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Birmingham Museum of Art
The Birmingham Museum of Art in
Birmingham, Alabama began in 1951 and now houses one of the best
collections in the southeastern United States, containing over
24,000 works of art that include decorative arts, sculptures,
paintings, prints and drawings that have been acquired through
various means and represent many diverse cultures from Native
American, Asian, Pre-Columbian, American, African and European
cultures. A few of the more outstanding collections include the
Asian artworks, the Vietnamese ceramics collection, the Kress
collection of renaissance and baroque sculptures, decorative arts
and paintings from the late 13th century to the period ending in
1750 and a marvelous 18th century European decorative arts
collection that contains premier examples of French furniture and
English ceramics. The city owns and operates the museum, that sits
majestically on 3.9 acres in the heart of the city; which was
constructed in 1959 and designed by Warren, Knights and Davis, with
a wonderful rejuvenation and addition done by Edward Larrabee Barnes
from New York in 1993; which is now 180,000 square feet, that
includes the magnificent outdoor sculpture garden. The permanent
collection contains pieces that represent African artworks, European
artworks, American art, contemporary art, Folk art, Asian art,
European decorative arts, Pre-Columbian art, native American art,
the Charles W. Ireland sculpture garden and the Clarence B. Hanson
Jr. Library. The African arts collection contains almost 2000 pieces
that date from the 12th century to the present with excellent
examples of masks, textiles, metal arts, figure sculpture, ritual
objects, furniture, ceramics, a Yoruba mask, divination portrait of
a king from Dahomey, an Egyptian false door and Benin bronze hip
pendant. American works span the late 17th century to the mid20th,
with artists like Childe Hassam, Frederic Remington, Gilbert Stuart,
Hiram Powers, Tiffany, Frank Lloyd Wright and Georgia O'Keefe. Asian
works have come here from Japan, Korea, China, southeast Asia and
India with the excellent collection of Vietnamese ceramics, as well
as some Buddhist and Hindu art, lacquer ware, sculpture, ceramics,
prints and paintings. Contemporary works by the likes of Andy
Warhol, Frank Fleming, Joan Mitchell, Philip Guston, Bill Viola,
Larry Rivers, Kerry James Marshall, Grace Hartigan, Louise Nevelson,
Lynda Benglis and Callum Innes. It is a spectacular collection that
is sure to tickle your fancy and keep you busy the entire day, when
you visit Birmingham.
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