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Detroit Institute of Arts (Visit this link)
The DIA has been a beacon of culture for the Detroit area for well over a
century. Founded in 1885, the museum was originally located on Jefferson Avenue,
but, due to its rapidly expanding collection, moved to a larger site on Woodward
Avenue in 1927. The new Beaux-Arts building, designed by Paul Cret, was
immediately referred to as the “temple of art.” Two wings were added in the
1960s and 1970s, and a major renovation and expansion that began in 1999 is
scheduled for completion in 2007.
The DIA’s collection is one of the largest, most significant in the United
States, comprising a multicultural and multinational survey of human creativity
from prehistory through the 21st century. The foundation was laid by William
Valentiner, a scholar and art historian from Berlin, who was director from
1924–45. His extensive contacts in Europe, along with support from generous
patrons, enabled him to acquire many important works that established the
framework of today’s collections. Among the notable acquisitions during his
tenure are Mexican artist Diego Rivera’s Detroit Industry fresco cycle,
considered Rivera’s most important work in the U.S., and Vincent van Gogh’s Self
Portrait, the first van Gogh painting to enter a U.S. museum collection.
A hallmark of the DIA is the diversity of the collection. In addition to
outstanding American, European, Modern and Contemporary, and Graphic art, the
museum holds significant works of African, Asian, Native American, Oceanic,
Islamic, and Ancient art. Among these are the masterpiece sculpture Nail Figure
from Zaire and a rare Korean Head of Buddha. In 2000, the DIA established the
General Motors Center for African American Art as a curatorial department in
order to broaden the museum’s collection of African American art.
http://www.dia.org