The Milwaukee Art Museum (also referred to as MAM) is an art museum in

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. Its collection of over 34,000 works of art and gallery spaces totaling 150,000 sq. ft. (13,900 m²) make it the largest art museum in the state of Wisconsin and one of the largest art museums in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The Milwaukee Art Museum emerged from the reunion of two prior art institutions, the Layton Art Gallery and the Milwaukee Art Institute, both established in 1888. In 1957, they combined their collections inside the newly-completed

Milwaukee County War Memorial The Milwaukee County War Memorial is a memorial building located on Lake Michigan in Milwaukee, WI. It was designed by architect Eero Saarinen. Construction began in 1955 and the building was dedicated on Veterans Day in 1957. The mosaic mural b ...

Finnish-American Finnish Americans (, ) comprise Americans with ancestral roots in Finland, or Finnish people who immigrated to and reside in the United States. The Finnish-American population is around 650,000. Many Finnish people historically immigrated to ...

architect

Eero Saarinen Eero Saarinen (, ; August 20, 1910 – September 1, 1961) was a Finnish-American architect and industrial designer who created a wide array of innovative designs for buildings and monuments, including the General Motors Technical Center; the pa ...

, forming the Milwaukee Arts Center (renamed Milwaukee Art Museum in 1980). Subsequent expansions included the David Kahler Building in 1975, the Quadracci Pavilion by Spanish architect

Santiago Calatrava Santiago Calatrava Valls (born 28 July 1951) is a Spaniards, Spanish-Swiss people, Swiss architect, structural engineer, sculptor and painter, particularly known for his bridges supported by single leaning pylons, and his railway stations, stad ...

, inaugurated in 2001, and the East End entrance, opened in 2015. Among highlights of the

collection Collection or Collections may refer to: Computing * Collection (abstract data type), the abstract concept of collections in computer science * Collection (linking), the act of linkage editing in computing * Garbage collection (computing), autom ...

are paintings by American artists of the

Ashcan School The Ashcan School, also called the Ash Can School, was an artistic movement in the United States during the late 19th-early 20th century that produced works portraying scenes of daily life in New York, often in the city's poorer neighborhoods. T ...

, American and European

decorative arts ] The decorative arts are arts or crafts whose aim is the design and manufacture of objects that are both beautiful and functional. This includes most of the objects for the interiors of buildings, as well as interior design, but typically excl ...

, 19th-century

German art German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

and early-20th-century

German Expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

art, as well as

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

and

Haitian art Haitian art is a complex tradition, reflecting African roots with strong Indigenous, American and European aesthetic and religious influences. It is an important expression of Haitian culture and history. Many artists cluster in "schools" of pai ...

. The museum also holds one of the largest collections of works by Wisconsin-born artist

Georgia O'Keeffe Georgia Totto O'Keeffe (November 15, 1887 March 6, 1986) was an American Modernism, modernist painter and drafter, draftswoman whose career spanned seven decades and whose work remained largely independent of major art movements. Called the "M ...

in the United States. In 2024, the Milwaukee Art Museum was ranked 8th best art museum in the country by the readers and editors of ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'', one of the biggest US newspapers by number of subscribers and print circulation.

Location and visit

Located on the lakefront of

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and depth () after Lake Superior and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the ...

, the Milwaukee Art Museum is one of the largest art museums in the

Midwestern United States The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

. Aside from its galleries, the museum includes a cafe, named Cafe Calatrava, and a gift shop.

Hours

Normal operating hours for MAM are Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Thursday 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. The museum is closed Mondays and Tuesdays.

History

Origins to the 1960s

Beginning around 1870, multiple organizations were founded in order to bring an art gallery to Milwaukee, as the city was still a growing port town with few or no facilities to hold major art exhibitions. All attempts to build a major art gallery failed despite the presence of active art collectors in town, such as banker Alexander Mitchell, and manufacturers

William Henry Metcalf William Henry Metcalf VC, MM & Bar (29 January 1894 – 8 August 1968) was an American soldier in the Canadian Army during World War I. Metcalf was a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that ...

and Charles Allis. In 1883, local businessman Frederick Layton, a British immigrant who made his fortune through

wholesale Wholesaling or distributing is the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional or other professional business users; or to other wholesalers (wholesale businesses) and related subordinated services. In ...

meatpacking The meat-packing industry (also spelled meatpacking industry or meat packing industry) handles the slaughtering, processing, packaging, and distribution of meat from animals such as cattle, pigs, sheep and other livestock. Poultry is generally n ...

