Smart Museum of Art, University art museum at University of Chicago, United States
The Smart Museum of Art is an art museum at the University of Chicago that houses over 15,000 objects, including paintings, sculptures, and decorative arts from different periods and cultures. The collection presents an overview of art history through diverse works and connects European pieces with Asian works in its exhibitions.
The museum opened in 1974 after a founding gift from the Smart Family Foundation, named after publishers David and Alfred Smart. This donation allowed the university to build a significant art collection for teaching and research purposes.
The collection showcases artists like Picasso and Renoir alongside Asian scholar paintings and Buddhist sculptures, reflecting how the university values art from many traditions. Walking through the galleries, you can see how these different artistic voices are presented together as part of a larger conversation.
The museum offers free admission and sits centrally on the university campus, making it easy to visit. The interior is well organized, and covered walkways connect the building to an outdoor sculpture garden.
The building was designed by the noted architect Edward Larrabee Barnes and uses Indiana limestone with distinctive facades. The way it connects to the outdoor sculpture garden creates a special relationship between indoor and outdoor spaces.
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