Baltimore Museum of Art facts for kids
| Baltimore Museum of Art | |
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Baltimore Museum of Art in March 2018
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| Established | 1914 |
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| Location | 10 Art Museum Drive Baltimore, Maryland, 21218, U.S. |
| Public transit access | BaltimoreLink routes Silver, 21, 51, 94, 95 Charm City Circulator Purple Route |
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| Designated | 1987 |
The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) is a famous art museum in Baltimore, Maryland. It was started in 1914. The BMA has a huge collection of 95,000 art pieces. This includes over 1,000 works by the artist Henri Matisse. Many of these came from the special Cone Collection of modern art.
The museum also has one of the best collections of prints, drawings, and photographs in the country. You can see art from Africa, modern art, European and American paintings, sculptures, and decorative arts. There are also ancient mosaics from Antioch, art from Asia, and textiles from all over the world.
The museum building is about 210,000 square feet. It was designed in the 1920s by architect John Russell Pope. The museum also has two beautiful gardens with sculptures from the 20th century. It's located next to the Johns Hopkins University campus.
A major highlight of the museum is the Cone Collection. This amazing collection was put together by two sisters from Baltimore, Claribel and Etta Cone. They collected many works by famous artists like Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Paul Cézanne, and Vincent van Gogh. Most of these artworks were given to the museum.
The BMA also has 18,000 pieces of French art from the mid-1800s. This collection came from George A. Lucas. The museum calls it a "treasure" and one of the best collections of French art in the U.S.
Since 2006, the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Walters Art Museum offer free general admission all year. This is thanks to grants from the city and other groups. The museum also has a popular restaurant called "Gertrude's Chesapeake Kitchen."
History of the Museum
How the BMA Started
In 1904, a big fire destroyed much of downtown Baltimore. After the fire, city leaders decided Baltimore needed an art museum. A group of 18 people formed a committee to make this happen. On November 16, 1914, the museum officially began.
At first, the museum only had one painting! It was called Mischief by William Sergeant Kendall. The nearby Peabody Institute held the art until the museum found a permanent home.
Finding a Permanent Home
By 1915, the group decided to build the museum in the Wyman Park area. In 1917, Johns Hopkins University promised land for the museum near their campus. Before moving to its permanent spot, the museum was temporarily in a mansion at 101 West Monument Street. This was the former home of Mary Garrett, a generous supporter of the museum.
In 1923, the museum's first big exhibition opened there. Over 6,775 people visited in the first week!
Building the Museum
The famous architect John Russell Pope was chosen to design the museum's permanent home. He was known for his classical style. The first stone for the new building was laid on October 20, 1927. The building has three floors and includes rooms rebuilt from old Maryland historic houses.
The museum opened on April 19, 1929. Visitors were greeted by Rodin's famous sculpture The Thinker in the Sculpture Court. Many of the first artworks on display were borrowed from collectors in Baltimore.
Making Art for Everyone
In the 1930s, people loved the museum. But a report in 1937 said that the museum mostly attracted wealthy, white visitors. Local artists also felt ignored. The museum's leaders decided to reach out to the community more. In 1939, the BMA held the city's first exhibition of African-American art. Over 12,000 people came to see it in just two weeks!
Many artworks that were first borrowed by the museum were later given as gifts. Important donors helped the museum grow its collection. The museum has expanded three times: with the Saidie A. May Wing in 1950, the Woodward Wing in 1956, and the Cone Wing in 1957.
Today, the BMA has over 95,000 art pieces. This makes it the largest art museum in Maryland. It gets funding from the city, state, and many private groups and people.
The BMA in the 21st Century
More than 200,000 people visit the BMA every year. Besides its art collection, the museum also hosts traveling exhibitions. It's a major art center for the whole region.
Between 2012 and 2015, the BMA had a big renovation project. It cost $28 million and improved the galleries for modern, American, African, and Asian art. The renovation also made the building better for visitors. This project was funded by a campaign that raised over $80 million. It also helped the museum add more than 4,000 new artworks to its collection.
Amazing Art Collections
African Art
The BMA was one of the first museums in the U.S. to collect African art. A large part of this collection was given by Janet and Alan Wurtzburger in 1954. It has over 2,000 objects from ancient Egypt to modern Zimbabwe. You can see art from many cultures, like the Bamana, Yoruba, and Kuba.
The collection includes headdresses, masks, figures, royal staffs, textiles, jewelry, and pottery. Many pieces were used in royal courts, performances, or religious events. Some are famous worldwide. Highlights include works by carvers Zlan and Sonzanlwon, and a Lozi throne from around 1900.
American Art
The BMA's American art collection has paintings, sculptures, and decorative arts. These pieces cover the time from the colonial era to the late 20th century. The museum has many artworks from the Baltimore area. This includes portraits by the Peale family and silver from Samuel Kirk & Son.
The American painting collection includes works by John Singleton Copley, Thomas Eakins, and John Singer Sargent. Famous paintings include A Wild Scene by Thomas Cole and Pink Tulip by Georgia O'Keeffe. The museum also has modern photographs by artists like Man Ray and Alfred Stieglitz.