, and

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

ventures in Wisconsin, suggested establishing an art gallery for the city of Milwaukee. He commissioned Scottish architect

George Ashdown Audsley George Ashdown Audsley (September 6, 1838 – June 21, 1925) was an accomplished architect, artist, illustrator, writer, decorator and Organ building, pipe organ designer who excelled in many artistic fields but is perhaps best known today for ...

, of the firm W. & G. Audsley, to design the building later known as the Layton Art Gallery. Audsley's

Greek Revival Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...

, one-story building was inaugurated on April 5, 1888. Layton provided a $100,000 endowment to the new gallery for the acquisition of artworks, while part of his own collection was put on display. Wisconsin painters Edwin C. Eldridge and George Raab served as the gallery's first and second curators, respectively. In parallel, the Milwaukee Art Association (later Milwaukee Art Society), created by a group of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

panorama A panorama (formed from Greek language, Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any Obtuse angle, wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography (panoramic photography), film, seismic image ...

artists and local businessmen, disputed the claim to be the city's first art gallery, having also been established in 1888. In 1911, it relocated to a new building adjacent to the Layton Art Gallery and eventually took on the name of Milwaukee Art Institute five years later. The institute's collection consisted mostly of gifts and purchases from Wisconsin artists, as well as gifts from the personal collection of one of its presidents, Samuel O. Buckner. Following Frederick Layton's death, George Raab was replaced by educator Charlotte Partridge as curator and director of the Layton Art Gallery in 1922. Partridge had founded the Layton School of Art two years prior, and would continue to lead it along with her lifelong partner, art instructor Miriam Frink. During her tenure, she focused on contemporary art exhibitions and acquisitions, and additionally served as director of the

Federal Art Project The Federal Art Project (1935–1943) was a New Deal program to fund the visual arts in the United States. Under national director Holger Cahill, it was one of five Federal Project Number One projects sponsored by the Works Progress Administratio ...

for Wisconsin from 1935 to 1939, as part of the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...

, a

New Deal agency The alphabet agencies, or New Deal agencies, were the U.S. federal government agencies created as part of the New Deal of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The earliest agencies were created to combat the Great Depression in the United States a ...

. Meanwhile, the Milwaukee Art Institute came under the direction of German-born painter

Alfred Pelikan Alfred Pelikan (March 15, 1893 – December 20, 1987) was a German-born American painter, educator and museum director. He was based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Biography Pelikan was born on March 15, 1893, into a family of circus artists from B ...

in 1926, a position he occupied until 1942. In 1954, Partridge retired from the Layton Art Gallery, while Frink retired from the directorship of the Layton School of Art, where she was replaced by artist

Edmund Lewandowski Edmund D. Lewandowski (July 3, 1914 – September 7, 1998) was an American Precisionist artist who was often exhibited in the Downtown Gallery alongside other artists such as Charles Sheeler, Charles Demuth, Georgia O'Keeffe, Ralston Crawford ...

. A year later, the Milwaukee Art Institute and Layton Art Gallery formed the Milwaukee Art Center, under the direction of art historian and museum curator Edward H. Dwight. The institution moved into the newly-built

-designed

and formally opened in 1957.

Kahler Building and growth of collections

In 1975, Margaret (Peg) Bradley, the widow of industrialist

Harry Lynde Bradley Harry Lynde Bradley (January 5, 1885 – July 23, 1965), the brother of Lynde Bradley, was the co-founder of the Allen-Bradley Company and the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation. He "became deeply involved in conservative causes", John J. Mille ...

, donated an ensemble of more than 600

European European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...

and

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

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 tradit ...

works to the museum. Highlights of the gift include

Fauvist Fauvism ( ) is a style of painting and an art movement that emerged in France at the beginning of the 20th century. It was the style of (, ''the wild beasts''), a group of modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong col ...

paintings,

works by

Wassily Kandinsky Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky ( – 13 December 1944) was a Russian painter and art theorist. Kandinsky is generally credited as one of the pioneers of abstract art, abstraction in western art. Born in Moscow, he spent his childhood in ...

and

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (6 May 1880 – 15 June 1938) was a German Expressionism, expressionist Painting, painter and printmaker and one of the founders of the artists group Die Brücke or "The Bridge", a key group leading to the foundation of Expr ...

