High Museum of Art facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
High Museum of Art

High Museum of Art
Established	1905
Location	1280 Peachtree Street NE Atlanta, Georgia
Type	Art museum
Public transit access	Arts Center station

The High Museum of Art, often called the High, is the biggest visual art museum in the Southeastern United States. It is located in Atlanta, Georgia, on Peachtree Street in Midtown. This area is known as the city's arts district. The High Museum is a large building, about 312,000 square feet, and is part of the Woodruff Arts Center.

The High Museum shows many different art exhibits from all over the world. It also has a huge collection of over 18,000 artworks. The museum is especially famous for its American decorative arts from the 1800s and 1900s. It also has great collections of folk art, modern art, and photography. The High has been a cultural hub in Atlanta since 1905. It hosts fun events like festivals, live shows, talks, and independent art films. There are also special areas for kids and their families, a restaurant, and a museum shop.

In 2010, more than 500,000 people visited the High Museum. This made it one of the most visited art museums in the world.

History of the High Museum

Retracings, a digital artwork from 1999 by Deanna Sirlin.

A part of the new addition to the High Museum, designed by Renzo Piano.

The museum started in 1905 as the Atlanta Art Association. In 1926, the High family gave their home on Peachtree Street to the museum. This is why the museum is named after them. Many artworks from the collection of J. J. Haverty are now on display at the High. A new building for the museum was built next to the family home in 1955.

A Sad Event and a Special Gift

An Auguste Rodin sculpture called The Shade. It was given to the High Museum by the French government.

On June 3, 1962, a very sad event happened. 106 art lovers from Atlanta died in a plane crash in Paris, France. They were on a trip organized by the museum. To remember those who were lost, the Atlanta Memorial Arts Center was built for the High Museum. The French government also gave the museum a sculpture by Auguste Rodin called The Shade. This was a special gift to honor the victims of the crash.

The Olympics and Art

During the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, the museum hosted a special art show. It was called Rings: Five Passions in World Art. This exhibit showed paintings and sculptures from famous museums around the world. It focused on five emotions: love, joy, awe, sadness, and triumph.

Museum Architecture

The bright and open interior of the High Museum.

In 1983, a new building for the High Museum of Art opened. It was designed by a famous architect named Richard Meier. He even won a special award, the Pritzker Prize, for his design. This building was made possible by a large donation from Robert W. Woodruff, a former president of Coca-Cola.

In 2005, the museum became much bigger. Three new buildings were added, designed by another famous architect, Renzo Piano. These new buildings made the museum more than twice its original size. They were designed to match Meier's original white building. Piano's design includes a special roof with 1,000 "light scoops." These scoops bring natural light into the art galleries.

In 2018, the museum worked with an architecture firm to update its galleries. This made the different art collections flow together better.

Art Collections at the High

The High Museum of Art has a huge permanent collection of over 18,000 artworks. These artworks are divided into seven main areas. More than a third of the High's collection was added after 1999. Some famous artists whose works are in the collection include Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Claude Monet, and Dorothea Lange.

African Art

The African art collection shows the long and rich history of art from Africa. It includes many different art forms, from ancient times to today. The museum also collects art by artists of African heritage, including African American artists. This helps show the connections between cultures around the world.

You can see amazing masks and sculptures in this collection. There are also beautiful textiles, beadwork, and metal pieces. One ancient piece is a terracotta sculpture of a female torso from around 1200–1500. It represents Sogolon, the mother of Sundiata, who founded the Mali Empire.

American Art

The American art collection has more than 1,200 paintings, sculptures, and drawings. These were made by American artists between 1780 and 1980. The collection shows how American art changed over time.

You can see early American portraits and grand artworks from the Gilded Age. Famous artists like John Singer Sargent and Mary Cassatt have works here. The High also has art by modern American artists who focused on social issues.

Decorative Arts and Design

This collection shows how art and everyday objects can be combined. It features the Virginia Carroll Crawford Collection, which has many American decorative arts from the 1800s and early 1900s. You can see works by famous designers like Frank Lloyd Wright.

The collection also includes modern international designs. With over 2,300 objects, it shows how art, craft, and design connect.

European Art

Autumn on the Seine, Argenteuil by Claude Monet, painted in 1873.