The BMA has collected works by African American artists since 1939. This collection includes art by Joshua Johnson, Jacob Lawrence, and Henry Ossawa Tanner. It also features many works by modern artists.
The museum's American decorative arts include a large furniture collection. Many of these pieces came from Dorothy McIlvain Scott. The museum also has a great silver collection. It includes the Annapolis Subscription Plate, the oldest silver object made in Maryland.
Antioch Mosaics
The BMA has a special collection of Antioch mosaics. These mosaics were found during excavations (digs) of the ancient city of Antioch. This city is now called Antakya in southeastern Turkey.
The BMA joined other groups in these digs from 1932 to 1939. They found 300 mosaic floors! The BMA received 34 of these, and 28 are on display in the museum's sunny atrium court.
These mosaics are from the 2nd to the 6th centuries A.D. They show how art changed from ancient Greece and Rome to early Christian times. They also tell the story of life in this ancient city before it was destroyed by earthquakes. The mosaics are known for their large size and beautiful patterns.
Art of the Ancient Americas
This collection has art from 59 different cultures. These include the Aztec and Maya from Mesoamerica, and the Chimú and Muisca from South America. The artworks date from 2500 BC to AD 1521. A key part of this collection was given by Alan Wurtzburger in 1958.
The collection is known for its West Mexico ceramics. It also has a unique group of 23 figures in dance costumes. Other important pieces include an Olmec figure made of serpentine and elegant statues of Maya and Aztec noblewomen.
Art of the Pacific Islands
This exhibit shows art from cultures in the Pacific Islands, like Melanesia and Polynesia. The collection includes jewelry, ornaments, and tapa cloths.
One interesting piece is a finely carved lizard from Easter Island. There's also a battle chest plate made from hundreds of Nassa shells from New Britain. Another highlight is an 18th-century royal Hawaiian necklace.
Asian Art
The museum's Asian art collection includes works from China, Japan, India, Tibet, Southeast Asia, and the Near East. It's especially known for its Chinese ceramics. This includes pottery from the Tang dynasty (618–907) and stoneware from the 11th to 13th centuries.
Even though there are over 1,000 objects, only some are shown at a time due to limited space. They are rotated in the Julius Levy Memorial Gallery. Notable works include a life-sized bronze Guanyin from the early 15th century. There's also a horse figure from a Han dynasty tomb and a rare group of 39 clay figures from the early Tang dynasty.
European Art
The European art collection at the BMA has works from the 15th to 19th centuries. Most of this collection came from gifts by Baltimore citizens. It has a large selection of 19th-century French art. This includes over 140 bronze animal sculptures by Antoine-Louis Barye. There are also paintings by Barbizon artists like Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot and impressionist Camille Pissarro.
The collection also has many decorative arts, such as jeweled snuff boxes, porcelain, and silver. There's also a large collection of drawings and prints from the 15th to 19th centuries.
Highlights include Sir Anthony van Dyck's Rinaldo and Armida (1629), which is one of his best paintings. Other famous works are Frans Hals' portrait Dorothea Berck (1644) and Rembrandt van Rijn's painting of his son Titus (1660). You can also see medieval and Renaissance paintings by artists like Titian and Sandro Botticelli.
In 2012, a painting by Renoir called Paysage Bords de Seine reappeared after being missing for 63 years. It was stolen from the museum in 1951. After a legal case, a judge decided in 2014 that the painting belonged to the BMA.
Cone Collection
The Cone sisters, Claribel and Etta, built one of the most important collections of modern art in the U.S. They gave it to the BMA in 1949. Etta Cone started the collection in 1898 by buying five paintings by American Impressionist Theodore Robinson.
Soon after, the sisters began yearly trips to Paris. They visited museums and artists' studios. In 1906, Etta bought her first work by Henri Matisse. The Cone sisters were among the first people to support Matisse. Etta collected his works throughout his whole career. Their collection has about 3,000 objects, including 500 works by Matisse. It also has masterpieces by Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh, and Paul Cézanne. These artworks were displayed in their Baltimore apartments before coming to the museum.
Contemporary Art
The BMA's Contemporary Wing opened in 1994. It closed for renovations in 2011 and reopened in November 2012. It now has new walls and floors. There's a gallery just for art with light, sound, and moving images. There's also a special gallery for prints, drawings, and photographs.
The collection features works by famous artists like Olafur Eliasson, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, and Yayoi Kusama. It also includes new art from 21st-century artists. The works of American artist Bruce Nauman, known for his neon lights, are inside and outside the museum. The BMA has the second-largest collection of Andy Warhol's later works in the U.S.
The Contemporary Wing will be updated again in summer 2019. It will feature a new display of 20th and 21st-century art. This new display will focus on the creativity of black artists like Roy DeCarava, David Driskell, and Lorna Simpson.
See also
In Spanish: Museo de Arte de Baltimore para niños