, as well as a group of works by

Georgia O’Keeffe Georgia Totto O'Keeffe (November 15, 1887 March 6, 1986) was an American modernist painter and draftswoman whose career spanned seven decades and whose work remained largely independent of major art movements. Called the "Mother of American m ...

. The

brutalist Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by minimalist constructions that showcase the b ...

Kahler Building (1975) was designed by architect David Kahler in response to the donation to house the museum's new Bradley Wing, as well as other suites of galleries for the collection. Peg Bradley herself contributed $1 million to the construction of the addition. In the wake of the Kahler expansion, the name of Milwaukee Art Museum was officially adopted by the institution in 1980. In 1989, the gift of the Michael and Julie Hall Collection strenghtened the museum's collection of

and

self-taught art Autodidacticism (also autodidactism) or self-education (also self-learning, self-study and self-teaching) is the practice of education without the guidance of schoolmasters (i.e., teachers, professors, institutions). Overview Autodida ...

. In 1999, the Milwaukee-based Chipstone Foundation established a partnership with the museum to display part of their collections of American decorative arts and furniture in dedicated galleries on a rotating basis.

Quadracci Pavilion and further expansions (since 2001)

The Quadracci Pavilion, a multi-purpose 13,197-square-meter (142,050-square-foot) building including a reception hall, auditorium, exhibition space, and store, was designed by Spanish architect

and completed in 2001. The construction method of concrete slabs into timber frames was revolutionary in architecture, with Windover Hall, a -tall grand reception area topped with a glass roof, standing at the center of the structure. The style and symbolism of the building were based on

Gothic architecture Gothic architecture is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High Middle Ages, High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It evolved f ...

and designed to represent the shape of a ship looking over Lake Michigan. As Calatrava stated, “the building’s form is at once formal (completing the composition), functional (controlling the level of light), symbolic (opening to welcome visitors), and iconic (creating a memorable image for the Museum and the city).” The Quadracci Pavilion contains a movable ''

brise soleil Brise, Brisé or Briše may refer to: * Brisé (dance), a type of jump in ballet * "Brisé" (song), Maître Gims 2015 *Brisé (music), Style brisé (French: "broken style"), Baroque music Places * Briše, Kamnik, Slovenia * Briše pri Polhovem G ...

'' that opens up for a wingspan of during the day, folding at night or during inclement weather. Sensors on the wings monitor wind speeds, so if winds reach over for at least three seconds, the wings close. The pavilion received the 2004

Outstanding Structure Award The Outstanding Structure Award is an award presented by the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering to the Engineer, Architect, Contractor, and the Owner in recognition of ''the most remarkable, innovative, creative or other ...

from the

International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering The International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE) is a non-profit organisation with mission to promote the exchange of knowledge and to advance the practice of structural engineering worldwide in the service of the profes ...

. The addition brought the total size of the museum to 341,000 square feet. The Cudahy Gardens were designed in conjunction with the Quadracci Pavilion by landscape architect

Dan Kiley Daniel Urban Kiley (2 September 1912 – 21 February 2004) was an American landscape architect, who worked in the style of modern architecture. Kiley designed over one-thousand landscape projects including Gateway Arch National Park in St. Louis ...

. This garden measures 600 feet by 100 feet, a rectangular shape that is divided into five lawns by a series of ten-foot-tall hedge lines. In this garden there is a center fountain that creates a 4-foot-tall water curtain. There are linden trees and crabapple trees scattered throughout this garden as well. The gardens were named after philanthropist Michael Cudahy, whose donations greatly contributed to their construction. The year 2001 saw the opening of the Herzfeld Photography, Print, and Drawing Study Center on the lower level of the Kahler Building, following a gift from the Milwaukee-based Richard and Ethel Herzfeld Foundation. In 2004, the museum acquired close to 300 American and European works through the gift of the collection of Maurice and Esther Leah Ritz. This was followed in 2010 and 2012 by the acquisition of close to 500 folk and

self-taught Autodidacticism (also autodidactism) or self-education (also self-learning, self-study and self-teaching) is the practice of education without the guidance of schoolmasters (i.e., teachers, professors, institutions). Overview Autodi ...

