s New York
September 10–October 30, 1983
Catalogue published
Organized by the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York

American Super Realism from the Morton G. Neumann Family Collection
November 4–December 7, 1983
Catalogue published
Organized by the Terra Museum of American Art

Down Garden Paths: The Floral Environment in American Art
December 13, 1983–February 12, 1984
Catalogue published
Organized by Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, New Jersey

Woman
February 21–April 22, 1984
Catalogue published
Organized by the Terra Museum of American Art

Twentieth-Century American Drawings: The Figure in Context
April 29–June 17, 1984
Catalogue published
Organized by the International Exhibition Foundation, Washington, DC

The Preston Morton Collection of American Art: A Selection
June 24–August 19, 1984
Catalogue title: The Preston Morton Collection of American Art
Organized by the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, California

Pioneers of American Modernism from the Phillips Collection, Washington, DC
August 26–October 14, 1984
Organized by the Terra Museum of American Art

Advancing American Art: Politics and Aesthetics in the U.S. State Department Exhibition, 1946–48
October 21–December 9, 1984
Catalogue title: Advancing American Art: Politics and Aesthetics in the State Department Exhibition, 1946–48
Organized by the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery, Alabama

Treasures of the Old West
December 15, 1984–February 3, 1985
Catalogue title: Treasures of the Old West: Paintings and Sculpture from the Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art
Organized by the Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art, Tulsa, Oklahoma (now the Gilcrease Museum)

Two Centuries of American Folk Painting
February 10–April 21, 1985
Organized by the Terra Museum of American Art

Monotypes by Maurice Prendergast from the Terra Museum of American Art
April 27–June 30, 1985
Catalogue title: Monotypes by Maurice Prendergast in the Terra Museum of American Art
Organized by the Terra Museum of American Art

Masterworks in American Art from the Daniel J. Terra Collection
April 27–September 12, 1985
Organized by the Terra Museum of American Art

The Surreal City: 1930s–1950s
July 19–October 13, 1985
Organized by the Whitney Museum of American Art at Philip Morris, New York, New York

Selections from the Permanent Collection
July 19–September 14, 1985
Organized by the Terra Museum of American Art

The Figure in Twentieth-Century American Art: Selections from the Metropolitan Museum of Art
September 15–November 10, 1985
Catalogue published
Organized by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York and the American Federation of Arts, New York, New York

Order in Space: Precisionist Works by Demuth and Sheeler
November 15, 1985–January 12, 1986
Organized by the Terra Museum of American Art

Amish Quilts from the Collection of the Museum of American Folk Art, New York
November 15, 1985–January 12, 1986
Organized by the Museum of American Folk Art, New York, New York (now the American Folk Art Museum)

Nineteenth-Century Genre Painting from the Daniel J. Terra Collection
November 15, 1985–January 12, 1986
Organized by the Terra Museum of American Art

New Acquisitions 1985 from the Daniel J. Terra Collection
November 15, 1985–January 12, 1986
Organized by the Terra Museum of American Art

The Best of American Illustrations
January 10–March 2, 1986
Catalogue title: The Best of American Illustration: Selections from the Delaware Art Museum
Organized by the Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, Delaware

Art and Collaboration: Gemini G.E.L.
March 7–April 27, 1986
Catalogue title: Gemini G.E.L.: Art and Collaboration
Organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

Little Girls in Red
March 8–April 27, 1986
Organized by the Museum of American Folk Art, New York, New York (now the American Folk Art Museum)

The New Society of American Artists in Paris: 1908–1912
May 2–June 20, 1986
Catalogue published
Organized by the Queens Museum, Queens, New York

Audubon Works from the Terra Collection
June 27–August 5, 1986
Organized by the Terra Museum of American Art

Liberties with Liberty
August 12–October 26, 1986
Organized by the Museum of American Folk Art, New York, New York (now the American Folk Art Museum)

Directions in American Painting, 1875–1925: Works from the John McDonough Collection
November 8–December 28, 1986
Catalogue title: Directions in American Painting 1875–1925: Works from the Collection of Dr. and Mrs. John J. McDonough
Organized by the Terra Museum of American Art

American Naive Paintings from the Garbisch Collection
January 4–March 1, 1987
Catalogue title: American Naive Paintings from the National Gallery of Art
Organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

The Bostonians: Painters of an Elegant Age, 1870–1930
March 10–May 10, 1987
Catalogue published
Organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts