Philadelphia Museum of Art

Established	1876
Location	Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia
Director	Anne d’Harnoncourt
Website	www.philamuseum.org

The Philadelphia Museum of Art, located at the west end of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park, was established in 1876 in conjunction with the Centennial Exposition of the same year and is now among the largest and most important art museums in the United States. Originally the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art, its founding was inspired by the South Kensington Museum (now the Victoria and Albert Museum) in London, which grew out of the Great Exhibition of 1851. It is known locally and colloquially as "The Art Museum." The museum opened its doors to the public on May 10, 1877, originally housed in Memorial Hall. While the location was adequate, it was isolated from the bulk of the city.^[1] Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 571 pixelsFull resolution (2100 × 1500 pixel, file size: 2. ... 1876 (MDCCCLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... Benjamin Franklin Parkway is a scenic avenue that runs through the cultural heart of Philadelphia. ... Nickname: Motto: Philadelphia maneto - Let brotherly love continue Location in Pennsylvania Coordinates: , Country United States Commonwealth Pennsylvania County Philadelphia Founded October 27, 1682 Incorporated October 25, 1701 Government  - Mayor John F. Street (D) Area  - City 369. ... Benjamin Franklin Parkway is a scenic avenue that runs through the cultural heart of Philadelphia. ... Nickname: Motto: Philadelphia maneto - Let brotherly love continue Location in Pennsylvania Coordinates: , Country United States Commonwealth Pennsylvania County Philadelphia Founded October 27, 1682 Incorporated October 25, 1701 Government  - Mayor John F. Street (D) Area  - City 369. ... Depending upon the criteria, Fairmount Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is the largest municipal public park in the world at over 9,100 acres (37 km²). This figure includes all parkland within the city limits, as all 65 city parks are considered part of Fairmount Park and overseen by the Fairmount... Opening day ceremonies at the Centennial Exhibition The Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, the first official worlds fair in the United States, was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia. ... The Victoria and Albert Museum viewed from Thurloe Square. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... The Great Exhibition: Paxtons Crystal Palace enclosed full-grown trees in Hyde Park. ... 1851 (MDCCCLI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... is the 130th day of the year (131st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1877 (MDCCCLXXVII) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Memorial Hall Designed by Hermann J. Schwarzmann for the Centennial Exposition, Memorial Hall is made of brick, glass, iron and granite. ...

Construction of the current building began in 1919 with Mayor Thomas B. Smith laying the corner stone in a Masonic ceremony on the former reservoir land of the decommissioned Fairmount Water Works covering ten acres of ground. ^[2] The first section was completed in the spring of 1928. The quasi-Greek Revival design was produced by Horace Trumbauer and the firm of Zantzinger, Borie and Medary.^[1] The façade of the building is made of is made of Minnesota dolomite. The side facing the parkway is adorned with sculptures depicting Greek gods and goddesses. There is also a collection of griffins, which were adopted as the symbol of the museum in the 1970s. ^[1] Fairmount Water Works - view from 1984 Fairmount Water Works, Philadelphia, about 1874. ... Fairmount Water Works, Philadelphia, about 1874. ... Year 1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Personal residence of Catherine the Great Greek Revival was a style of classical architecture which became fashionable in Europe in the 18th century, and in the United Kingdom and United States in the early 19th century. ... Horace Trumbauer (December 28, 1868 - November 18th,1938) was a prominent architect of the gilded age. ... Zantzinger, Borie and Medary was an American architectural firm active from 1910 through 1929, specializing in institutional and civic projects. ... West façade of the Notre-Dame de Strasbourg Cathedral A facade (or façade) is the exterior of a building – especially the front, but also sometimes the sides and rear. ... Dolomite crystals from Touissite, Morocco Dolomite is the name of both a carbonate rock and a mineral consisting of calcium magnesium carbonate (formula: CaMg(CO3)2) found in crystals. ...

