The Masur Museum of Art in

Monroe, Louisiana Monroe (historically french: Poste-du-Ouachita) is the eighth-largest city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and parish seat of Ouachita Parish. With a 2020 census-tabulated population of 47,702, it is the principal city of the Monroe metropolita ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, is the largest

visual arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts al ...

museum in northeast

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

. It is in the former home of the Masur family, the Masur House, also known as the Slagle-Masur House, which is listed 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 building, constructed in modified Tudor style in 1914, was listed on the National Register in 1982 for its architecture. In 1963 it was given to the city of Monroe by the Masur family. About the Masur Museum, accessed 11-4-2010
The mission of the museum is to support and foster visual arts in the community through exhibitions, both temporary and from the museum's permanent collection, as well as providing educational programs for both children and adults. Lectures, films, and artist talks are presented in the Lower River Gallery. The Carriage House is used for art classes, summer art camps, workshops, and demonstrations. Admission to the museum is free. The permanent collection includes works by Thomas Hart Benton,

Mary Cassatt Mary Stevenson Cassatt (; May 22, 1844June 14, 1926) was an American painter and printmaker. She was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania (now part of Pittsburgh's North Side), but lived much of her adult life in France, where she befriended Edgar De ...

Philip Guston Philip Guston (born Phillip Goldstein, June 27, 1913 – June 7, 1980), was a Canadian American painter, printmaker, muralist and draftsman. Early in his five decade career, muralist David Siquieros described him as one of "the most promising ...

Joan Miró Joan Miró i Ferrà ( , , ; 20 April 1893 – 25 December 1983) was a Catalan painter, sculptor and ceramicist born in Barcelona. A museum dedicated to his work, the Fundació Joan Miró, was established in his native city of Barcelona i ...

Robert Motherwell Robert Motherwell (January 24, 1915 – July 16, 1991) was an American Abstract Expressionism, abstract expressionist Painting, painter, printmaker, and editor of ''The Dada Painters and Poets: an Anthology''. He was one of the youngest of th ...

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

Auguste Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor, generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a uniqu ...

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarr ...

Alex Katz Alex Katz (born July 24, 1927) is an American figurative artist known for his paintings, sculptures, and prints. Early life and career Alex Katz was born July 24, 1927, to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York, as the son of an émigré who ha ...

Fairfield Porter Fairfield Porter (June 10, 1907 – September 18, 1975) was an American painter and art critic. He was the fourth of five children of James Porter, an architect, and Ruth Furness Porter, a poet from a literary family. He was the brother of photo ...

, and

Georges Rouault Georges Henri Rouault (; 27 May 1871, Paris – 13 February 1958) was a French painter, draughtsman and print artist, whose work is often associated with Fauvism and Expressionism. Childhood and education Rouault was born in Paris into a po ...

. The collection also features the work of distinguished artists with ties to Louisiana, namely

Lynda Benglis Lynda Benglis (born October 25, 1941) is an American sculptor and visual artist known especially for her wax paintings and poured latex sculptures. She maintains residences in New York City, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Kastellorizo, Greece, and Ahmedaba ...

Clyde Connell Clyde Connell (September 19, 1901 – May 2, 1998) was an American self-taught abstract expressionist sculptor. Her works are known for reflecting the nature of Louisiana and the culture of Jim Crow South. Life Born as Minnie Clyde Dixon on a ...

, Alexander John Drysdale, John Geldersma,

Ida Kohlmeyer Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer (3 November 1912 – 24 January 1997) was an American painter and sculptor who lived and worked in Louisiana. Kohlmeyer took up painting in her 30s and achieved wide recognition for her work in art museums and galleries ...

, Eugene J. Martin, and

George Rodrigue George Rodrigue (March 13, 1944 – December 14, 2013) was an American artist who in the late 1960s began painting Louisiana landscapes, followed soon after by outdoor family gatherings and southwest Louisiana 19th-century and early 20th-centu ...

, among others. Also included in the collection are several long-term loans that are on view on a rotating basis. These include works by

Marc Chagall Marc Chagall; russian: link=no, Марк Заха́рович Шага́л ; be, Марк Захаравіч Шагал . (born Moishe Shagal; 28 March 1985) was a Russian-French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with se ...

, and

Pierre-Auguste Renoir Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that "R ...

History

The Masur Museum of Art was built as a private residence in 1929. A lumberman by the name of Clarence Edward Slagle had the modified Tudor estate built for his wife Mabel Chauvin. The Indiana limestone and Pennsylvania blue slate used to build the home were brought down through various waterways to the scenic

Ouachita River The Ouachita River ( ) is a river that runs south and east through the U.S. states of Arkansas and Louisiana, joining the Tensas River to form the Black River near Jonesville, Louisiana. It is the 25th-longest river in the United States ( ...

, which runs behind the estate. Originally the grounds included an English style rose garden and a lawn extending down to the river. When the Army Corps of Engineers built the

levee A levee (), dike (American English), dyke (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is a structure that is usually soil, earthen and that often runs parallel (geometry), parallel to ...

system in the 1930s, the

carriage house A carriage house, also called a remise or coach house, is an outbuilding which was originally built to house horse-drawn carriages and the related tack. In Great Britain the farm building was called a cart shed. These typically were open f ...

was moved behind the new levee and much of the lawn was subsequently lost. The

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

caused the home to go up for sale in the early 1930s and the Masur family acquired it. Sigmund and Beatrice Masur and their children Sylvian, Jack, and Bertha Marie lived in the home until the 1960s. The Masur children donated the home to the city in December 1963 under the agreement that it become a fine arts museum. The new museum, The Masur Museum of Art, held its first exhibition in September 1964. The Masur Museum of Art operates as a division of the Department of Community Affairs of th
City of Monroe
with a mission to provide a quality visual arts experience for the community. The city provides funding for staff salaries and museum maintenance. In 1974, the Twin City Art Foundation was formed to provide additional support for the museum, providing funding for exhibitions, educational programs, and the permanent collection.

References

External links

* {{authority control Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Louisiana Houses completed in 1914 Buildings and structures in Monroe, Louisiana Museums in Ouachita Parish, Louisiana Museums of American art

Art museums and galleries in Louisiana Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisian ...

Gothic Revival architecture in Louisiana Houses in Ouachita Parish, Louisiana National Register of Historic Places in Ouachita Parish, Louisiana 1964 establishments in Louisiana Museums established in 1964