Saint Louis Art Museum

The Saint Louis Art Museum is one of the principal U.S. art museums, visited by up to a half million people every year. Admission is free.Saint Louis Art Museum Visitor Guide (2007)]

Located in Forest Park in St. Louis Missouri, the museum's three-story building was built as the Palace of the Fine Arts for the 1904 World's Fair, also known as the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. Architect Cass Gilbert was inspired by the Baths of Caracalla in Rome, Italy [Saint Louis Art Museum, An Architectural History (1987) Page 8] .

In addition to the featured exhibitions, the Museum offers rotating exhibitions and installations. These include the Currents series that showcases contemporary artists, as well as regular exhibitions of textiles, new media art, and works on paper.

History

The Saint Louis Art Museum began as the Saint Louis School and Museum of Fine Arts, an independent entity within Washington University in St. Louis. The Museum's original building was located in downtown St. Louis. The Museum relocated to its current home in Forest Park following the 1904 World's Fair [Saint Louis Art Museum Handbook of the Collection (2004) Page 8] . After formally separating from Washington University in 1909, the museum was officially renamed the City Art Museum of Saint Louis, and an organizing board, that was to take control in 1912, was assigned [Saint Louis Art Museum Handbook of the Collection (2004) Page 10] .

During the 1950s, an auditorium was added to the main building, creating a venue for films, concerts and lectures. In 1971, because of financial constraints, the Metropolitan Zoological Park and Museum District was created, providing stable monetary support by doubling the tax rateSaint Louis Art Museum, An Architectural History, (1987), Page 26] that Halsey Cooley Ives, the first Director of the Museum, had arranged in 1908 [Stevens, Walter B. Page 30] . The taxation now included the county, which precipitated the name change to the Saint Louis Art Museum.

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. [Saint Louis Art Museum Handbook of the Collection (2004) Pages 14-16]

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 eleven areas:

:# African:# American:# Ancient and Islamic:# Asian:# Contemporary:# Decorative Arts and Design:# Early European:# Modern:# Oceanic:# Pre-Columbian and American Indian:# Prints, Drawings, and Photographs

The modern art collection includes Matisse, Gauguin, Monet, Picasso, and Van Gogh. Its particularly good collection of 20th-century German paintings, includes one of the world's largest Max Beckmann collections. It also has Chuck Close's "Keith" (1970) [Saint Louis Art Museum, Handbook of the Collection (2004) Page 299] . The collections of Turkish rugs and Oceanic and Pre-Columbian pieces are among the finest in the world. The museum holds the Egyptian mummy, Amen-Nestawy-Nakht, and two mummies on loan from Washington University [Washington University of Saint Louis, "Student Life, 2006] . It has the largest U.S.-museum collection of paintings by American painter George Caleb Bingham.Fact|date=June 2008

ervices

*Art classes for children, adults, and teachers. Each costs about $20-$300.
*Richardson Memorial Library, one of the largest centers for the history and documentation of art in the Midwest, holding more than 100,000 volumes and the museum's archives. Both can be searched through their [http://www.slrlc.org/search~S6/ online catalog] .Saint Louis Art Museum Web Site]
*Resource Center, a loan collection of educational materials circulated through the Museum's nine satellite resource centers in Missouri.
*Free guided tours by trained docents for groups.

Expansion

Plans to expand the museum were included in the museum's 2000 Strategic Plan and the 1995 Forest Park Master Plan. The expansion will include more than convert|224000|sqft|m2 of gallery space including an underground garage within the lease lines of the property. The expansion is expected to cost $125 million, though no tax funds will be used.

In 2005, architect David Chipperfield was selected to design the expansion; Michel Desvigne has been appointed landscape architect.

On November 5, 2007, museum officials released the design plans to the public; models are on display at the museum. Construction will begin in late 2008 and be completed in 2010. The museum will remain open during construction. (See also the museum web site's [http://www.stlouis.art.museum/index.aspx?id=174 expansion page] .)

References

More information

*Saint Louis Art Museum 2004, "Saint Louis Art Museum Handbook of the Collection", Saint Louis Art Museum, Saint Louis, Mo.
*Saint Louis Art Museum 1987, "Saint Louis Art Museum, An Architectural History, Fall Bulletin", Saint Louis Art Museum, Saint Louis, MO.
*Stevens, Walter B. (ed.) 1915, "Halsey Cooley Ives, LL.D. 1847-1911; Founder of the St. Louis School of Fine Arts; First Director of the City Art Museum of St. Louis", Ives Memorial Society, Saint Louis, MO
*"Visitor Guide" (brochure), Saint Louis Museum of Art, 2005.
*Washington University of Saint Louis, "Student Life", 2006, Buried Treasure:University Owned Mummy Kept at Saint Louis Museum.

External links

* [http://www.stlouis.art.museum/ Saint Louis Art Museum Web Site]
* [http://www.stlouis.art.museum/modig/default.aspx Museum Building Archive Site]
* [http://www.stlouis.art.museum/index.aspx?id=174 Museum Expansion Site]