108-602: The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts ( VMFA ) is an art museum in Richmond, Virginia , United States, which opened in 1936. The museum is owned and operated by the Commonwealth of Virginia . Private donations, endowments, and funds are used for the support of specific programs and all acquisition of artwork, as well as additional general support. Considered among the largest art museums in North America for area of exhibition space,
216-470: A sword , could be hired from shops outside. The treasuries of cathedrals and large churches, or parts of them, were often set out for public display and veneration. Many of the grander English country houses could be toured by the respectable for a tip to the housekeeper, during the long periods when the family were not in residence. Special arrangements were made to allow the public to see many royal or private collections placed in galleries, as with most of
324-491: A veterans' home for Confederate soldiers. Additional services were provided to their wives and daughters. The main building of the VMFA was designed by Peebles and Ferguson Architects of Norfolk. It has been described as Georgian Revival or English Renaissance . Commentators have said the architects expressed influence from Inigo Jones and Christopher Wren . Construction began in 1934. Two wings were originally planned, but only
432-570: A $ 150-million building expansion to increase the museum's gallery space by fifty percent, adding 165,000 square feet (15,300 m). The new wing opened in 2010 and was named in honor of patrons James W. and Frances G. McGlothlin . The museum reoriented the McGlothlin Wing by reinstating the entrance on the Boulevard, the same as with the original 1936 entrance. The design includes a three-story atrium named for Louise B. and J. Harwood Cochrane, with
540-437: A 40-foot (12 m)-tall glass wall to the east and broad expanses of glass walls to the west, and a partially glazed roof. The London-based architect Rick Mather collaborated with Richmond-based SMBW Architects in the design of the building, while landscape architecture was handled by OLIN . Landscaping included a new 4-acre (16,000 m) sculpture garden, named for philanthropists E. Claiborne and Lora Robins. American art
648-601: A Silver Spoon , was published in 1992. Mellon was born in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania, on June 11, 1907, the son of Andrew W. Mellon , U.S. Secretary of the Treasury from 1921 to 1932, and Nora McMullen of Hertford Castle , England and brother of Ailsa Mellon-Bruce. When he was 5 years old his parents divorced. He graduated from The Choate School , now Choate Rosemary Hall, in Wallingford, Connecticut , in 1925, where he wrote for
756-524: A bequest. The Kunstmuseum Basel , through its lineage which extends back to the Amerbach Cabinet , which included a collection of works by Hans Holbein the Younger and purchased by the city of Basel in 1661, is considered to be the first museum of art open to the public in the world. In the second half of the 18th century, many private collections of art were opened to the public, and during and after
864-472: A co-founder in 2004 of the Ohio Shakespeare Festival . The museum board of trustees continued to underwrite the deficits to maintain the theater, but their priority was the museum. Tensions arose in this arrangement, and the board was increasingly concerned about the viability of the theater. A study in 1987 showed that dealing with a board that was essentially constituted to oversee the art museum
972-449: A collaboration of museums and galleries that are more interested with the categorization of art. They are interested in the potential use of folksonomy within museums and the requirements for post-processing of terms that have been gathered, both to test their utility and to deploy them in useful ways. The steve.museum is one example of a site that is experimenting with this collaborative philosophy. The participating institutions include
1080-672: A focus on classics and musicals, but added an emphasis on new plays and U.S. premieres of foreign works. His debut production in 1969, Marat/Sade , written by Peter Weiss , was produced with the first racially integrated company on the VMT stage. While the production was praised by two Richmond newspapers, an editorial in the afternoon Richmond News Leader criticized Fowler for "latitudinarianism". The company became known as VMT Rep (for "repertory"). Fowler attracted national notice in 1973 with his production of Macbeth , starring E.G. Marshall . Critic Clive Barnes of The New York Times hailed it as
1188-895: A generous bequest to the Center at the time of his death. The Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art was founded in 1970 through a generous grant to Yale University , as a London-based affiliate of the New Haven center, to encourage study of British art and culture both at the undergraduate and the research scholar levels. Mellon also provided important leadership gifts to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, Virginia , as well as Choate Rosemary Hall . Mellon owned many thoroughbred horses under his Rokeby Stables , including Kentucky Derby winner Sea Hero . Two of his horses, Arts and Letters and Fort Marcy , were named American Horse of
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#17328631180511296-433: A major factor in social mobility (for example, getting a higher-paid, higher-status job). The argument states that certain art museums are aimed at perpetuating aristocratic and upper class ideals of taste and excludes segments of society without the social opportunities to develop such interest. The fine arts thus perpetuate social inequality by creating divisions between different social groups. This argument also ties in with
1404-402: A number of online art catalogues and galleries that have been developed independently of the support of any individual museum. Many of these, like American Art Gallery, are attempts to develop galleries of artwork that are encyclopedic or historical in focus, while others are commercial efforts to sell the work of contemporary artists. A limited number of such sites have independent importance in