For the better part of a century the McIlhenny family held an important relationship with the museum. Henry P. McIlhenny was involved for almost half a century, first as curator from 1939 - 1964, then as chairman of the board in 1976 until his death in 1986, when he left the bulk of his estate to the museum. Henry Plumer McIlhenny (October 7, 1910 – May 11, 1986)[1] was an American connoisseur of art and antiques, world traveler, socialite, philanthropist and the chairman of the Philadelphia Art Museum. ...

The institution describes itself as being "one of the largest museums in the United States"^[3], and its collections include more than 225,000 objects,^[4] although the institution has no galleries devoted to Greek, Roman or Egyptian art.

Collection

surreal entrance display for the 2005 Salvador Dalí exhibition, including the steps of the museum

Each year the Museum puts on 15 to 20 special exhibitions and is visited by 800,000 people. Some of the larger and most famous special exhibitions, which have attracted hundreds of thousands of people from every state and around the world, include shows featuring Paul Cézanne (in 1996, attracting 548,000) and Salvador Dalí (in 2005, attracting 370,000). Image File history File linksMetadata Dali_on_the_Rocky_Steps. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Dali_on_the_Rocky_Steps. ... Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquis of Pubol (May 11, 1904 – January 23, 1989), was a Spanish surrealist painter. ... Paul Cézanne (IPA: , January 19, 1839 – October 22, 1906) was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically different world of art in the 20th century. ... Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquis of Pubol (May 11, 1904 – January 23, 1989), was a Spanish surrealist painter. ...

Widely regarded as a world-class art institution, the Philadelphia Museum of Art includes not only its iconic Main Building, but also the Rodin Museum (also on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway) and several other historic sites. The recently acquired Perelman Building (across the street from the Main Building) is projected to open in 2007 and will house for public display a few of the Museum's more popular collections.

In the 18th century, Philadelphia was one of the most important cities both before and after the American Revolution and was a center of style and culture.^[5] The museum is particularly known for its important collections of Pennsylvania German art, 18th century and 19th century furniture and silver by early Philadelphia and Pennsylvania craftsmen, and works by prominent Philadelphia artist Thomas Eakins. The museum houses the most important Eakins collection in the world. (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... John Trumbulls Declaration of Independence, showing the five-man committee in charge of drafting the Declaration in 1776 as it presents its work to the Second Continental Congress The American Revolution refers to the period during the last half of the 18th century in which the Thirteen Colonies that... The Pennsylvania Dutch (more correctly Pennsylvania Deutsch or Pennsylvania German, speakers of the Pennsylvania German language) are a people of various religious affiliations, living mostly in central Pennsylvania, with cultural traditions dating back to the German immigrations to America in the 17th and 18th centuries. ... (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Capital Harrisburg Largest city Philadelphia Area  Ranked 33rd  - Total 46,055 sq mi (119,283 km²)  - Width 280 miles (455 km)  - Length 160 miles (255 km)  - % water 2. ... Self portrait (1902), National Academy of Design, New York. ...

Overview of the collections

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One of the nation’s great artistic and historic resources, the Museum houses more than 225,000 objects spanning the creative achievements of the Western world since the first century A.D. and those of Asia since the third millennium B.C. ^[4] Image File history File links Acap. ...

Highlights of the Asian collections include paintings and sculpture from China, Japan, and India; furniture and decorative arts, including major collections of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean ceramics; a large and distinguished group of Persian and Turkish carpets; and rare and authentic architectural assemblages such as a Japanese teahouse, a Chinese palace hall, and a sixteenth-century Indian temple hall. ^[4]

The European collections, dating from the Medieval era to the present, encompass Italian and Flemish early Renaissance masterworks; strong representations of later European paintings, including French Impressionism and Post-Impressionism; sculpture, with a special concentration in the works of Auguste Rodin; decorative arts; tapestries; furniture; the second largest collection of arms and armor in the United States; and period rooms and architectural settings ranging from the façade of a Medieval church in Burgundy to a superbly decorated English drawing room by Robert Adam. ^[4]

The Museum’s American collections, surveying three centuries of painting, sculpture, and decorative arts, are among the finest in the United States, with outstanding strengths in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Philadelphia furniture and silver, rural Pennsylvania furniture and ceramics, and the paintings of Thomas Eakins. ^[4]

