The McNay Art Museum, founded in 1954 in

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_ ...

, is the first

modern art Modern art includes artistic work produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the styles and philosophies of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the tradi ...

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make th ...

in the U.S. state of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. The museum was created by

Marion Koogler McNay Marion Koogler McNay (7 February 1883 – 13 April 1950), was an American painter, art collector, and art teacher who inherited a substantial oil fortune upon the death of her parents. She later willed her fortune to be used to establish San Ant ...

's original bequest of most of her fortune, her important art collection and her 24-room Spanish Colonial Revival-style mansion that sits on that are landscaped with

fountain A fountain, from the Latin "fons" (genitive "fontis"), meaning source or spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect. Fountains were ori ...

s, broad lawns and a Japanese-inspired garden and fishpond. McNay was an American painter and art teacher who inherited a substantial oil fortune upon the death of her father. The museum was named after her, and has been expanded to include galleries of medieval and Renaissance artwork and a larger collection of 20th-century European and American modernist work. She built a home in 1927 designed by

Atlee Ayres Atlee Bernard Ayres (July 12, 1873 – November 6, 1969) was an American architect. He lived in central Texas. History Atlee B. Ayres was born in Hillsboro, Ohio, on July 12, 1873, the son of Nathan Tandy and Mary Parsons Ayres. The family moved t ...

and his son

Robert M. Ayres Robert Moss Ayres (August 19, 1898 – August 7, 1977) was an American architect who lived and worked in Texas. He was the son and business partner of Atlee Ayres. Early life and education Ayres was born in San Antonio to Atlee B. Ayres and Olive ...

. Upon her death, the house was bequeathed to the City of San Antonio to house the museum. The museum focuses primarily on 19th- and 20th-century European and American art by such artists as

Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th-century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically d ...

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

Paul Gauguin Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (, ; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French Post-Impressionist artist. Unappreciated until after his death, Gauguin is now recognized for his experimental use of colour and Synthetist style that were distinct fr ...

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known prim ...

Georgia O'Keeffe Georgia Totto O'Keeffe (November 15, 1887 – March 6, 1986) was an American modernist artist. She was known for her paintings of enlarged flowers, New York skyscrapers, and New Mexico landscapes. O'Keeffe has been called the "Mother of Ame ...

Diego Rivera Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez, known as Diego Rivera (; December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957), was a prominent Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the ...

Mary Cassatt Mary Stevenson Cassatt (; May 22, 1844June 14, 1926) was an American painter and printmaker. She was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania (now part of Pittsburgh's North Side), but lived much of her adult life in France, where she befriended Edgar De ...

, and

Edward Hopper Edward Hopper (July 22, 1882 – May 15, 1967) was an American realist painter and printmaker. While he is widely known for his oil paintings, he was equally proficient as a watercolorist and printmaker in etching. Hopper created subdued drama ...

. The collection today consists of over 20,000 objects and is one of the finest collections of contemporary art and sculpture in the Southwestern United States. The museum also is home to the Tobin Collection of Theatre Arts, which is one of the premiere collections of its kind in the U.S., and a research library with over 30,000 volumes. The McNay Art Museum added the Jane and Arthur Stieren Center for Exhibitions in 2008, built by internationally renowned architect

Jean-Paul Viguier Jean-Paul Viguier (born 4 May 1946) is a French architect. He is considered one of the world's leading architects and one of the few French ones to work extensively outside of Europe. Early works Graduated from the École nationale supérieure ...

, to display their Modern collection. The 45,000-square-foot structure houses light-filled galleries for special exhibitions, a glass-fronted gallery for sculpture from the museum's collection, a gallery for paper works, wall cases for small objects, and state-of-the-art lecture hall and learning centers. The center's elegant design, rich materials, and architectural details both contrast with and complement the original Spanish Colonial Revival-style residence, which it adjoins.

Collection highlights

File:Saint Barbara by the Master of Frankfurt, McNay.jpg, Master of Frankfurt, ''Saint Barbara''. 1460 ca. 32.1 x 22.8 cm. Oil on panel. File:Saint Catherine by the Master of Frankfurt, McNay.jpg, Master of Frankfurt, ''Saint Catherine''. 1460 ca. 32.4 x 21.7 cm. Oil on panel. File:El Greco 018.jpg, Head of Christ (ca. 1579),

El Greco Domḗnikos Theotokópoulos ( el, Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος ; 1 October 1541 7 April 1614), most widely known as El Greco ("The Greek"), was a Greek painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. "El ...

, ''Head of Christ''. 1579 ca. 50.5 x 38.9 cm. Oil on canvas. File:Odilon Redon - Profile and Flowers, 1912.jpg,

Odilon Redon Odilon Redon (born Bertrand Redon; ; 20 April 18406 July 1916) was a French symbolist painter, printmaker, draughtsman and pastellist. Early in his career, both before and after fighting in the Franco-Prussian War, he worked almost exclusivel ...

, ''Profile and Flowers''. 1912. 70.2 x 55.2 cm. Pastel on paper. File:Girl with Blue Eyes by Amedeo Modigliani, 1918.jpg,

Amedeo Modigliani Amedeo Clemente Modigliani (, ; 12 July 1884 – 24 January 1920) was an Italian painter and sculptor who worked mainly in France. He is known for portraits and nudes in a modern style characterized by a surreal elongation of faces, necks, and ...

, ''Girl with Blue Eyes''. 1918. 61 x 46.4 cm. Oil on canvas.

References

* *
Marion Koogler McNay, Fine Art Dealers Association

McNay Press Release

McNay Press Release

External links

* {{Authority control Contemporary art galleries in the United States Art museums and galleries in Texas Museums in San Antonio 1950 establishments in Texas Art museums established in 1950 Modern art museums Historic house museums in Texas Spanish Colonial Revival architecture in Texas Houses in San Antonio Former private collections in the United States Atlee B. Ayres buildings

Collection highlights

See also

References

External links