1512-526: A small local gallery to a nationally known cultural center." Cheek in 1953 introduced the world's first "Artmobile", a mobile tractor-trailer that carried exhibits to rural areas (prior to museum galleries being established in distant areas). In 1960, he was the first in the United States to introduce night hours at an art museum. Cheek worked with his curators and designers to cultivate a degree of theatrical "showmanship" in exhibits, such as velvet drapery for
1620-596: A theater as part of this addition. The 500-seat theater was intended to provide space for a community theater, and for annual programs of the Virginia societies for dance, music, and film, all within a central cultural facility. What is now known as the Leslie Cheek Theater, the 500-seat proscenium theater within VMFA was originally built in 1955 and known as the Virginia Museum Theatre . It was designed under
1728-525: A venue for annual programs of the Virginia Music Society, Virginia Dance Society, and Virginia Film Society. Cheek retired from the museum in 1968, but was an adviser to the VMFA trustees about the next director of the theater arts division. In 1969, Keith Fowler was appointed as artistic director of VMT. Under Fowler, VMT continued to serve as the headquarters for the Dance, Film and Music societies. He
1836-610: Is generally considered to have been the first art museum in the United States. It was originally housed in the Renwick Gallery , built in 1859. Now a part of the Smithsonian Institution , the Renwick housed William Wilson Corcoran 's collection of American and European art. The building was designed by James Renwick Jr. and finally completed in 1874. It is located at 1661 Pennsylvania Avenue NW. Renwick designed it after
1944-420: Is known for having expanded and upgrading the live theater operations, establishing Richmond's first resident Actors Equity / LORT company. Both community actors and New York-based professionals became part of this. The troupe's core members included Marie Goodman Hunter , Janet Bell, Lynda Myles, E.G. Marshall , Ken Letner, James Kirkland, Rachael Lindhart, and dramaturg M. Elizabeth Osborn . Fowler retained
2052-559: Is provided by a dedicated print room located within the museum. Murals or mosaics often remain where they have been created ( in situ ), although many have also been removed to galleries. Various forms of 20th-century art, such as land art and performance art , also usually exist outside a gallery. Photographic records of these kinds of art are often shown in galleries, however. Most museums and large art galleries own more works than they have room to display. The rest are held in reserve collections , on or off-site. A sculpture garden
2160-557: Is similar to an art gallery, presenting sculpture in an outdoor space. Sculpture has grown in popularity with sculptures installed in open spaces on both a permanent and temporary basis. Most larger paintings from about 1530 onwards were designed to be seen either in churches or palaces, and many buildings built as palaces now function successfully as art museums. By the 18th century additions to palaces and country houses were sometimes intended specifically as galleries for viewing art, and designed with that in mind. The architectural form of
2268-587: Is the major focus of exhibitions in the McGlothlin Wing. In 2008, the museum received a $ 200,000 grant from the Luce Foundation to support the installation and interpretation of its American collections. Mather's design for the VMFA expansion earned a 2011 RIBA International Award for architectural excellence. In 2019, Rumors of War was installed on the front lawn of the museum facing Arthur Ashe Boulevard after being displayed in Times Square . In June 2021,
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#17328631180512376-502: Is to shape identity and memory, cultural heritage, distilled narratives and treasured stories. Many art museums throughout history have been designed with a cultural purpose or been subject to political intervention. In particular, national art galleries have been thought to incite feelings of nationalism . This has occurred in both democratic and non-democratic countries, although authoritarian regimes have historically exercised more control over administration of art museums. Ludwig Justi
2484-733: The Alte Pinakothek , Munich) was opened to the public in 1779 and the Medici collection in Florence around 1789 (as the Uffizi Gallery). The opening of the Musée du Louvre during the French Revolution in 1793 as a public museum for much of the former French royal collection marked an important stage in the development of public access to art by transferring the ownership to a republican state; but it
2592-712: The Chrysler Triple Crown Challenge to the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation. Furthermore, he requested that double that amount be raised in response to his donation. That goal was met during the 1995–1996 fiscal year. Upon his death, he left yet another $ 2.5 million to the Foundation's endowment. In 1999, Paul Mellon bequeathed $ 8 million to the University of Cambridge in England for
2700-467: The Fitzwilliam Museum . During his lifetime he agreed that £1 million of that sum could be allocated to the museum's courtyard development and, under the terms of his will, following his death in 1999, his executors subsequently allocated a further $ 12.5 million to complete the renovations associated with the courtyard, including the re-lighting of all of the museum's galleries. The remaining balance
2808-625: The French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars , many royal collections were nationalized, even where the monarchy remained in place, as in Spain and Bavaria . In 1753, the British Museum was established and the Old Royal Library collection of manuscripts was donated to it for public viewing. In 1777, a proposal to the British government was put forward by MP John Wilkes to buy the art collection of
2916-738: The Guggenheim Museum in New York City by Frank Lloyd Wright , the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao by Frank Gehry , Centre Pompidou-Metz by Shigeru Ban , and the redesign of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art by Mario Botta . Some critics argue these galleries defeat their purposes because their dramatic interior spaces distract the eye from the paintings they are supposed to exhibit. Museums are more than just mere 'fixed structures designed to house collections.' Their purpose
