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The Gibbes Museum of Art, formerly known as the Gibbes Art Gallery, is an art museum in 
After receiving the money in 1903, the Association hired Frank Pierce Milburn to design the gallery. He planned a Tiffany-style dome, Doric columns, and pediment-capped windows and doors. Milburn completed the drawings of the building in mid-1903, and a drawing of the proposed building was published in the ''Charleston Evening Post'' on June 5, 1903. Notices were published seeking contractors' bids for the work starting in August 1903.
In September 1903, H.T. Zacharias was selected as the contractor and received a contract for $73,370 for the building. Zacharias started work on September 28, 1903, removing the remains of the South Carolina Agricultural Hall that had occupied the lot. Although work on the foundations had begun already, a ceremony was held on December 8, 1903, to lay the cornerstone of the building at the northeast corner.
The museum formally opened on April 11, 1905. The collection on display on the opening day included more than 300 pictures, many bronzes, and about 200 miniatures in addition to an "instructive collection" of Japanese prints.
After closing in the early 21st century for an extensive two-year, $13.5 million renovation, the museum reopened to the public on May 28, 2016. In renovating the museum, the development teams used the original blueprints, discovered in the City of Charleston archives in 2008, to return the building to its 1905 Beaux Arts style layout. The first floor has classrooms, artist studios, lecture and event spaces, a café, and a museum store. The rear reception area opens to the garden, part of Charleston’s historic Gateway Walk founded by the Garden Club of Charleston. The entire ground floor of the museum is admission-free.
The museum's collections include the work of numerous artists with connections to Charleston; among them are
Virtual tour of the Gibbes Museum of Art
provided by
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...
. Established as the Carolina Art Association in 1858, the museum moved into a new Beaux Arts building at 135 Meeting Street, in the Charleston Historic District, in 1905. The Gibbes houses a premier collection of over 10,000 works of fine art, principally American works, many with a connection to Charleston or the South.
The benefactor, James Shoolbred Gibbes, donated $100,000 to the Carolina Arts Association for the "erection of a suitable building for the exhibitions of paintings." The city did not receive the money until after the resolution of a will contest filed by nieces and nephews of Gibbes. Their case was heard in the state court of New York during 1900 and 1901. On December 6, 1901, the New York Supreme Court (the state's trial-level court) issued an opinion declaring that the gift to Charleston was valid.
After receiving the money in 1903, the Association hired Frank Pierce Milburn to design the gallery. He planned a Tiffany-style dome, Doric columns, and pediment-capped windows and doors. Milburn completed the drawings of the building in mid-1903, and a drawing of the proposed building was published in the ''Charleston Evening Post'' on June 5, 1903. Notices were published seeking contractors' bids for the work starting in August 1903.
In September 1903, H.T. Zacharias was selected as the contractor and received a contract for $73,370 for the building. Zacharias started work on September 28, 1903, removing the remains of the South Carolina Agricultural Hall that had occupied the lot. Although work on the foundations had begun already, a ceremony was held on December 8, 1903, to lay the cornerstone of the building at the northeast corner.
The museum formally opened on April 11, 1905. The collection on display on the opening day included more than 300 pictures, many bronzes, and about 200 miniatures in addition to an "instructive collection" of Japanese prints.
After closing in the early 21st century for an extensive two-year, $13.5 million renovation, the museum reopened to the public on May 28, 2016. In renovating the museum, the development teams used the original blueprints, discovered in the City of Charleston archives in 2008, to return the building to its 1905 Beaux Arts style layout. The first floor has classrooms, artist studios, lecture and event spaces, a café, and a museum store. The rear reception area opens to the garden, part of Charleston’s historic Gateway Walk founded by the Garden Club of Charleston. The entire ground floor of the museum is admission-free.
The museum's collections include the work of numerous artists with connections to Charleston; among them are Henrietta Johnston
Henrietta de Beaulieu Dering Johnston (c. 1674 – March 9, 1729) was a pastelist of uncertain origin active in the English colonies in North America from approximately 1708 until her death. She is both the earliest recorded female artist and ...
, Mary Roberts, Charles Fraser, William Melton Halsey
William M. Halsey (1915–1999) was an influential abstract artist in the American Southeast, particularly in his home state of South Carolina. He was represented by the Bertha Schaefer Gallery in New York City (1948–53). His mural studies fo ...
, Ned I.R. Jennings Edward "Ned" I.R. Jennings (May 16, 1898 – May 7, 1929) was an artist of the Charleston Renaissance era, one of the first abstract artists in the city.
Biography
Edward "Ned" I.R. Jennings was born on May 16, 1898, in Washington, D.C., but was ju ...
, and Jeremiah Theus. The museum also has collected photographs by George LaGrange Cook
George LaGrange Cook (1849–1919) was a photographer in Charleston, South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina. The Gibbes Museum of Art holds a collection of his photographs. He took a range of images: buildings, residences, streets, and portr ...
, including photographs taken after the 1886 Charleston earthquake
The 1886 Charleston earthquake occurred about 9:50 p.m. local time August 31. It caused 60 deaths and $5–6 million ($ million in ) in damage to 2,000 buildings in the Southeastern United States. It is one of the most powerful and da ...
.
References
External links
Virtual tour of the Gibbes Museum of Art
provided by
Google Arts & Culture
Google Arts & Culture (formerly Google Art Project) is an online platform of high-resolution images and videos of artworks and cultural artifacts from partner cultural organizations throughout the world.
It utilizes high-resolution image technol ...
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Art museums and galleries in South Carolina
Museums in Charleston, South Carolina
Frank Pierce Milburn buildings
Art museums established in 1905
1905 establishments in South Carolina
Culture of Charleston, South Carolina
Art in South Carolina
Southern art