Edward Moran (American, 1829-1901), “The Sinking of the Cumberland by the Merrimac,” undated, oil on canvas, 20 by 24 inches, purchase: Priscilla Payne Hurd Endowment Fund.

Recently the Allentown Art Museum acquired a group of 43 artworks, of which four were by purchase and 39 by gift. Among these acquisitions is a 20-by-24-inch painting by Edward Moran, and a 20-by-53-inch painting by Gifford Beal that relates to Allentown’s history.

The first Nineteenth Century marine painting to enter the museum’s American art collection is Edward Moran’s “The Sinking of the Cumberland by the Merrimac.”

“The painting enables the museum to relate the artwork of the late Nineteenth Century to one of the most important events in American history – the Civil War,” says David R. Brigham, the museum’s Priscilla Payne Hurd Executive Director. The scene portrays a battle that occurred March 8, 1862, near Hampton Roads, Va., just one day before the Merrimac (officially the USS Virginia) fought to a stalemate with the Monitor.

Moran was among the leading American marine painters of the Nineteenth Century. His brothers Thomas and Percy were also prominent artists in Philadelphia, one of the most important art centers at the time.

Gifford Reynold Beal (American, 1879-1956), “Hiding the Liberty Bell in Allentown, Pennsylvania,” 1938, oil on Masonite, 20 by 53 inches; gift of the family of Gifford Beal, 2006.

Gifford Beal’s 1938 oil painting entitled “Hiding the Liberty Bell in Allentown, Pennsylvania” is a study for one of the murals in the Allentown Post Office located at Fifth and Hamilton Streets.

Beal was employed by the WPA Mural Project. As announced in the Morning Call in 1939, “The Liberty Bell is one the largest mural paintings in the collection of 10 which were done for the Allentown post office. Beal sought to show the likely scene in the neighborhood of Zion Reformed Church when the famous bell from the old State House and the lesser church bells from Philadelphia houses of worship were brought to this city for hiding and safekeeping.”

Among the acquisitions were works on paper, textiles and decorative arts, sculpture and paintings, multiple works by Garry Winogrand (American, 1928-1984) and Michael A. Smith (American, b 1942) and the studio contents of Hans Moller, containing more than 2,500 objects.

The museum is at 31 North Fifth Street. For information, www.allentownartmuseum.org or 610-432-4333.