3024-638: The Guggenheim Museum , the Cleveland Museum of Art , the Metropolitan Museum of Art , and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art . There are relatively few local/regional/national organizations dedicated specifically to art museums. Most art museums are associated with local/regional/national organizations for the arts , humanities or museums in general. Many of these organizations are listed as follows: Paul Mellon Paul Mellon (June 11, 1907 – February 1, 1999, Upperville, Virginia )
3132-540: The Late Medieval period onwards, areas in royal palaces, castles , and large country houses of the social elite were often made partially accessible to sections of the public, where art collections could be viewed. At the Palace of Versailles , entrance was restricted to people of certain social classes who were required to wear the proper apparel, which typically included the appropriate accessories, silver shoe buckles and
3240-580: The Manhattan Theater Club . Because of continuing financial problems, the nonprofit theater closed in 2002. After renovation, it reopened in 2011 as part of the museum to host a range of live performance events. The VMFA has its origins in a 1919 donation of 50 paintings to the Commonwealth of Virginia by Judge John Barton Payne . During the Great Depression , Payne collaborated with Virginia Governor John Garland Pollard to gain funding from
3348-693: The Morale Operations Branch of the Office of Strategic Services in Europe. He rose to the rank of major and was the recipient of four battle stars in the European Theatre of Operations . While Mellon did not share his father's interest in business, the two found common ground in their love of art and philanthropy. Shortly before Andrew Mellon's death in 1937, construction began on the West Building of
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3456-522: The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. , for which Andrew Mellon had provided funds. Four years later Paul Mellon presented both the building by John Russell Pope and his father's collection of 115 paintings to the nation. He served on the museum's board for more than four decades: as trustee, as president (twice), as board chair, and as honorary trustee. Mellon commissioned I. M. Pei to build
3564-529: The National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo . The phrase "art gallery" is also sometimes used to describe businesses which display art for sale, but these are not art museums. Throughout history, large and expensive works of art have generally been commissioned by religious institutions or political leaders and been displayed in temples, churches, and palaces . Although these collections of art were not open to
3672-604: The Papacy , while the Vatican Museums , whose collections are still owned by the Pope, trace their foundation to 1506, when the recently discovered Laocoön and His Sons was put on public display. A series of museums on different subjects were opened over subsequent centuries, and many of the buildings of the Vatican were purpose-built as galleries. An early royal treasury opened to the public
3780-579: The University of Cambridge , receiving a BA in 1931, while his father served as U.S. Ambassador to the Court of St. James's from 1932 to 1933. Mellon returned to Pittsburgh , to work for Mellon Bank and other businesses for six months. He enrolled at St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland in 1940 but six months later joined the United States Army , asking to join the cavalry . Mellon served with
3888-629: The Yale Center for British Art . In 1930, he was a founding member, alongside Sir Timothy William Gowers, of the CRABS, the Clare Rugby And Boating Society, the oldest of the collegiate Gentlemen's societies still active. In 1938, he received an Oxbridge MA from Clare College, Cambridge . He was a major benefactor to Clare College's Forbes-Mellon Library, opened in 1986. After graduating from Yale University , he went to England to study at
3996-505: The museum 's own collection . It might be in public or private ownership, be accessible to all, or have restrictions in place. Although primarily concerned with visual art , art museums are often used as a venue for other cultural exchanges and artistic activities, such as lectures, jewelry, performance arts , music concerts, or poetry readings. Art museums also frequently host themed temporary exhibitions, which often include items on loan from other collections. An institution dedicated to
4104-553: The mystification of fine arts . Research suggests that the context in which an artwork is being presented has significant influence on its reception by the audience, and viewers shown artworks in a museum rated them more highly than when displayed in a "laboratory" setting Most art museums have only limited online collections, but a few museums, as well as some libraries and government agencies, have developed substantial online catalogues. Museums, libraries, and government agencies with substantial online collections include: There are
4212-823: The wealthiest Americans , it estimated that Paul Mellon, his sister Ailsa Mellon Bruce , and his cousins Sarah Mellon and Richard King Mellon , were all among the richest eight people in the United States, with fortunes between $ 400 million and $ 500 million each (between about $ 4.3 billion and $ 7.6 billion in today's dollars). Mellon was married to Mary Conover Brown from 1935 until her death in 1946. They had two children, Catherine Conover Mellon (first wife of John Warner ) and Timothy Mellon . In 1948, Paul Mellon married his second wife, Rachel Lambert Mellon (a.k.a. Bunny) (August 9, 1910–March 17, 2014) who had two children, Stacy Lloyd III and Eliza, Viscountess Moore with her first husband, Mr. Stacy Barcroft Lloyd, Jr. whom she had divorced in 1948. Mellon's autobiography, Reflections in