American artworks from the collections of businessman Anthony Petullo and playwright

Lanford Wilson Lanford Wilson (April 13, 1937March 24, 2011) was an American playwright. His work, as described by ''The New York Times'', was "earthy, realist, greatly admired ndwidely performed". Fox, Margalit"Lanford Wilson, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Playwrigh ...

, including paintings and sculpture by African American artists

Bill Traylor William Traylor (April 1, – October 23, 1949) was an African-American self-taught artist from Lowndes County, Alabama. Born into slavery, Traylor spent the majority of his life after emancipation as a sharecropper. It was only after 19 ...

Clementine Hunter Clementine Hunter (pronounced Clementeen; late December 1886 or early January 1887 – January 1, 1988) was a self-taught Black folk artist from the Cane River region of Louisiana, who lived and worked on Melrose Plantation. Hunter was born ...

, William L. Hawkins,

Joseph Yoakum Joseph Elmer Yoakum (c. February 22, 1891 – December 25, 1972) was an American self-taught painter. He was of African-American and possibly of Native American–descent, and was known for his landscape paintings in the outsider art-style. He ...

Minnie Evans Minnie Eva Evans (December 12, 1892 – December 16, 1987) was an African-American artist who worked in the United States from the 1940s to the 1980s. Evans used different types of media in her work such as oils and graphite, but started with us ...

, and

Bessie Harvey Bessie Harvey (born Bessie Ruth White; October 11, 1929 – August 12, 1994) was an American artist best known for her sculptures constructed out of found objects, primarily pieces of wood. A deeply religious person, Harvey's faith and her own ...

. In November 2015, the museum opened a $34 million expansion funded jointly by a museum capital campaign and by

Milwaukee County Milwaukee County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. At the 2020 census, the population was 939,489, down from 947,735 in 2010. It is both the most populous and most densely populated county in Wisconsin, containing about 1 ...

. The expansion was designed by Milwaukee architect James Shields and the HGA firm to provide additional gallery space, including a section devoted to light-based media, photography, and video installations. The two-story building's total size is 120,000 sq. ft., including a new atrium and lakefront-facing entry point for visitors. The design emerged after a lengthy process that included the main architect's temporary departure because of design disputes in 2014. In 2017, the museum grouped its George Peckham Miller Art Research Library (established in 1916), its archives, and its manuscripts under a unique Milwaukee Art Museum Research Center, before relocating part of these collections to the historic Judge Jason Downer Mansion, in the neighborhood of Yankee Hill. The house was built in the

High Victorian Gothic High Victorian Gothic was an eclectic architectural style and movement during the mid-late 19th century. It is seen by architectural historians as either a sub-style of the broader Gothic Revival style, or a separate style in its own right. Prom ...

style for lawyer and former

Wisconsin Supreme Court The Wisconsin Supreme Court is the Supreme court, highest and final court of appeals in the state judicial system of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. In addition to hearing appeals of lower Wisconsin court decisions, the Wisconsin Supreme Court also ...

justice

Jason Downer Jason Downer (September 9, 1813September 1, 1883) was an American lawyer, judge, and Wisconsin pioneer. He was a justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court from 1864 to 1867. Earlier in his life, he was one of the earliest editors of the ''Milwaukee ...

in 1874. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1989, along with several properties, as part of the First Ward Triangle Historic District. Among archival collections preserved by the museum are the papers and drawings of industrial designer

Brooks Stevens Clifford Brooks Stevens (June 7, 1911 – January 4, 1995) was an American industrial designer of home furnishings, appliances, automobiles, passenger railroad cars, and motorcycles, as well as a graphic designer and stylist. Stevens founded Br ...

and interior designer George Mann Niedecken. In December 2017, the museum announced its purchase of nearby O'Donnell Park from Milwaukee County. The institution had already commissioned the installation of ''The Calling'', a public sculpture by American artist Mark di Suvero, on the site in 1982. In 2023, the park was officially renamed Museum Center Park.

Collection

The museum houses over 34,000 works of art, a selection of which is presented on four floors, with works from antiquity to the present. Included in the collection are 15th- to 20th-century European and 17th- to 20th-century American paintings, sculpture, prints, drawings, decorative arts, photographs, and folk and self-taught art. Some artists represented include

Gustave Caillebotte Gustave Caillebotte (; 19 August 1848 – 21 February 1894) was a French painter who was a member and patron of the Impressionists, although he painted in a more Realism (arts), realistic manner than many others in the group. Caillebotte was kno ...

