Bob Jones Jr. founded the collection as an educational effort and opened it on the campus of the university named after his father in Greenville, South Carolina, in 1951. Those first 25 paintings included works by Bicci di Lorenzo, Luca Giordano, El Greco, and Tintoretto, and today the collection comprises over 400 paintings, as well as a wide range of sculpture, decorative arts, and antiquities. It is widely recognized among scholars as one of the finest collections of Renaissance and Baroque paintings in America, and a document of the revival of the taste for Baroque pictures in the mid-20th century. Erin Jones’s introduction provides an overview of the history of the various iterations of the Museum & Gallery, even as it looks forward to a new home in the centre of its community. Richard P. Townsend’s essay presents the most in-depth examination to date of Bob Jones Jr. as a collector, extensively using letters, invoices, and photographs to paint a picture of Jones hitherto not available. At the heart of the volume is the presentation of 55 paintings, featuring works by great European masters including Botticelli, Bouts, Cranach, Guercino, Jordaens, Preti, Reni, Ribera, Rubens, Tiepolo, and Zurbarán.

Elaborate costumes, intricate patterns, and striking figural forms fill the work of Yinka Shonibare, a world-renowned artist who has roots in both London and Lagos, Nigeria. Shonibare's works reflect aesthetic features of the Victorian age, while undertaking a deep exploration and interrogation of issues tied to colonialism and its aftermath. Within the contemporary context of globalization, his work looks to history and provokes concerns of our present moment. Presenting Shonibare's rich work, this exhibition holds particular significance as the Driehaus Museum's first to feature a contemporary artist. Displayed in the context of a Gilded Age house museum, the exhibition includes a range of Shonibare's photographs, sculptures, and installations. Composed by the seasoned museum director and curator Richard P. Townsend, the catalog offers readers critical commentary on how Shonibare's work weaves together themes of the Gilded Age with today's conversations on society, race, and economic issues.