Holdings of modern art include extraordinary concentrations of work by such artists as Pablo Picasso, Marcel Duchamp, and Constantin Brancusi, as well as American modernists, making the Museum one of the best in world in which to see modern art. The expanding collection of contemporary art includes major works by Cy Twombly, Jasper Johns, and Sol LeWitt, among many others. ^[4]

In addition to these collections, the Museum houses encyclopedic holdings of costume and textiles as well as prints, drawings, and photographs that are displayed in rotation for reasons of preservation.^[4]

The Carl Otto Kretzschmar von Kienbusch Collection

The PMA also houses the comprehensive Armor Collection of Carl Otto Kretzschmar von Kienbusch. The von Kienbusch collection was bequeathed by the celebrated collector to the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1976, the Bicentennial Anniversary of the American Revolution. The von Kienbusch holdings are comprehensive, and include European arms and armor spanning several centuries. ^[6]

A few years ago, the Philadelphia Museum of Art reached an agreement with German authorities for the return of five pieces of armor stolen from Dresden during World War II. In 1953, collector von Kienbusch purchased the armor unsuspectingly. It was donated to the Art Museum in 1976. Kienbusch published catalogs of his collection, which eventually led Dresden authorities to bring the matter up with the Art Museum. ^{[7] [8]}

Notable holdings

Toulouse-Lautrec Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (November 24, 1864 - September 9, 1901) was a French painter. ...	Van Gogh Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (550x684, 45 KB) Bildbeschreibung: Vase with twelve sunflowers Künstler: Vincent van Gogh Technik: Öl auf Leinwand Maße: 91 x 72 cm Museum: Philadelphia Museum of Art Ort: Philadelphia, USA Česky |hehe Deutsch | English | Ελληνικά | Español | فارسی | Français | עברית | Indonesian | Italiano... van gogh is a piece of shit Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), Netherlands artist. ...	J. M. W. Turner Download high resolution version (863x644, 101 KB)J. M. W. Turner - The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons (1835) Oil on canvas, Philadelphia Museum of Art Turner witnessed the fire that burnt down most of the Palace of Westminster on 16 October 1834. ... Joseph Mallord William Turner (April 23, 1775 (exact date disputed) – December 19, 1851) was an English Romantic landscape painter, watercolourist and printmaker, whose style can be said to have laid the foundation for Impressionism. ...	Peter Paul Rubens Image File history File links Size of this preview: 517 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2024 × 2348 pixel, file size: 527 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Peter Paul Rubens Philadelphia Museum of... Peter Paul Rubens (June 28, 1577 – May 30, 1640) was a prolific seventeenth-century Flemish and European painter, and a proponent of an exuberant Baroque style that emphasized movement, color, and sensuality. ...
El Greco Image File history File links Size of this preview: 415 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (800 × 1155 pixel, file size: 186 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) El Greco, Pietà, 1571-1576 From : http://www. ... El Greco (The Greek, 1541 – April 7, 1614) was a painter, sculptor, and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. ...	Édouard Manet Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1024 × 768 pixel, file size: 267 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Le Départ du vapeur de Folkestone par Edouard Manet 1869 (60 x 73 cm) Philadelphia Museum of Art Faithful reproductions of two-dimensional original works... Articles with similar titles include Claude Monet, another painter of the same era. ...	Thomas Eakins Image File history File links Size of this preview: 444 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (2138 × 2885 pixel, file size: 1. ... Self portrait (1902), National Academy of Design, New York. ...

Gallery Expansion

Due to overwhelming popularity and overflowing collections, it was announced in October 2006 that Frank Gehry will be designing an expansion to the museum. The 80,000 square foot gallery will be built entirely underground beneath the Rocky Steps and will not alter any of the museum's existing Greek revival facade. Though the date for construction to begin has not been announced, the construction is projected to last a decade and cost $500 million. It will increase the museum's available display space by sixty percent and house mostly contemporary sculpture, Asian art, and special exhibitions.^[9] Frank Owen Gehry (born Ephraim Owen Goldberg, February 28, 1929) is a Pritzker Prize winning architect based in Los Angeles, California. ... The Rocky Steps are the front steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. ...