4320-547: The "'Fowler Macbeth'... "splendidly vigorous... probably the goriest Shakespearean production I have seen since Peter Brook 's ' Titus Andronicus '." As Fowler heightened the professional quality of the theater, VMT led Richmond into what some recall as a golden age of theater. The company commissioned and produced eight American and World premieres, introducing new plays by Americans Romulus Linney and A.R. Gurney , as well as by major foreign authors, such as Harold Pinter , Joe Orton , Athol Fugard , and Peter Handke . In 1975,
4428-466: The 1950s came from Adolph D. Williams and Wilkins C. Williams, and from Arthur and Margaret Glasgow. They established the museum's oldest funds used for art acquisitions. In 1951, the museum bought the abstract painting "Chimneys", created by a 20-year-old art student named Benjamin Leroy Wigfall at the historically Black Hampton Institute. He was the youngest person whose work had ever been purchased by
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4536-413: The 1960s, along with the funding to create an appropriate museum to house it (designed by Louis Kahn ). He characteristically insisted that it not be named in honor of him, but rather would be called the Yale Center for British Art , to encourage others to support it as well. Mellon also provided extensive endowment support to fund not only operations but also an ongoing program of acquisitions, and he made
4644-547: The 1960s, the Virginia Museum Theater (VMT) hosted a museum-sponsored volunteer or "community theater" company, under the direction of Robert Telford . The company presented subscription seasons of live drama to thousands annually. Local players and occasional guest professionals offered musicals ( Peter Pan, e.g.), dramas ( Peter Shaffer 's The Royal Hunt of the Sun ), and classics (Shakespeare's Hamlet ). VMT also served as
4752-401: The 1970s, a number of political theorists and social commentators have pointed to the political implications of art museums and social relations. Pierre Bourdieu , for instance, argued that in spite the apparent freedom of choice in the arts, people's artistic preferences (such as classical music, rock, traditional music) strongly tie in with their social position. So called cultural capital is
4860-568: The 2010 McGlothlin Wing. In the following years, the Lewis and Mellon families proposed major donations from their extensive private collections, and helped provide the funds to house them. In December 1985, the museum opened its fourth addition, the 90,000-square-foot (8,400 m) West Wing. The architects, Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates of New York, were chosen by the Lewises based on their appreciation of
4968-645: The British Empire (KBE) in 1974, awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1985, elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1992, and awarded the National Humanities Medal in 1997. In 1978, Mellon received the S. Roger Horchow Award for Greatest Public Service by a Private Citizen, an award given out annually by Jefferson Awards . In 1935, he married Mary Conover Brown and
5076-524: The East Building and, with his sister Ailsa, provided funds for its construction in the late 1970s. Over the years he and his wife Bunny donated more than 1,000 works to the National Gallery of Art, among them many French and American masterworks. In 1936, Mellon purchased his first British painting, Pumpkin with a Stable-lad by George Stubbs , who became a lifetime favorite of Mellon's. Beginning in
5184-577: The Fabergé collection, a "tomb-like" setting of the museum's Egyptian exhibit, and using music to set the mood in the galleries. To enhance the museum as a cultural center, Cheek gained approval for construction of a theater, used for museum and outside societies' performing events in dance, music, and film. During his tenure, Cheek oversaw construction of the first addition, built in 1954 by Merrill C. Lee, Architects, of Richmond, and supported financially by Paul Mellon . Cheek had gained board approval to construct
5292-502: The Kahn-designed British Art Center demonstrated Mellon's commitment to bringing modern architecture to Yale. Perhaps most importantly, the additional undergraduate capacity that these colleges provided were a critical prerequisite to the ability of the university to transition to co-education. Beyond these capital gifts, Mellon endowed the masterships and deanships of each of Yale's 12 residential colleges. He created
5400-587: The Louvre's Tuileries addition. At the time of its construction, it was known as "the American Louvre". University art museums and galleries constitute collections of art developed, owned, and maintained by all kinds of schools, community colleges, colleges, and universities. This phenomenon exists in the West and East, making it a global practice. Although easily overlooked, there are over 700 university art museums in
5508-653: The Marxist theory of mystification and elite culture . Furthermore, certain art galleries, such as the National Gallery in London and the Louvre in Paris are situated in buildings of considerable emotional impact. The Louvre in Paris is for instance located in the former Royal Castle of the ancient regime , and is thus clearly designed with a political agenda. It has been argued that such buildings create feelings of subjugation and adds to
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#17328631180515616-609: The Mellon Senior Forum program, which provides a weekly meal for seniors in each of the residential colleges where they can share progress on their senior essays and projects with one another. Mellon was active in the humanities at Yale. He provided the funding necessary to create the Directed Studies program of intense freshman-year focus on the humanities. He supported significantly the undergraduate theater studies program, and endowed named professorships in schools throughout
5724-629: The Old Dominion Foundation in 1941 and the Bollingen Foundation in 1945, both to support advancement and learning of the humanities and liberal education . The Bollingen Foundation published over 100 books before closing in 1969, the same year the assets of the Old Dominion Foundation were merged into those of his sister Ailsa's Avalon Foundation. The combined organization was renamed The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in honor of their father. Paul Mellon's foremost philanthropic interest
