High Museum of Art, Art museum in Midtown, Atlanta, United States.
The High Museum of Art stands on Peachtree Street in Midtown Atlanta as a division of the Woodruff Arts Center. Its 1983 Richard Meier building is a white enameled structure with a curving facade of smooth panels and horizontal bands of dark glass; a recessed entrance beneath a flat canopy is reached by a ramp. Renzo Piano's 2005 aluminum-clad pavilions adjoin it, and a red sign on the right wall reads "LOUVRE ATLANTA".
The institution began in 1905 as the Atlanta Art Association and received its current name in 1926 when the High family donated their Peachtree Street residence. Decades later, between 2002 and 2005, Renzo Piano expanded the complex with three new buildings surrounding the original museum structure by Richard Meier.
The museum's name honours the High family, who gave their Peachtree Street house in 1926; the J. J. Haverty collection donated by his daughter in 1949 remains on permanent display. The French government gave Rodin's sculpture The Shade in memory of the 106 Atlanta patrons killed at Orly in 1962. The African art collection centres on masks and figurative sculpture, with textiles, beadwork and a terracotta female torso wrapped in snakes (c. 1200–1500).
The facility opens Tuesday through Sunday and offers free admission every second Sunday, located directly across from the Arts Center MARTA station. Visitors should plan several hours to explore the different galleries across all buildings, with comfortable shoes recommended for the stairs and ramps.
The Renzo Piano expansion uses 1,000 light scoops on the roof to filter natural northern light into the gallery spaces throughout the museum. These openings distribute daylight evenly and create a bright environment without direct sunlight that could damage the artworks on display.
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