The outdoors of the museum is currently getting a "facelift."^[10] While the museum ittself is expanding across the street. Some 200,000 books and periodicals and 1.6 million other documents are moving from the main building to the art deco former headquarters of the Fidelity Mutual Life Insurance Company across the street at Fairmount and Pennsylvania avenues.^[11] it has been renamed, the Perelman Building.

The Fidelity Mutual Life Insurance Company Building was constructed in 1927 by Philadelphia-based architects Zantzinger, Borie and Medary and was adorned by sculptors Lee Lawrie and Samuel Yellin. In 1982 it was restored and later acquired by the Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company.^[12] Zantzinger, Borie and Medary was an American architectural firm active from 1910 through 1929, specializing in institutional and civic projects. ... Grill work from Education Building, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Lee Oscar Lawrie (October 16, 1877 - January 23, 1963) was one of Americas foremost architectural sculptors and a key figure in the American art scene preceding World War II. His work includes the details on the Capitol building in Lincoln, Nebraska and... Samuel Yellin (1885 -1940) Samuel Yellin, 1927 Biography American blacksmith, born in Galicia Poland where, at the age of eleven he was apprenticed to an iron master. ...

Relationship to Philadelphia

See also: Rocky Steps

Statue of Rocky Balboa, with the museum in the background.

Besides its architecture and collections, the Philadelphia Museum of Art is well known for the role it played in a famous scene in the film Rocky, and also in four of its sequels, II, III, V and Rocky Balboa. Visitors to the museum can frequently be seen mimicking Rocky's famous run up the front steps, now known locally as the Rocky Steps.^[13] The Rocky Steps are the front steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 666 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1333 × 1200 pixel, file size: 118 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Other versions Originally from en. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 666 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1333 × 1200 pixel, file size: 118 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Other versions Originally from en. ... Robert Rocky Balboa, Sr. ... Rocky is a 1976 film written by and starring Sylvester Stallone and directed by John G. Avildsen. ... Rocky 2 is also a nickname for Sergei Rachmaninoffs Second Piano Concerto. ... Rocky III (1982) is the third installment in the Rocky movie series. ... Rocky V is the fifth film in the Rocky film saga. ... “Rocky VI” redirects here. ...

A bronze statue of Rocky was briefly placed at the top of the steps for the filming of Rocky III. The statue was moved afterwards to the Wachovia Spectrum due to a furious debate over the meaning of "art". The statue was returned for the filming of Rocky V, and also appears at the top of the steps in the movies Philadelphia and Mannequin, but has since been removed. The statue was replaced with a simple set of footprints reading "Rocky." The statue was returned to the foot of the steps on September 8, 2006.^[14] Rocky III (1982) is the third installment in the Rocky movie series. ... The Wachovia Spectrum (formerly known as the Spectrum (1967-1994), CoreStates Spectrum (1994-1998) and First Union Spectrum (1998-2003)) is an indoor arena located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ... The Bath, a painting by Mary Cassatt (1844–1926). ... Philadelphia is a 1993 movie written by Ron Nyswaner and directed by Jonathan Demme. ... Mannequin is a 1987 film starring Kim Cattrall, Andrew McCarthy, Meshach Taylor, James Spader, G.W. Bailey, and Estelle Getty. ...