5832-528: The Soviet Arts Consul provided coverage on Moscow Television for Fowler's U.S premiere of Maxim Gorky 's Our Father (originally Poslednje in Russian). This VMT production transferred to New York City, where it premiered at the Manhattan Theater Club . Over eight years, VMT's subscription audience increased from 4,300 to 10,000 patrons. Fowler resigned in 1977 after a dispute with VMFA administration over
5940-424: The US alone. This number, compared to other kinds of art museums, makes university art museums perhaps the largest category of art museums in the country. While the first of these collections can be traced to learning collections developed in art academies in Western Europe, they are now associated with and housed in centers of higher education of all types. The word gallery being originally an architectural term,
6048-422: The United States. In 1967, the museum also mounted a major exhibition of the work of the English social satirist William Hogarth . In 1978, the museum presented an exhibition on Colonial cabinetmaking in early Virginia, "Furniture of Williamsburg and Eastern Virginia, 1710–1790." Another first, and one that received widespread international attention, was the 1983 exhibition "Painting in the South: 1564–1980." In
6156-415: The University, particularly in the humanities. Mellon was highly supportive of causes that advanced the preservation of horses, including the United States Jockey Club's Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation. This organization allocates grants towards specific research projects for the safety, welfare, longevity and improvement of life for racehorses. He donated the $ 1 million bonus that Sea Hero won in
6264-452: The VMFA announced that architectural firm SmithGroup was designing a $ 190 million expansion of the museum and a renovation of current spaces such as the Evans Court and Leslie Cheek Theater. The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts has divided its encyclopedic collections into several broad curatorial departments, which largely correspond to the galleries: When the 2010 wing was completed, a 27-ton marble late-Mughal garden pavilion from Rajasthan
6372-429: The VMFA created a master plan for development of this land in what was otherwise a built-out residential part of the city. By the 1990s, the functions of the adjacent Confederate Home for Women had ceased, and its last residents moved out. In 1999, the former home was adapted for use as the Center for Education and Outreach (now the Pauley Center), housing the museum's Office of Statewide Partnerships. The VMFA undertook
6480-401: The VMFA's comprehensive art collection includes African art , American art , British sporting art, Fabergé, and Himalayan art. One of the first museums in the American South to be operated by state funds, VMFA offers free admission, except for special exhibits. The VMFA, together with the adjacent Virginia Historical Society , anchors the eponymous "Museum District" of Richmond, and area of
6588-413: The Virginia Standards of Learning. All college student tours of VMFA's permanent collection — guided and self-directed — are free. Tours can be requested online. VMFA's ARTshare is a multiyear digital initiative to expand the museum's digital outreach and make its collection more accessible. Art museum An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art , usually from
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#17328631180516696-437: The Year in 1969 and 1970 respectively. Both are inductees in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame . He also owned three European champions, Mill Reef , Forrest Flower , and Gold and Ivory . Mill Reef was the #8 rated horse in the world for the 20th Century in A Century of Champions , by John Randall and Tony Morris. Mellon won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Breeder in 1971 and again in 1986. Mellon established
6804-412: The acquisition of Art Nouveau objects and furniture. A third addition, known as the North Wing, was designed by Hardwicke Associates, Inc. of Richmond and completed in 1976. It included an adjacent sculpture garden with a cascading fountain, designed by landscape architect Lawrence Halprin . The North Wing was designed as the new main entrance for the museum, with a separate dedicated entrance added for
6912-433: The active lending-out of a museum's collected objects in order to enhance education at schools and to aid in the cultural development of individual members of the community. Finally, Dana saw branch museums throughout a city as a good method of making sure that every citizen has access to its benefits. Dana's view of the ideal museum sought to invest a wider variety of people in it, and was self-consciously not elitist. Since
7020-418: The art world. The large auction houses, such as Sotheby's , Bonhams , and Christie's , maintain large online databases of art which they have auctioned or are auctioning. Bridgeman Art Library serves as a central source of reproductions of artwork, with access limited to museums, art dealers , and other professionals or professional organizations. There are also online galleries that have been developed by
7128-469: The basis for the Chrysler Museum of Art ). In the 1950s, VMFA originated shows such as "Furniture of the Old South" (1952), "Design of Scandinavia" (1954) and "Masterpieces of Chinese Art" (1955). In the 1960s, there were "Masterpieces of American Silver", followed by "Painting in England, 1700–1850," which drew from the private collections of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon . At the time, it was the most comprehensive exhibition of British painting ever presented in
7236-448: The board decided to close TheatreVirginia. It struggled financially to operate in a state-supported museum. For eight years, the theater was dormant. Renovation of the space and its revival as a live performance space was completed in 2011; that year, it was renamed as the Leslie Cheek Theater in honor of its first director, who had also been director of the museum for two decades. The theater's reopening has returned live performing arts to
7344-415: The central portion was then built. The museum opened on January 16, 1936. In 1947, the VMFA was given the Lillian Thomas Pratt collection of some 150 jeweled objects created by Peter Carl Fabergé and other Russian workshops, including the largest public collection of Fabergé eggs outside of Russia. That year the Museum also received the "T. Catesby Jones Collection of Modern Art". Further donations in
