What’s American about American art? Visitors will find more than one answer to that question in the Indianapolis Museum of Art’s Noyes Suite of American Art Galleries. The very earliest art of the Americas is represented along with nearly 200 works, most of which were created before 1945.

The collection is presented in a way that delineates not just time period, but also style, movement and subject. Early American works include portraits, and landscapes. The gallery featuring works by American Impressionists—a strength of the IMA collection—includes the various groups and styles that define this movement.

Galleries are dedicated to art of the American West; works by American modernists, including Georgia O'Keeffe; and works by the American scene painters, who captured the essence of America during the 1930s and 1940s. A gallery devoted to Indiana art features works by The Hoosier Group.

The Native American Art gallery features more than 100 works by ancient peoples, including the Olmec of Mexico, the Maya of Mexico and Guatemala, and the Pachacamac, Nazca and Moche of Peru. American Indian peoples represented include the Sioux, Cheyenne, Zuni, Chippewa, Tulare and Haida. The objects include earthenware vessels and figures, jade objects, gold jewelry, textiles, baskets, wood carvings, and clothing with beadwork.