The Baltimore Museum of Art houses over 90,000 pieces of art and artifacts, offering free admission year-round. It was founded in 1914 and has undergone three major expansions. The museum boasts collections of African, American, and European art, including works by Matisse, Picasso, and Van Gogh.
The Baltimore Museum of Art is the largest museum in the US state of Maryland and houses an internationally renowned art collection containing more than 90,000 pieces of art and artifacts. It is located in the city of Baltimore between the Charles Village and Remington neighborhoods near Johns Hopkins University. The museum offers free admission year-round made possible by a grant from the City of Baltimore and Baltimore County. It hosts a variety of special events such as jazz concerts, dance recitals and children’s book readings.
The museum was founded in 1914 and Dr. Dohme donated his painting “Mischief” by William-Sergeant Kendalls as his first work. The Baltimore Museum of Art board hired architect John Russell Pope to design the building’s permanent location, and construction was finished in 1929. The building has three stories with six rooms that replicate historic Maryland homes. Originally, Pope designed the first floor to house a large library collection, but the collection was moved to the third floor near the cone wing.
Three major expansions of the Baltimore Museum of Art occurred during the 1950s. For these expansions, the museum board hired local Baltimore architects Wrenn, Lewis and Jenks. The three architects designed the new wings of the museum according to the original design of the John Russell Pope building.
The first of three expansions came from Saidie Adler May, who built an extension dedicated to housing children’s artwork in 1950. The wing included a library, gallery and auditorium, as well as staff and conference rooms. The Woodward Wing, donated in 1957, houses a collection of British sports art in America. Two sisters, Claribel and Etta Cone, donated their collection of 20th century art to the Baltimore Museum of Art in 2012. Their contributions included works by artists such as Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Van Gogh and many others of the period.
In addition to these collections, the Baltimore Museum of Art boasts large groups of African, American, and European art spanning centuries. The African art collection includes over 2,000 items from ancient Egypt to modern day Zimbabwe. The museum has a large collection of American art, containing pieces from the colonial era to the late 20th century. The European art collection includes paintings, decorative art and works on paper from the 15th century onwards. Some European works include paintings by Sir Anthony van Dyck, Frans Hals and Rembrandt van Rijn.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