7452-677: The city known as " West of the Boulevard ". The museum includes the Leslie Cheek Theater, a performing-arts venue. For 50 years, a theater company operated here, known most recently as TheatreVirginia. Built in 1955 as a 500-seat theatre within the art museum, it started as a community theater and also hosted special programs in dance, film, and music. In 1969, the director established an Actors' Equity / LORT company known as Virginia Museum Theatre , hiring both local actors and professionals from New York City or elsewhere. Some of its productions received national notice. In 1973, its production of Maxim Gorky 's play Our Father transferred to New York, to
7560-425: The content in VMT's premiere of Romulus Linney 's Childe Byron . Artistic directors Tom Markus (1978-1985) renamed the company and its playhouse "TheatreVirginia". As with all American professional not-for-profit performing arts organizations, TheatreVirginia ran mounting deficits for years. Despite this, artistic director Terry Burgler (1986-1999), who succeeded him, had a successful operation. He later became
7668-430: The couple, who had two children, Catherine and Timothy , moved to Virginia . After his wife Mary's death in 1946 from an asthma attack, he married Rachel Lambert Lloyd , known as "Bunny", the former wife of Stacy Barcroft Lloyd Jr . She was a descendant of the Lambert family who formulated and marketed Listerine and an heiress to the Warner-Lambert corporate fortune (Warner-Lambert is now part of Pfizer , following
7776-645: The display of art can be called an art museum or an art gallery, and the two terms may be used interchangeably. This is reflected in the names of institutions around the world, some of which are considered art galleries, such as the National Gallery in London and Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin , and some of which are considered museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and
7884-687: The display rooms in museums are often called public galleries . Also frequently, a series of rooms dedicated to specific historic periods (e.g. Ancient Egypt ) or other significant themed groupings of works (e.g. the gypsotheque or collection of plaster casts as in the Ashmolean Museum ) within a museum with a more varied collection are referred to as specific galleries, e.g. Egyptian Gallery or Cast Gallery . Works on paper, such as drawings , pastels , watercolors , prints , and photographs are typically not permanently displayed for reasons of conservation . Instead, public access to these materials
7992-641: The entire building solely intended to be an art gallery was arguably established by Sir John Soane with his design for the Dulwich Picture Gallery in 1817. This established the gallery as a series of interconnected rooms with largely uninterrupted wall spaces for hanging pictures and indirect lighting from skylights or roof lanterns . The late 19th century saw a boom in the building of public art galleries in Europe and America, becoming an essential cultural feature of larger cities. More art galleries rose up alongside museums and public libraries as part of
8100-588: The fall of 1996, VMFA was one of five major American museums to present "Fabergé in America" and "The Lillian Thomas Pratt Collection of Fabergé." These two exhibitions, featuring more than 400 objects and 15 imperial Easter eggs, drew more than 130,000 visitors to Richmond. In 1997, the VMFA showed "William Blake: Illustrations of the Book of Job," an exhibition that featured a complete set of 21 engravings by English Romantic artist William Blake , created in 1825 and purchased by
8208-407: The federal Works Projects Administration under President Franklin D. Roosevelt , to augment state funding and establish the state art museum in 1932. Payne's gift had been made in memory of his late second wife Jennie Byrd Bryan Payne and his mother Elizabeth Barton Payne. The site for the museum was chosen on Richmond's Boulevard , near the corner of a contiguous six-block tract of land used as
8316-646: The firm's 1981 design for the Best Products headquarters building north of Richmond. The wing now houses the collections of these two families. In 1993, the Commonwealth of Virginia transferred the care of the Robinson House from the Department of General Services to VMFA. The nearly 14-acre property of Robinson House, a former veterans camp, was transferred between state agencies to the museum. Beginning in 2001,
8424-484: The founder of the Newark Museum , saw the traditional art museum as a useless public institution, one that focused more on fashion and conformity rather than education and uplift. Indeed, Dana's ideal museum would be one best suited for active and vigorous use by the average citizen, located near the center of their daily movement. In addition, Dana's conception of the perfect museum included a wider variety of objects than
8532-424: The general public, they were often made available for viewing for a section of the public. In classical times , religious institutions began to function as an early form of art gallery. Wealthy Roman collectors of engraved gems and other precious objects, such as Julius Caesar , often donated their collections to temples. It is unclear how easy it was in practice for the public to view these items. In Europe, from
8640-600: The heart of the Virginia museum. The Leslie Cheek Theater does not support a resident company, but is available for bookings of special theater, music, film, and dance showings. The second addition, the South Wing, was designed by Baskervill & Son Architects of Richmond and completed in 1970. It featured four new permanent galleries and a large gallery for loan exhibitions, as well as a new library, photography lab, art storage rooms, and staff offices. A gift of funds from Sydney and Frances Lewis of Richmond in 1971, provided for
