The Bowdoin College Museum of Art is an art museum located in

Brunswick, Maine Brunswick is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The population was 21,756 at the 2020 United States Census. Part of the Portland-South Portland-Biddeford metropolitan area, Brunswick is home to Bowdoin College, the Bowdoin Intern ...

. Included on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

, the museum is located in a building on the campus of

Bowdoin College Bowdoin College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. When Bowdoin was chartered in 1794, Maine was still a part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The college offers 34 majors and 36 minors, as well as several joint eng ...

McKim, Mead, and White McKim, Mead & White was an American architectural firm that came to define architectural practice, urbanism, and the ideals of the American Renaissance in fin de siècle New York. The firm's founding partners Charles Follen McKim (1847–1909), W ...

. The Museum’s landmark Walker Art Building was commissioned for the College by Harriet and Sophia Walker in honor of their uncle, a Boston businessman who had supported the creation of the first small art gallery at Bowdoin in the mid-nineteenth century. Designed by

Charles Follen McKim Charles Follen McKim (August 24, 1847 – September 14, 1909) was an American Beaux-Arts architect of the late 19th century. Along with William Rutherford Mead and Stanford White, he provided the architectural expertise as a member of the partn ...

of McKim, Mead, & White, the building was completed in 1894 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. At the entrance are a pair of

Medici lion The Medici lions are a pair of marble sculptures of lions: one of which is Rome, Roman, dating to the 2nd century AD, and the other a 16th-century Pendant painting, pendant. Both were by 1598 placed at the Villa Medici, Rome. Since 1789 they h ...

sculptures.

History

The museum's collection originated from separate donations of art from

James Bowdoin III James Bowdoin III (September 22, 1752 – October 11, 1811) was an American philanthropist and statesman from Boston, Massachusetts. He has born to James Bowdoin in Boston, and graduated from Harvard College in 1771. James then studied law at Oxf ...

in 1811 and 1826. Having been housed in a number of different locations during its history, the museum found a permanent home in the Walker Art Building in 1894. While the building had been renovated once in 1974, the $20.8 million renovation by architects

Machado and Silvetti Associates Machado Silvetti is an architecture and urban design firm headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Incorporated in 1985, the firm's principals Rodolfo Machado and Jorge Silvetti have been in association since 1974. They have been called "arguabl ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

that finished in 2007 received a great deal of publicity for its creation of a new modern entrance to the museum while preserving the structural integrity of the original building.

References

External links

* Museums in Cumberland County, Maine Art museums and galleries in Maine University museums in Maine McKim, Mead & White buildings Bowdoin College Buildings and structures in Brunswick, Maine Institutions accredited by the American Alliance of Museums Tourist attractions in Brunswick, Maine Art museums established in 1811 1811 establishments in Massachusetts {{US-art-display-stub