Brooklyn
Museum
The Brooklyn Museum that sits in the Brooklyn
borough of New York City, New York is the second biggest art
museum in the city and one of the biggest in the nation, and
considered to be one of the finest art institutions in the
world, with a permanent collection that spans ancient Egyptian
masterpieces to contemporary art, along with outstanding
artworks from other cultures. The museum occupies 560,000 square
feet of space in a beaux arts structure, welcoming about half a
million people each year. It is located in the heart of the
borough, half an hour from midtown Manhattan and some fifteen
minutes from downtown Brooklyn. The museum opened in 1897,
founded by Augustus Graham, it is a steel frame building, and
designed by the architectural firm of McKim, Mead and White and
originally four times bigger than what the structure would end
up being. Daniel Chester French would be the main sculptor for
the pediment sculptures and monolithic 12.5 foot figures that
are situated along the cornice. These figures were created by 11
different sculptors, while French would be the designer of the
two allegorical figures, Brooklyn and Manhattan, that are now
flanking the museum's entry. In 1997, it would change its name
to the Brooklyn Museum of Art, and in 2004, announced that it
would return to its previous name, as well as construct a new
entrance pavilion, designed by James Stewart Polshek. The museum
strives to showcase collections that embody the artistic
heritage of world cultures, and is famous for its inclusive
collections of Egyptian and African art, along with 17th-20th
centuries paintings, decorative arts and sculptures from a wide
range of schools. The museum would acquire The Dinner Party by
Judy Chicago in 2002 as a gift from the Elizabeth A. Sackler
Foundation, with its permanent exhibition beginning in 2007 as a
showpiece for the museum's Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for
Feminist Art. Other outstanding exhibitions
have included such great artists as; Robert Rauschenberg, Chuck
Close, Patrick Kelly, Sylvia Sleigh, William Wegman, Denis
Peterson, Ron Mueck, Jim Dine, Kiki Smith, Takashi Murakami and
Mat Benote. In the American collection are such greats as;
Georgia O'Keefe, John Singer Sargent, Edward Hicks, William
Edmondson, Winslow Homer and Gilbert Stuart.
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