8748-513: The late 1950s, with the help of English art historian Basil Taylor, Mellon amassed a major collection by the mid-1960s. London art dealer Geoffrey Agnew once said of his acquisitions: "It took an American collector to make the English look again at their own paintings." Mellon's collection was catalogued by Dudley Snelgrove and Judy Egerton . Mellon granted his extensive collection of British art, rare books, and related materials to Yale University in
8856-681: The late Sir Robert Walpole , who had amassed one of the greatest such collections in Europe , and house it in a specially built wing of the British Museum for public viewing. After much debate, the idea was eventually abandoned due to the great expense, and twenty years later, the collection was bought by Tsaritsa Catherine the Great of Russia and housed in the State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg . The Bavarian royal collection (now in
8964-735: The literary magazine. He then went on to graduate from Yale College , where he was a member of the Chi Psi fraternity, Scroll and Key , and served as vice-chairman of the Yale Daily News . He was a great benefactor of his alma maters, donating to the Forbes-Mellon Library at the University of Cambridge , the Mellon Arts Center and the Mellon (now Icahn) Science Center to Choate, two residential colleges at Yale ( Ezra Stiles and Morse ), and
9072-510: The monarch, and the first purpose-built national art galleries were the Dulwich Picture Gallery , founded in 1814 and the National Gallery, London opened to the public a decade later in 1824. Similarly, the National Gallery in Prague was not formed by opening an existing royal or princely art collection to the public, but was created from scratch as a joint project of some Czech aristocrats in 1796. The Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
9180-513: The municipal drive for literacy and public education. Over the middle and late twentieth century, earlier architectural styles employed for art museums (such as the Beaux-Arts style of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City or the Gothic and Renaissance Revival architecture of Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum) succumbed to modern styles , such as Deconstructivism . Examples of this trend include
9288-503: The museum and was one of its earliest acquisitions of a painting by a Black artist. In 1948, Leslie Cheek, Jr. was selected as director of the museum, where he served until 1968. During these decades, he introduced many innovations and was noted as having had significant influence on the course of the institution. His obituary in the New York Times said that he "transformed [the VMFA] from
9396-426: The museum in 1973. In addition to the engravings, the exhibit included six of the 1805 watercolors upon which Blake based them, on view and on loan from New York's Pierpont Morgan Library . Also on view were a complete set of the artist's preliminary drawings from the Fitzwilliam Museum at Cambridge University and the "New Zealand" set of copies of Blake's engravings from the Yale Center for British Art . In 1999,
9504-530: The museum in 2016. In addition to the galleries that display selections of the permanent collection, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts presents special exhibitions of artwork drawn from its own and others' collections, as well as work of active artists. In 1941, the museum presented an exhibition of Modernist works by artists of the School of Paris from the collection of Walter P. Chrysler Jr. (which later became
9612-610: The museum offered crated exhibitions, arts-related audiovisual programs, symposia, lectures, conferences and workshops by visual and performing artists. The traveling artmobile program, tailored to help students meet the state's Standards of Learning , was also included. VMFA has offered in-house educational programs that are supported by multiple specialized studios and on-site exhibition space. These have included courses in drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, fashion, digital arts, and mixed media. Group highlights tours are offered daily. K-12 group tours are also offered, incorporating
9720-573: The museum presented "Splendors of Ancient Egypt," an exhibition assembled from the renowned collection of the Pelizaeus Museum in Hildesheim , Germany. Nearly a quarter of a million people saw the show in Richmond. It was one of the largest exhibitions of Egyptian art ever to tour the United States. In 2011, VMFA was one of seven museums worldwide chosen to exhibit one hundred seventy-six paintings from
9828-582: The paintings of the Orleans Collection , which were housed in a wing of the Palais-Royal in Paris and could be visited for most of the 18th century. In Italy, the art tourism of the Grand Tour became a major industry from the 18th century onwards, and cities made efforts to make their key works accessible. The Capitoline Museums began in 1471 with a donation of classical sculpture to the city of Rome by
9936-400: The personal collection of Pablo Picasso . The exhibit was held from February 19 – May 15, 2011 in ten galleries of the newly renovated museum. Director Alex Nyerges noted: "An exhibition this monumental is extremely rare, especially one that spans the entire career of a figure who many consider the most influential, innovative and creative artist of the 20th century." The collection of paintings
10044-623: The stars. He was also a major benefactor of Clare College and Clare Hall , both in Cambridge , England. Indeed, Clare Hall, founded 1966, gains much from his benefaction; his generous bequest serves the intellectual needs of the graduate college members. The Mellon Fellowship is another example of his generosity, permitting the reciprocal exchange of two students from Yale and two from Clare College for graduate study in each other's institutions. He developed his great love of England and English culture while studying at Clare College from 1929-1931. "It
10152-488: The supervision of director Cheek, a Harvard/Yale-educated architect. He consulted with Yale Drama theater engineers Donald Oenslager and George Izenour for the state-of-the-art facility. Cheek envisioned a central role for a theater arts division in the museum. The theater brought the arts of drama, acting, design, music, and dance to the art galleries. It also hosted programs of the Virginia Film Society. Through
