The San Diego Museum of Art facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
The San Diego Museum of Art

The front of the museum building.
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Established	1926 (1926)
Location	1450 El Prado in Balboa Park, San Diego, California, US
Type	Art Museum

The San Diego Museum of Art is a large fine art museum located in Balboa Park in San Diego, California. It is famous for its large collection of Spanish art. The museum first opened on February 28, 1926, with the name The Fine Arts Gallery of San Diego. It changed to its current name in 1978.

The official Balboa Park website calls it "the region's oldest and largest art museum." Every year, almost half a million people come to see the art inside.

The grand stairway inside the San Diego Museum of Art.

Aluminum Horse by Deborah Butterfield at the museum.

The Museum Building

The museum was designed by architects William Templeton Johnson and Robert W. Snyder. They used a fancy Spanish style called plateresque so it would match other buildings in the park from the 1915 Panama–California Exposition.

A key feature of the building's front is a very detailed doorway. It was inspired by a door at the University of Salamanca in Spain. The outside of the museum was also influenced by the Cathedral of Valladolid. Inside, some designs were based on the Santa Cruz Hospital in Toledo, Spain.

It took two years to build the museum. A man named Appleton S. Bridges paid for the construction and gave the finished building to the City of San Diego. Over the years, the museum has grown.

• In 1966, a new west wing and a sculpture court were added, making the museum twice as big.
• In 1974, an east wing was built, giving it even more space for art.

Art Collections

The museum has a huge variety of art, with pieces from as far back as 5000 BC all the way to modern times.

Spanish and European Masters

The museum is best known for its collection of Spanish art. It features amazing paintings by famous artists like Murillo, Zurbarán, Cotán, Ribera, and El Greco. Many of these classic paintings were given to the museum by three sisters: Anne, Amy, and Irene Putnam.

In 1939, the Putnam sisters helped the museum buy its first major piece, a painting of El Marques de Sofraga by Francisco Goya. This painting had been owned by a private family and had never been shown to the public before.

The museum also has art from other European masters. You can see works by Italian artists like Giorgione and Giambattista Pittoni. There are also paintings from Northern Europe by artists such as Rubens, Hals, and van Dyck.

Modern and Other Collections

In 2012, the museum received a large gift of 48 German Expressionist artworks. These included paintings and drawings by artists like Otto Dix, Egon Schiele, and Gustav Klimt.

The museum also has a great collection of photographs. This includes portraits by the photographer Arnold Newman and pictures of Mexican landscapes from the early 1900s.

Collection Highlights

Here are some of the famous artworks you can see at the museum:

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  Workshop of Hieronymus Bosch, The Arrest of Christ, c. 1515

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  Juan Sánchez Cotán, 1602, Quince, Cabbage, Melon, and Cucumber

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  Simon Vouet, c. 1635, Aeneas and his Father Fleeing Troy

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  Giambattista Pittoni, 1730, The Vision of Saint Anthony of Padua

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  William Merritt Chase, c. 1895, An Afternoon Stroll

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  Auguste Renoir, 1907, Woman Combing her Hair''

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  Joaquin Sorolla, 1907, María en La Granja

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  Alexej von Jawlensky, 1910, Red Blossom

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  Henri Matisse, 1917–18, Fleurs (Bouguet)

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  Still-life painting by José Agustín Arrieta, c. 1870

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  John Alfred Parsons Millet, by John Singer Sargent c. 1892

Special Exhibits and Events

An exhibit showing how art and science connected in the Islamic world.

A 13th-century Chinese statue of Bodhisattva Guanyin.

The museum often hosts special exhibits that travel from other places. For example, in 2024, an exhibit called "Wonders of Creation: Art, Science, and Innovation in the Islamic World" showed how art and science worked together over 13 centuries.

Fun Events at the Museum

The museum holds fun events to get more people interested in art.

• Art Alive: Since 1981, the museum has held this event every April. Flower designers create amazing displays using flowers and plants that are inspired by artworks in the museum. The flower arrangements are placed next to the art that gave them the idea.
• Culture and Cocktails: This is an evening event where people can explore the museum's art collections after regular hours and enjoy a social gathering.

In 2010, the museum also worked with local artists in a program called The Summer Salon Series. These artists created new art and held workshops inspired by the art already on display in the museum.

See also

In Spanish: Museo de Arte de San Diego para niños