Walters Art Museum - Citizendia

The Walters Art Museum, located in Baltimore, Maryland's Mount Vernon neighborhood, is a public art museum founded in 1934. Mount Vernon is a Neighborhood located just to the north of downtown Baltimore Maryland. The museum's collection was amassed substantially by two men, William Thompson Walters (1819-1894), who began serious collecting when he moved to Paris at the outbreak of the American Civil War, and Henry Walters (1848–1931), who refined the collection and rehoused it in a palazzo building on Charles Street which opened in 1909. Causes of the war See also Origins of the American Civil War, Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War The coexistence of a slave-owning South Henry Walters (1848 - 1931 was an American rail magnate ( Atlantic Coast Line) and founder of the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore Maryland. For other meanings (eg the word's use in place names see Palazzo (disambiguation. Upon his death, Henry Walters bequeathed the collection of over 22,000 works and the original Charles Street palazzo building to the city of Baltimore, “for the benefit of the public. ” The collection touches masterworks of ancient Egypt, Greek sculpture and Roman sarcophagi, medieval ivories, illuminated manuscripts, Renaissance bronzes, Old Master and 19th-century paintings, Chinese ceramics and bronzes, and Art Deco jewelry. Art Deco was a popular international design movement from 1925 until 1939 affecting the decorative arts such as Architecture, Interior design, and Industrial

In the fall of 2001, the Walters reopened its largest building after a dramatic three-year renovation. The Walters Art Museum is where the Archimedes Palimpsest may be seen. The Archimedes Palimpsest is a Palimpsest on Parchment in the form of a Codex which originally was a copy of an otherwise unknown work of the ancient

Starting Sunday, October 1, 2006, the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Walters Art Museum began having free admission year-round as a result of grants given by Baltimore City and Baltimore County. Events 331 BC - Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of Gaugamela. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. The Baltimore Museum of Art in Baltimore Maryland, was founded in 1914 ^[1]

1 Museum Buildings
2 Notes
3 References
4 External links
5 See also

Museum Buildings

The Charles Street Building

Henry Walters’ original gallery was designed by William Adams Delano and erected between 1904 and 1909. William Adams Delano ( January 21 1874 &ndash January 12 1960) was a prominent American Architect, a partner with Its exterior was inspired by the Renaissance-revival style Hôtel Pourtalès in Paris and its interior was modeled after the 17th-century Collegio dei Gesuiti (now the Palazzo dell’Università) built by the Balbi family for the Jesuits in Genoa. The arts of the Renaissance and Baroque periods, French decorative arts of the 18th and 19th centuries, and manuscripts and rare books are now exhibited in this palazzo-like building. ^[2]

The Centre Street Building

Designed by the Boston firm of Shepley, Bullfinch, Richardson, and Abbott, in the “Brutalist” style prevailing in the 1960s, this building opened in 1974. The term Brutalist Architecture originates from the French Béton brut, or "raw concrete" a term used by Le Corbusier to describe It was substantially altered in 1998-2001 to allow for a four-story glass atrium, a suspended staircase, a café and an enlarged museum store and a library. The ancient, Byzantine, medieval, Ethiopian, and 19th-century European collections are housed in this building as is the museum’s conservation laboratory, which is one of the oldest in the country. ^[3]

Hackerman House

This Greek-revival mansion, designed by John Rudolph Niernsee and erected between 1848 and 1850 for Dr. John Rudolph Niernsee (1814&ndash1885 was an American architect the head architect for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. John Hanson Thomas, was long regarded as the most “elegant” house in Mount Vernon Place. Among the Thomas’s distinguished guests were the Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII, and General Kossuth, the Hungarian freedom fighter. Lajos Kossuth (ˈlɒjoʃ ˈkoʃut Monok, September 19 1802 &ndash Turin, March 20 1894 was a Hungarian lawyer politician and Regent-President Since 1991, the house has been devoted to the Walters’ holdings of Asian art. ^[4]

Notes

^ FREE ADMISSION AT BALTIMORE MUSEUM OF ART AND WALTERS ART MUSEUM BEGINS OCTOBER 1. Groundbreaking cooperation and financial support from Baltimore City and Baltimore County provides greater public access to world-class art. Retrieved on September 23, 2006.
^ Guide to the Collections, p. 14-15
^ Walters Art Museum website: From Gallery to Museum
^ Guide to the Collections, p. 18

References

The Walters Art Gallery, Guide to the Collections, 1997, Scala Books, ISBN 0-911886-48-6

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