This collection displays seven centuries of art from Europe. It has over 1,000 paintings, sculptures, and works on paper from the 1300s to the 1900s. These artworks show how religion, science, and society changed over time in Europe.

A big part of the European collection came from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation in 1958. It includes works from the Renaissance and Baroque periods. The collection has grown to include art from most major European art movements. You can see paintings by masters like Giovanni Battista Tiepolo and Auguste Rodin.

The High Museum has many French Impressionist paintings. These were given by Atlanta collectors Doris and Shouky Shaheen in 2019. You can see Autumn of the Seine, Argenteuil by Claude Monet and Woman Seated at the Piano by Henri Matisse.

Folk and Self-Taught Art

The High Museum started collecting art by living self-taught artists in 1975. It was one of the first museums to have a special department just for this type of art. This collection is especially strong in art by Southern and African American artists. It has the largest groups of works by Bill Traylor, Howard Finster, Nellie Mae Rowe, and Thornton Dial.

These artists are called "folk" or "self-taught" because they learned art on their own, not in formal schools.

Modern and Contemporary Art

This collection shows how art has changed since 1945. It explores new ways of seeing and understanding the world.

The modern and contemporary art collection at the High includes works by important artists. You can see pieces by Radcliffe Bailey, Alex Katz, and Ellsworth Kelly. There is also a special focus on art by African American artists.

Photography

The High Museum started collecting photographs in the early 1970s. This made it one of the first museums to focus on photography. Today, it has one of the largest photography collections in the country, with about 7,500 prints.

The collection includes photos from all over the world, from the 1840s to today. It is especially strong in American modernist and documentary photography from the mid-1900s.

The High has many pictures related to the American South. It also has one of the largest collections of photos from the Civil rights movement. Since 1996, the museum has asked famous photographers to create new works inspired by the South. These works are then added to the museum's collection.

Gallery

Exhibitions and Shows

Signs for the Annie Leibovitz exhibit at the High Museum of Art.

Across from the High during the "Picasso to Warhol" exhibit.

The High Museum often has new exhibitions that change over time. These shows highlight the museum's own collections and also bring in art from other museums around the world. Some popular past exhibitions included Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors and Virgil Abloh: “Figures of Speech.”

The museum also had a special partnership called "Louvre Atlanta." For three years, the High Museum borrowed art from the famous Louvre museum in Paris, France. The High Museum is also connected to the Smithsonian Institution.

Past Exhibitions You Might Like

• The Girl with the Pearl Earring: Dutch Paintings from the Mauritshuis (2013) – featuring art from Vermeer and Rembrandt.
• Dream Cars: Innovative Design, Visionary Ideas (2014) – showing cool concept cars.
• Seriously Silly! The art & whimsy of Mo Willems (2015) – featuring art from popular children's book author Mo Willems.
• I See a Story: The Art of Eric Carle (2016) – showing art from the creator of The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
• Winnie-The-Pooh: Exploring a Classic (2018) – a fun exhibit about the beloved bear.
• Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors (2018) – a very popular exhibit with amazing mirrored rooms.
• The Pursuit of Everything: Maira Kalman’s Books for Children (2019) – another exhibit about children's book art.
• Picture the Dream: The Story of the Civil Rights Movement through Children's Books (2020) – an educational exhibit.
• The Obama Portraits Tour (2022) – featuring the famous portraits of former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.

Museum Leadership

From 1963 to 1991, Gudmund Vigtel was the director of the High Museum. He helped it grow from a small local museum into a very successful art museum. He also oversaw the move to the new building designed by Richard Meier.

Michael E. Shapiro was director from 2000 to 2014. During his time, the museum almost doubled its collection of artworks.

In 2015, Randall Suffolk became the new director. Under his leadership, the museum has welcomed many more different types of visitors. By 2022, about 60% of the High's visitors were under 35 years old.

High Museum in Movies and TV

The High Museum has been used as a filming location for several movies and TV shows!

• The Resident (as a hospital)
• What to Expect When You're Expecting
• The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (as a different museum)
• Black Panther (as the Museum of Great Britain)
• The Divergent Series films Insurgent and Allegiant

See also

In Spanish: High Museum of Art para niños

• List of largest art museums