Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Virginia Museum of Fine arts, or ‘’’VMFA’’’ is an art museum in Richmond, Virginia. It is one of the first museums in the American South to be operated by state funds.
Contents |
[edit] History
The VMFA has its origins in a 1919 donation of 50 paintings to the Commonwealth of Virginia by Judge and prominent Virginian John Barton Payne. Payne, in collaboration with Virginia Governor John Garland Pollard and the Federal Works Projects Administration secured federal funding to augment state funding for the museum. The museum opened in 1936 on Richmond's Boulevard.
In 1947, the VMFA received a significant donations in the form of the Lillian Thomas Pratt Collection of jeweled objects by Peter Carl Fabergé, including the largest public collection of Fabergé eggs outside of Russia. The Museum also received in 1947 the "T. Catesby Jones Collection of Modern Art". Further donations in the 1950’s came from Adolph D. and Wilkins C. Williams and from Arthur and Margaret Glasgow.
[edit] Exhibits
VMFA has made acquisitions with endowments provided by many private donors. The museum has assembled a wide-ranging collection of world art characterized by great breadth and critical aesthetic quality. It includes significant holdings of Classical art and African art; paintings by European masters such as Poussin, Goya, Delacroix and Monet, and American masters such as John Singer Sargent and Winslow Homer; one of the world's leading collections of Indian and Himilayan art; an internationally important collection of fine English silver; holdings of Art Nouveau and Art Deco furniture, ceramics, glass and jewelry; a collection of Modern and Contemporary art; a collection of Fabergé imperial jeweled objects; and holdings of French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art, including original waxes and bronzes by Edgar Degas.
[edit] Expansion
In 2003, a year after its selection of London-based architect Rick Mather, VMFA unveiled a master plan for a $100-million building expansion and transformation of its 13½-acre campus. The expansion is expected to be completed in 2008.
In 2000, Art scholar Michael Brand became the director of the VMFA. In August 2005, he accepted a position in J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California.
In 2006, the VMFA board of trustees selected Alex Nyerges to be the museum's director.
