Meadows Museum facts for kids
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Museum entrance along Bishop Boulevard
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| Established | 1965 |
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| Location | Southern Methodist University 5900 Bishop Boulevard Dallas, Texas 75205 |
| Type | Art museum |
| Key holdings | Sibyl with Tabula Rasa (1648) Yard with Lunatics (1794) |
| Visitors | 50,000+ annually (as of 2015) |
| Founder | Algur H. Meadows |
| Owner | Meadows School of the Arts Southern Methodist University |
| Public transit access | DART Light Rail:
Blue Line
Orange Line
Red Line
(via Mockingbird station) |
The Meadows Museum is a fantastic art museum located in Dallas, Texas. It's on the campus of Southern Methodist University (SMU). People sometimes call it the "Prado on the Prairie" because it has one of the biggest collections of Spanish art outside of Spain! You can see artworks from the 10th century all the way to the 21st century here. The museum is part of SMU's Meadows School of the Arts.
Contents
Discover the Art Collections
The Meadows Museum is home to an amazing collection of Spanish art. You can see paintings by famous artists like El Greco, Diego Velázquez, Goya, Dalí, and Picasso.
What Kind of Art Can You See?
The museum has many different types of art. You'll find old altarpieces from the Renaissance. There are also huge Baroque paintings and smaller oil sketches from the Rococo period. Don't miss the colorful wooden sculptures and beautiful Impressionist landscapes.
You can also explore modern art, including abstract pieces. The museum has a special collection of drawings and prints by Goya. Plus, there are sculptures by important 20th-century artists like Rodin and Moore.
Art from North Texas
Besides Spanish art, the Meadows Museum also looks after SMU's University Art Collection. This collection features works by talented artists from the North Texas area. Some of these artists include Frank Reaugh and Jerry Bywaters.
Explore the Museum Building
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The museum building you see today was finished in 2001. It has a grand, classic style, like old Roman buildings. When it opened, important guests like King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofía of Spain were there! The building has bright galleries where natural light helps you see the paintings. There's also lots of space for special art shows.
A Look at Museum History
The Meadows Museum first opened its doors in 1965. It was a gift to Southern Methodist University from Algur H. Meadows. He was a businessman from Dallas who loved art.
How the Collection Started
In the 1950s, Mr. Meadows often traveled to Madrid, Spain, for business. He visited the Prado Museum many times. These visits made him very interested in Spanish art, especially from the Spanish Golden Age. By 1962, he had collected many Spanish paintings. These paintings became the first artworks for the new museum.
Growing the Collection
After the museum opened, some people wondered about the quality of certain artworks. So, SMU hired the museum's first professional director, William B. Jordan, in 1967. With Mr. Meadows's support, the museum began to collect many more important artworks. This helped build the amazing collection you see today.
Support for the Museum
Since 1978, The Meadows Foundation has helped the museum grow. This foundation was started by Algur Meadows in 1948. Thanks to their support, the museum can take great care of its art. They also help with research and buying new, important pieces. This includes art from the medieval, Baroque, and 20th-century periods.
Special Exhibitions
In 2013, the museum hosted a special show called Sorolla & America. It featured paintings by the Spanish Impressionist artist Joaquin Sorolla. The Meadows Museum helped create this show. It explored how Sorolla connected with the United States in the early 1900s. The exhibition traveled to other museums after its time in Dallas.
The Meadows Museum is also part of the Monuments Men and Women Museum Network. This network was started in 2021.
Selected paintings
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El Greco, Saint Francis Kneeling in Meditation, c. 1605–1610
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Juan Bautista Maíno, Adoration of the Shepherds, 1615–20
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Francisco Goya, Portrait of Mariano Goya, the Artist's Grandson, 1827
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Luis Jiménez Aranda, Lady at the Paris Exposition, 1889
See also
In Spanish: Museo Meadows para niños
