2ND FLOOR – EAST SIDE
As visitors ascend the marble stairs to the 2nd Floor from the Central Gallery they pass the first set of beautiful Stained Glass Windows. Once they reach the top of the steps, they enter the Founders’ Gallery and are greeted by the Drinking Girl Fountain and more Stained Glass Windows.

At this point, visitors can go to the east or west side – this mini-tour starts on the east side. Visitors will enter the Temporary Galleries where they will find our current temporary art exhibit.

Next, in the American Gallery, visitors will first be struck by the giant painting Smoky Range, Allegheny Mountains by native Berks County artist Christopher Shearer. Other gems in this gallery include Man Reading by John Singer Sergeant, Lemons & Sugar by Raphaelle Peals, Buttonwood Farm by N.C. Wyeth and several sculptures with notable presence.

Visitors stepping into the 20th Century Gallery will find a Keith Haring, an Andy Warhol, a Sterling Stauser and a Dan Namingha. Plus the sculpture of Harry Bertoia and a wonderful painting by another well-know Berks County native artist William Baziotes.

One of the most popular and most visited galleries is our Pennsylvania German Gallery which is rich with the history of the area. World- renown blanket chests, stately tall case clocks, fraktur, sgraffito, slip-glazed and mottled glazed redware, and many other fascinating objects that tell a story of the typical Pennsylvania “Dutch” German family and community.

2ND FLOOR – WEST SIDE
Visitors heading to the west side of the 2nd Floor will enter more Temporary Galleries where they will find our current temporary art exhibit.

The next gallery, our 2nd Floor Asian Gallery, will envelop you with its calming aura. When first entering the gallery you will walk into a beautiful, full-size model of scholars pavilion of Chinese lacquered wood Coromandel Screens. Inside are a Han Dynasty Chinese Imperial wine cup of jade and wood and a Kung Pi dragon of jade and wood. The walls of this gallery are graced with exquisite Japanese painting of ink on silk.

The peaceful setting continues through to our French Gallery. This gallery houses one of our most admired treasures – The Laundress Ironing by Edgar Degas. This painting has traveled the world on loan, most recently to the Casa Dei Carraresi Art Gallery in Treviso, Italy. It was seen by over 600,000 visitors in the three months it was on exhibit! This gallery’s serenity is enhanced by the paintings that grace its walls including two by Julien Depré.

When entering the European Gallery you will find a feast for the eyes. The artwork in this gallery is exceptional starting with the rare and famous Jacopo “Tintoretto” Rubusti The Raising of Lazarus. Also not-to-be-missed are Tilman Riemenschneider’s linden wood statues of St. Peter and St. Paul.