10260-550: The theater. It provided three more gallery areas – two for temporary exhibitions and one for the Lewis Family's Art Nouveau Collection while also housing a gift shop, members' dining room, and other visitor functions. However, the curved walls of the North Wing's "kidney-shaped" design proved to be functionally awkward and impractical, and it was later replaced. The 1976 wing and sculpture garden were later demolished to make room for
10368-399: The traditional art museum, including industrial tools and handicrafts that encourage imagination in areas traditionally considered mundane. This view of the art museum envisions it as one well-suited to an industrial world, indeed enhancing it. Dana viewed paintings and sculptures as much less useful than industrial products, comparing the museum to a department store. In addition, he encouraged
10476-606: Was a continuation of trends already well established. The building now occupied by the Prado in Madrid was built before the French Revolution for the public display of parts of the royal art collection, and similar royal galleries were opened to the public in Vienna , Munich and other capitals. In Great Britain, however, the corresponding Royal Collection remained in the private hands of
10584-722: Was a trustee of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame and one of the only five people ever designated an "Exemplar of Racing" by the Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame and the English Jockey Club Hall of Fame . Among honors, he was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1971, created an Honorary Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of
10692-549: Was added to the Paul Mellon Fund which was established as a trust fund for the museum at the time of the bequest, the income from which is being used to support education, exhibitions and publications. He also helped to buy the 28,625 acres (115.8 km ) Cape Hatteras National Seashore and the 1,500 acres (610 ha) Sky Meadows State Park in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, where he used to go to look at
10800-523: Was an American philanthropist and a breeder of thoroughbred racehorses . He is one of only five people ever designated an "Exemplar of Racing" by the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame . He was co-heir to one of America's greatest business fortunes, derived from the Mellon Bank created by his grandfather Thomas Mellon , his father Andrew W. Mellon , and his father's brother Richard B. Mellon . In 1957, when Fortune prepared its first list of
10908-420: Was difficult for the theatre company. In addition, the city of Richmond was still characterized as having a "historical resistance" to the offerings of professional theatre. Problems continued into the early 21st century, when a loss of some state funding occurred because of budget problems. In addition, the museum wanted to regain the theater space for other uses. The theater was expected to relocate in 2003, and
11016-554: Was for example dismissed as director of the Alte Nationalgalerie (Old National Gallery) in Berlin in 1933 by the new Nazi authorities for not being politically suitable. The question of the place of the art museum in its community has long been under debate. Some see art museums as fundamentally elitist institutions, while others see them as institutions with the potential for societal education and uplift. John Cotton Dana , an American librarian and museum director, as well as
11124-571: Was from a permanent collection housed in the Musée Picasso , then under renovation. The VMFA is a member of the French Regional & American Museums Exchange (FRAME). The Office of Statewide Partnerships delivered programs and exhibitions throughout the commonwealth via a voluntary network of more than 350 nonprofit institutions (museums, galleries, art organizations, schools, community colleges, colleges and universities). Through this program,
11232-414: Was his alma mater, Yale University . His most generous and well-known gifts established the Yale Center for British Art , but his legacy makes itself felt across the campus. Mellon's other major gift was to provide extensive funding to support the creation of two new undergraduate residential colleges at Yale, Ezra Stiles College and Morse College . Designed by Eero Saarinen , these colleges along with
11340-404: Was installed inside the galleries. In 2019, the Virginia Museum of Fine Art commissioned a large-scale monumental sculpture from artist Kehinde Wiley that was installed in front of the museum. The work in bronze, which Wiley had titled Rumors of War , was modeled after one of Monument Avenue ’s Confederate statues after he visited Richmond for a retrospective exhibition of his artwork held at
11448-467: Was projected to be an anchor tenant in a new Virginia Performing Arts Center, but that was not planned for completion until 2007, and by late 2002, the theater had not found temporary relocation space. In 2002, a series of fatal sniper attacks in the metropolitan DC area and northern Virginia region killed five people in quick succession. Residents were fearful of going out, and the theater suffered reduced audiences and additional lost income. In December 2002,
11556-556: Was the Green Vault of the Kingdom of Saxony in the 1720s. Privately funded museums open to the public began to be established from the 17th century onwards, often based around a collection of the cabinet of curiosities type. The first such museum was the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford , opened in 1683 to house and display the artefacts of Elias Ashmole that were given to Oxford University in
11664-825: Was while I was at Cambridge that I embarked on the dangerous seas of collecting", Paul Mellon once said—a statement by the man who described himself as "the incurable collector" that has had profound implications for his major beneficiaries, both in the US and the UK. Mellon helped to arrange the merger of the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research , founded by his father Andrew W. Mellon and uncle Richard B. Mellon with Andrew Carnegie's Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1967 to create Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Additionally, he donated substantial funds to Carnegie Mellon. Mellon
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