A number of the earlier French works in the collection are associated with the Barbizon School, which was active in the village of Barbizon, near Fontainebleau forest, between 1830 and 1880. The Barbizon painters were among the first artists to abandon their Paris studios in favor of painting directly from nature, an innovation that formed a cornerstone of Impressionist landscape painting. The collection includes three works by Jean-Baptiste Corot, one of the most influential figures of this period, who occasionally painted with the Barbizon School painters.

The Art Collection contains a number of important examples of Impressionist painting, among which are works by Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, Alfred Sisley, and Gustave Caillebotte. The Impressionist collection, which places emphasis on landscape painting, demonstrates the Impressionists' aim - to break up light into its basic components and to reduce shapes and forms to an 'impression' of the scene.

The collection also offers various examples of Post-Impressionism, among which are works by Vincent Van Gogh, Charles Angrand, Edouard Vuillard, and Paul Serusier.

Another important group in the collection consists of works by Jewish artists of the School of Paris. The name 'Paris School' (l'Ecole de Paris) distinguishes the foreign artists who lived and worked in Paris during the first three decades of the 20th century from the local French artists who were known by the name the 'French School.' Highlights of the collection are seven paintings by Chaim Soutine and a double-sided Modigliani.