Francisco de Zurbarán Francisco de Zurbarán ( , ; baptized 7 November 1598 – 27 August 1664) was a Spanish painter. He is known primarily for his religious paintings depicting monks, nuns, and martyrs, and for his still-lifes. Zurbarán gained the nickname "Spanis ...

Jean-Honoré Fragonard Jean-Honoré Fragonard (; 5 April 1732 (birth/baptism certificate) – 22 August 1806) was a French painter and printmaker whose late Rococo manner was distinguished by remarkable facility, exuberance, and hedonism. One of the most prolific art ...

Auguste Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (; ; 12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a u ...

Edgar Degas Edgar Degas (, ; born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, ; 19 July 183427 September 1917) was a French Impressionist artist famous for his pastel drawings and oil paintings. Degas also produced bronze sculptures, prints, and drawings. Degas is e ...

Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, ; ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of Impressionism painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During his ...

Gabriele Münter Gabriele Münter (19 February 1877 – 19 May 1962) was a German expressionist painter who was at the forefront of the Munich avant-garde in the early 20th century. She studied and lived with the painter Wassily Kandinsky and was a founding mem ...

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Count, ''Comte'' Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa (24 November 1864 – 9 September 1901), known as Toulouse-Lautrec (), was a French painter, printmaker, draughtsman, caricaturist, and illustrator whose immersion in the colour ...

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright Sr. (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed List of Frank Lloyd Wright works, more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key ...

Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

Joan Miró Joan Miró i Ferrà ( , ; ; 20 April 1893 – 25 December 1983) was a Catalan Spanish painter, sculptor and Ceramic art, ceramist. A museum dedicated to his work, the Fundació Joan Miró, was established in his native city of Barcelona ...

Mark Rothko Mark Rothko ( ; Markus Yakovlevich Rothkowitz until 1940; September 25, 1903February 25, 1970) was an American abstract art, abstract painter. He is best known for his color field paintings that depicted irregular and painterly rectangular reg ...

Robert Gober Robert Gober (born September 12, 1954) is an American sculptor. His work is often related to domestic and familiar objects such as sinks, doors, and legs. Early life and education Gober was born in Wallingford, Connecticut.Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...

. It also has paintings by European painters

Francesco Botticini Francesco Botticini (real name Francesco di Giovanni, 1446 – 16 January 1498) was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. He was born in Florence, where he remained active until his death in 1498. Although there are only few documented wor ...

Jan Swart van Groningen Jan Swart van Groningen (c. 1495 in Groningen – c. 1563 in Antwerp), was a Dutch Renaissance painter. Biography According to Karel van Mander he was in Gouda in 1522–1523, at the same time that Jan van Scorel was there, who had just ret ...

Jan van Goyen Jan Josephszoon van Goyen (; 13 January 1596 – 27 April 1656) was a Dutch landscape painter. The scope of his landscape subjects was very broad as he painted forest landscapes, marine paintings, river landscapes, beach scenes, winter landscap ...

Franz von Lenbach Franz Seraph Lenbach, after 1882, Ritter von Lenbach (13 December 1836 – 6 May 1904), was a German painter known primarily for his portraits of prominent personalities from the nobility, the arts, and industry. Because of his standing in society ...

, Ferdinand Waldmüller,

Carl Spitzweg Carl Spitzweg (February 5, 1808 – September 23, 1885) was a German romantic painter, especially of genre subjects. He is considered to be one of the most important artists of the Biedermeier era. Life and career Spitzweg was born in Mun ...

William-Adolphe Bouguereau William-Adolphe Bouguereau (; 30 November 1825 – 19 August 1905) was a French Academic art, academic painter. In his realistic genre paintings, he used mythological themes, making modern interpretations of Classicism, classical subjects, with a ...

Jean-Léon Gérôme Jean-Léon Gérôme (; 11 May 1824 – 10 January 1904) was a French painter and sculptor in the style now known as Academic painting, academicism. His paintings were so widely reproduced that he was "arguably the world's most famous living art ...

Camille Pissarro Jacob Abraham Camille Pissarro ( ; ; 10 July 1830 – 13 November 1903) was a Danish-French Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist painter born on the island of St Thomas (now in the US Virgin Islands, but then in the Danish West Indies). ...

