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Walters Art Museum (Visit this link)
The Walters Art Museum preserves and develops in the public trust a
distinguished collection of world art from antiquity to the 20th century. In
1931, the museum's founding benefactor, Henry Walters, bequeathed the core
collection to the City of Baltimore "for the benefit of the public." Since its
opening, the Walters has been a national leader in scholarship, conservation,
and education.
The Walters Art Museum brings art and people together for enjoyment, discovery,
and learning. We strive to create a place where people of every background can
be touched by art. We are committed to exhibitions and programs that will
strengthen and sustain our community.
During the 19th and early 20th centuries, William Thompson Walters and his son,
Henry, assembled a diverse range of artworks from around the world—from European
master paintings and decorative arts to Greek and Roman antiquities and Far
Eastern ceramics. Together, they collected nearly 22,000 works of art, building
the foundation for a museum that offers an extraordinary survey of 55 centuries.
The Walters' interest in art collecting began in the 1850s, when William began
collecting the work of local talents. In 1861, when the Walters family moved
from Baltimore to Paris after the outbreak of the Civil War, William and his
wife, Ellen, began to collect European art from artists, dealers, and
exhibitions throughout France, Switzerland, Italy, and England. After Ellen's
untimely death in 1862, William turned to art collecting with even more
enthusiasm.
At the end of the war, in 1865, William returned to his home in Mount Vernon
with his children, Henry and Jennie. In 1874, William opened his house at 65
Mount Vernon Place to visitors every Wednesday during April and May. He charged
a 50-cent admission fee, which he then donated to the Baltimore Association for
the Improvement in the Condition of the Poor. These openings became an annual
event in 1878.
When William died in 1894, he bequeathed his collection to his son, Henry, who
greatly expanded the scope of acquisitions, including his astounding purchase of
the contents of a palace in Rome that contained over 1,700 pieces. In September
1900, Henry bought the three houses adjoining the property his father had owned
to house and display his collection. He had the site transformed into a
palazzo-like building, which opened to the public in 1909. He died in 1931,
leaving the building and its contents to the mayor and city council of Baltimore
"for the benefit of the public." The Walters Art Gallery—now the Walters Art
Museum—opened its doors for the first time as a public institution on November
3, 1934. In 1974, a new, larger wing was opened on the corner of Centre and
Cathedral streets, adding dramatically to the museum's gallery space. In 1991,
the museum opened another building, Hackerman House, which holds the collection
of Asian art.
In 1998, the Walters began a major, three-year renovation of its Centre Street
Building. The $24-million project was completed in October 2001 and has resulted
in an extensive transformation of the largest of the museum's three buildings,
providing 39 newly configured and refurbished galleries, a new four-story glass
entryway opening dramatically onto the street, an array of expanded public
spaces, and technological upgrades that include orientation kiosks, touch-screen
learning kiosks, and a 300-stop random-access audio tour.
http://www.thewalters.org