Life in Art
Art can be an instrument of personal expression.  It is often created to explore or celebrate certain universal themes, such as love, eroticism, morbidity, death, and the family, or it can be used to mark important life passages or stages.

"Life in Art" illustrates how art often depicts different stages in the cycle of life. Love, eroticism, death, the family, and life cycles are all subjects that have been explored by artists for centuries. Moving chronologically from images of children through those of families, work and play, and old age, this section includes a comparison of a large 18th-century painting of a wealthy Georgia family with a recently-acquired decorated stoneware water cooler (circa 1840) from Edgefield, South Carolina, depicting a slave wedding.
 

Abandoned_Treasures 
Cemetary_Gate 
Chest 
Child's_Chair 
Coming_to_the_Parson 
Cradle 
Desk 
Forty_Winks 
Funeral_of_Atala 
Future_Expectations_(Wedding_Day) 
Garland_of_Flowers_with_Holy_Family 
Identical_Twins 
John_Chisolem,_St._Helenas 
Man_and_Woman 
Maternal_Love 
Mother_and_Child_Figure 
Neighbors 
Paris_and_Oenone 
Piano 
Portrait_of_a_Young_Boy 
Portrait_of_Anne 
Portrait_of_David_Baldwin 
Portrait_of_Mrs._Morse_and_Her_Two_Children 
Reliquary_Figure 
Robert_Penn_Warren 
Sunday_Funnies 
Tall_Clock 
The Archibald_Bulloch_Family 
The_Wedding 
Water_Cooler