Live 8 At the Philadelphia Museum of Art. July 2, 2005

Because of its location at the end of the Ben Franklin Parkway, the museum is the backdrop for many concerts and parades. On July 2, 2005, the steps of the museum played host to the Philadelphia venue of Live 8, where artists such as Dave Matthews Band, Linkin Park and Maroon 5 performed. The museum closed for Live 8, but reopened at regular hours the following day. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 356 pixelsFull resolution (1049 × 467 pixel, file size: 195 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Live 8, Philadelphia Museum of Art. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 356 pixelsFull resolution (1049 × 467 pixel, file size: 195 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Live 8, Philadelphia Museum of Art. ... Benjamin Franklin Parkway is a scenic avenue that runs through the cultural heart of Philadelphia. ... is the 183rd day of the year (184th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Official Live8 DVD, released in November 2005 Live 8 (a similar but separate event to Live Aid) was a series of concurrent benefit concerts that took place on 2 July 2005, in the G8 states and in South Africa. ... Dave Matthews Band (also known by the initialism DMB) is a United States rock band, originally formed in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1991 by singer, songwriter, and guitarist Dave Matthews. ... Linkin Park is a rock band from Agoura Hills, California. ... Maroon 5 is a Grammy-winning soul-influenced rock band from Los Angeles, California comprising five members: Adam Levine (lead vocals, guitar), James Valentine (guitar, backing vocals), Jesse Carmichael (keyboards, backing vocals), Mickey Madden (bass guitar, backing vocals) and Matt Flynn (drums). ... On 2 July 2005, a Live 8 concert was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, with a densely packed audience stretched out for one mile along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. ...

On Friday the 13th, 2007, at 8:30 in the morning, local radio station WMMR's morning show, Preston and Steve, launched 10,000 marbles down the famous art museum steps to commemorate the 10,000th loss of the Philadelphia Phillies. Although the 10,000th loss had not actually happened at the time of the marble incident, it was expected to come in the following weekend as the Phillies played against the Arizona Cardinals. The stunt was not publicized beforehand (to prevent police intervention), and although there were no disasters encountered in the event, security showed up afterwards and were described as "very irate". WMMR is a hard rock radio station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, broadcasting at 93. ... The Preston and Steve show is a morning radio comedy and variety broadcast on Philadelphia mainstream rock station 93. ... Major league affiliations National League (1883–present) East Division (1969–present) Current uniform Retired Numbers 1, 14, 20, 32, 36, 42 Name Philadelphia Phillies (1883–present) Philadelphia Quakers (1883–1883) (Also referred to as Blue Jays 1943-1945 despite formal name remaining Phillies) Other nicknames Phils, Phightin Phils, Phightins Ballpark...

See also

Philadelphia Portal

• Benjamin Franklin Parkway
• Eakins Oval

Liberty Bell; public domain. ... Benjamin Franklin Parkway is a scenic avenue that runs through the cultural heart of Philadelphia. ... At the end of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, just in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, is Eakins Oval. ...

External links

• Philadelphia Museum of Art Web Site
• Philadelphia Architects and Buildings

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Philadelphia Museum of Art

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References

1. ^ ^{a b c} http://www.glasssteelandstone.com/BuildingDetail/472.php
2. ^ (Historical note: Mayor Smith is the great grandfather of current Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce L. Castor, Jr.)
3. ^ [1]Main Web page, Philadelphia Museum of Art", accessed April 26, 2007
4. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} [2]"Museum Collections" Web page, at Web site for The Philadelphia Museum of Art, accessed April 26, 2007
5. ^ http://www.nga.gov/collection/gallery/iadfurn/iadfurn-18130.0.html
6. ^ http://www.philamuseum.org/press/releases/2004/405.html
7. ^ Carl Otto Kretzschmar von Kienbusch and the Collecting of Arms and Armor in America, Donald J. LaRocca, Philadelphia Museum of Art Bulletin, Vol. 81, No. 345, Kienbusch Centennial (Winter, 1985), pp. 2+4-24, doi:10.2307/3795448
8. ^ Armor Collection
9. ^ Pogrebin, Robin. "Philadelphia Museum Job Sends Gehry Underground", New York Times, October 19, 2006. 
10. ^ Dobrin, Peter. "Phila. art museum gets a facelift", Philadelphia Inquirer, June 12, 2007. 
11. ^ Dobrin, Peter. "Art Museum (part of it) packs up", Philadelphia Inquirer, March 08, 2007. 
12. ^ Walton, Krista. "Philadelphia Museum of Art Expands into 1927 Office Building", National Trust for Historic Preservation, March 08, 2007. 
13. ^ http://www.gophila.com/C/Things_to_Do/211/Itineraries_and_Tours/428/Itineraries/429/I/Rockys_Legendary_Philadelphia_Weekend/32.html
14. ^ http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/15477691.htm