Saint Louis Art Museum
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The Saint Louis Art Museum is rated as one of the principal art museums in the United States and is visited by up to a half million persons every year. Admission is free.
Located in Forest Park in St. Louis Missouri, the three-storey museum was originally built as the Palace of the Fine Arts for the 1904 World's Fair, also known as the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. The design, by architect Cass Gilbert, was inspired by the Roman Baths at Bath, Somerset, England. Limestone and brick are the primary construction materials.
In 1907, legislation allowed the building to become the official Municipal Art museum and supported it with a tax levy.
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[edit] History
The art museum can be traced to 1879. Before becoming the Saint Louis Art Museum, the building was named as "St. Louis School and Museum of Fine Arts," a department of Washington University. After its service in the 1904 World Fair, the central structure that cost a million dollars became a public city museum in 1906.
An Organizing Board was assigned in 1909 and took control in 1912. Later, the Metropolitan Museum District became the manager of the Saint Louis Art Museum.
The building was expanded in 1906 and 1916. During the 1950s, an auditorium was added to the main building, making the museum more valuable. In 1972, the District launched a five-year, $32 million restoration effort that added modern touches to the original design.
Money from public associations and individuals has allowed the museum to expand its collection of paintings, sculptures, modern art and ancient masterpieces from different continents.
In addition to arranging seasonal exhibitions, the art museum provides educational tours to students and their teachers. Field trips to the Saint Louis Art Museum have become a major part of study in history and in art for students. This museum shows work from young artists from many areas.
[edit] Collection
The collection of the Saint Louis Art Museum contains more than 30,000 art works from antiquity to the present. The collection is divided into nine areas:
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- African
- American
- Ancient and Islamic
- Asian
- Decorative Art and Design
- European Painting and Sculpture
- Modern
- Oceania and the Americas
- Prints, Drawings, and Photographs
The modern art collection includes Matisse, Gauguin, Monet, Picasso, and Van Gogh. The collections of Turkish rugs and Oceanic and Pre-Columbian pieces are among the finest in the world. It has a particularly good collection of 20th-century German paintings. Three Egyptian mummies and “Keith” (1970, Chuck Close) are also must-see works.
[edit] Services
- Artistic Classes
The art museum provides many artistic classes for children, adults, and teachers. Each class costs about $20-$300.
- Richardson Memorial Library
If you want to do research about history art, this library is the first place that you should visit. It is the largest center for the history and documentation of art in the central Midwest. Richardson Memorial Library collects several art materials including 71,000 volumes, 425 periodical titles, rare documents, auction catalogues since 1825, and the Museum Archives.
- Resource Center
The Saint Louis Art Museum's Resource center provides many materials including posters, slide kits, touch kits, video tapes, and info kits for you to learn art. And these are all free.
- Free Guided Tour
The Saint Louis Art Museum has free guided tour services for groups (20-60 people). A trained docent will lead your group to joy artworks around the museum and give you interesting information about those works.
[edit] References
- Visitor Guide (brochure), Saint Louis Museum of Art, 2005.