Jules Bastien-Lepage Jules Bastien-Lepage (1 November 1848 – 10 December 1884) was a French painter closely associated with the beginning of naturalism, an artistic style that grew out of the Realist movement and paved the way for the development of impressioni ...

, and

Max Pechstein Hermann Max Pechstein (31 December 1881 – 29 June 1955) was a German expressionist painter and printmaker and a member of the Die Brücke group. He fought on the Western Front during World War I and his art was classified as Degenerate A ...

Gallery

European Art

American Art

Governance

Management

Layton Art Gallery Directors (1888–1955) * 1888–1919: Frederick Layton (as president) * 1919–1922: James K. Ilsley (as president) * 1922–1954: Charlotte Partridge * 1954–1955:

Milwaukee Art Institute Directors (1888–1955) * 1888–1901: Christian Wahl (as president) * 1910–1911: Charles Allis (as president) * 1911–1913: Samuel O. Buckner (as president) * 1913–1924: Dudley Crafts Watson * 1924–1926: John Ellingwood Donnell Trask * 1926–1942:

* 1942–1951: George Burton Cumming * 1951–1955: La Vera Pohl Milwaukee Art Museum Directors (since 1955) * 1955–1962: Edward H. Dwight * 1962–1977: Charles Tracy Atkinson * 1977–1985: Gerald Nordland * 1985–2002: Russell Bowman * 2002–2008: David Gordon * 2008–2016: Daniel Keegan * 2016–2025: Marcelle Polednik

Funding

As of 2015, the museum’s endowment is around $65 million. Endowment proceeds cover a fraction of the museum's expenses, leaving it overly dependent on funds from day-to-day operations such as ticket sales. Daniel Keegan, who served as the museum's director from 2008 to 2016, negotiated an agreement with Milwaukee County and the Milwaukee County War Memorial for the long-term management and funding of the facilities in 2013. In 2024, a $3.54 million gift helped establish an endowment to make admission to the museum free for children aged 12 and under.

Controversy

In June 2015 the museum's display of a work depicting

Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, his resignation on 28 Februar ...

, composed of 17,000 latex condoms, created outrage among Catholics and others.

In popular culture

The Quadracci Pavilion makes an appearance in the 2008 EA racing video game '' Need for Speed: Undercover,'' as well as the film '' Transformers: Dark of the Moon'', where it stands for the headquarters of car collector Dylan Gould (played by actor

Patrick Dempsey Patrick Galen Dempsey (born January 13, 1966) is an American actor and racing driver best known for playing neurosurgeon Derek Shepherd in ''Grey's Anatomy'' (2005–15; 2020–21). He is also known for his leading man romantic film roles, such ...

). The 2011

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

''Bridesmaids'', set in Milwaukee, features opening aerial shots of the museum. In 2020, the Quadracci Pavilion also featured in season 2, episode 11 of the

comedy television series A list of comedy television series by country of origin. Argentina Argentinan Comedies Australia Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina * '' Viza za budućnost'' Brazil Canada China *'' Miracle Star'' *'' Number One Surprise'' Chile * ...

Joe Pera Talks with You ''Joe Pera Talks with You'' is an American comedy television series created by Joe Pera for Adult Swim. The show stars Joe Pera as a fictionalized version of himself, a mild mannered choir teacher in Marquette, Michigan, who directly addresses t ...

'', titled “Joe Pera Shows You How to Do Good Fashion”.

Notes

: The gallery was led by a president before a distinct director position was created in 1922. : The list includes time periods when the Institute was known as the Milwaukee Art Association (1888–1910) and the Milwaukee Art Society (1910–1916). The association and succeeding society were led by a president before a distinct director position was created in 1913. : The list includes the time period when the museum was known as the Milwaukee Art Center (1955–1980).

References

External links

Official website

Milwaukee Art Museum
within

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Milwaukee Art Museum
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* {{authority control 1888 establishments in Wisconsin Art museums and galleries established in 1888 Art museums and galleries in Wisconsin Buildings and structures completed in 2001 High-tech architecture Modernist architecture in Wisconsin Museums in Milwaukee Neo-futurist architecture Santiago Calatrava structures Tourist attractions in Milwaukee

Location and visit

Hours

History

Origins to the 1960s

Kahler Building and growth of collections

Quadracci Pavilion and further expansions (since 2001)

Collection

Gallery

European Art

American Art

Governance

Management

Funding

Controversy

In popular culture

See also

Notes

References

External links