Kimbell Art Museum
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The Kimbell Art Museum is situated in the Cultural District of Fort Worth, Texas. It houses a small but exquisite collection of European, Asian and Pre-Columbian works, as well as hosting travelling art exhibitions. The building was designed by Louis Kahn.
History
The Kimbell Art Institute was established as a result of a bequest by Kay Kimbell, a Texan industrialist and art collector, to establish an art institute for the people of Texas. On his death in 1964, his widow, Velma Fuller Kimbell, decided to use the entire Kimbell estate to fund the Institute. The building was commissioned in 1966 and opened in 1972. It is the work of architect Louis Kahn and is cleverly designed around sacred paths and groves on the exterior, and twin interior galleries (North and South) under a striking vaulted roof.
Although the museum initially housed the Kimbell's art collection, this has since been expanded, always with a view to acquiring artworks of first class quality.
The Collection
The museum is not large, but the collection of artwork (http://www.kimbellart.org/database/index.cfm) is wide-ranging and would not be out of place in any of the world's great art galleries. Works by Picasso, El Greco, Rembrandt, Monet, Gainsborough and Rubens are included among many others in the European collection. Two important paintings by Piet Mondrian mark the modern end of the period covered.
There is a small collection of antiquities from the classical period ranging from Assyrian to Greek and Roman.
The Asian collection includes jars from Neolithic China and works from Tang, Song and Ming dynasties. Japanese art is focused on the Momoyama and Edo periods.
External links
- Official site (http://www.kimbellart.org/)
- Louis Kahn (http://courses.arch.hku.hk/precedent/2001/kimbell/louiskahn/main.htm)