The Timken Museum of Art is a
fine art
In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwork ...
museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...
, established in 1965 and located at 1500 El Prado in
Balboa Park in
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, close to the
San Diego Museum of Art
The San Diego Museum of Art is a fine arts museum located at 1450 El Prado in Balboa Park in San Diego, California that houses a broad collection with particular strength in Spanish art. The San Diego Museum of Art opened as The Fine Arts Galler ...
.
History
The groundwork for the museum was laid in 1951 when Walter Ames helped sisters Amy and Anne Putnam (nieces and heirs of
Henry W. Putnam) to form the nonprofit Putnam Foundation to own and manage their art collection. The sisters had settled in San Diego in the early 20th century and made donations to the
San Diego Museum of Art
The San Diego Museum of Art is a fine arts museum located at 1450 El Prado in Balboa Park in San Diego, California that houses a broad collection with particular strength in Spanish art. The San Diego Museum of Art opened as The Fine Arts Galler ...
in its early years. At first the Foundation loaned items from its collection to noteworthy museums across the United States.
When the Timken Museum opened in 1965, the Putnam Foundation Collection provided its initial material and Walter Ames became its first director.
The museum building stands on the site of the former Home Economy Building, originally designed for the
1915 Panama-California Exposition and later known as the Pan-Pacific Building, the Cafe of the World, and the American Legion Building. That building was torn down in 1963 and replaced by the Timken Museum, which was designed by the architectural firm of
Frank L. Hope and Associates and funded by the
Timken family.
The museum is a white, modern building in marble and bronze housing a five-room gallery.
Shortly after the museum opened, John Walker, of the
National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...
, praised its collection, some of which had been on loan at his institution until the Timken neared completion:
Overview
The museum displays European old master
paintings
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...
,
sculptures
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
, and
tapestries
Tapestry is a form of textile art, traditionally woven by hand on a loom. Tapestry is weft-faced weaving, in which all the warp threads are hidden in the completed work, unlike most woven textiles, where both the warp and the weft threads may ...
under natural light.
Supplementing the European holdings are collections of American painting and Russian icons.
Acquisitions have expanded the collection from the original 40 to 60 major works,
including ones by American (
Copley,
Johnson
Johnson is a surname of Anglo-Norman origin meaning "Son of John". It is the second most common in the United States and 154th most common in the world. As a common family name in Scotland, Johnson is occasionally a variation of ''Johnston'', a ...
,
West
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...
,
Cole
Cole may refer to:
Plants
* Cole crops of the genus ''Brassica'', especially cabbage, kale, or rape (rapeseed).
People
* Cole (given name), people with the given name Cole
* Cole (surname), people with the surname Cole
Companies
*Cole Motor ...
,
Bierstadt
Bierstadt is a borough of the city of Wiesbaden, capital of the state of Hesse, Germany. It is located in the eastern part of the city, directly east of downtown Wiesbaden, and has about 12,300 inhabitants. Formerly an independent municipality, ...
), Italian (
Savoldo,
Veronese,
Guercino
Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (February 8, 1591 – December 22, 1666),Miller, 1964 better known as Guercino, or il Guercino , was an Italian Baroque painter and draftsman from Cento in the Emilia region, who was active in Rome and Bologna. The vig ...
and Savoldo's ''
The Temptation of Saint Anthony''), Spanish (
Murillo), and French masters (
Clouet,
Claude Claude may refer to:
__NOTOC__ People and fictional characters
* Claude (given name), a list of people and fictional characters
* Claude (surname), a list of people
* Claude Lorrain (c. 1600–1682), French landscape painter, draughtsman and etcher ...
,
Boucher,
Fragonard,
David
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
,
Corot
CoRoT (French: ; English: Convection, Rotation and planetary Transits) was a space telescope mission which operated from 2006 to 2013. The mission's two objectives were to search for extrasolar planets with short orbital periods, particularly th ...
), as well as works of the Flemish and Dutch schools, including masterpieces by
Pieter Brueghel the Elder
Pieter Bruegel (also Brueghel or Breughel) the Elder (, ; ; – 9 September 1569) was the most significant artist of Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting, a painter and printmaker, known for his landscapes and peasant scenes (so-called genre ...
,
Peter Paul Rubens
Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque traditio ...
,
Anthony van Dyck
Sir Anthony van Dyck (, many variant spellings; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Brabantian Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Southern Netherlands and Italy.
The seventh c ...
, and
Frans Hals
Frans Hals the Elder (, , ; – 26 August 1666) was a Dutch Golden Age painter, chiefly of individual and group portraits and of genre works, who lived and worked in Haarlem.
Hals played an important role in the evolution of 17th-century group ...
.
In 2015, in honor of the Museum's 50th anniversary, the Timken acquired a
Zurbarán 3/4 portrait of
St. Francis in meditation.
The Timken is the only San Diego museum with a
Rembrandt
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally consid ...
in its permanent collection.
The museum's founding benefactors, the Putnam sisters, were related to two Revolutionary War generals,
Israel Putnam
Israel Putnam (January 7, 1718 – May 29, 1790), popularly known as "Old Put", was an American military officer and landowner who fought with distinction at the Battle of Bunker Hill during the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783). He als ...
and
Rufus Putnam
Brigadier-General Rufus Putnam (April 9, 1738 – May 4, 1824) was an American military officer who fought during the French and Indian War and the American Revolutionary War. As an organizer of the Ohio Company of Associates, he was instrumental ...
. Coincidentally, one of the museum's most important acquisitions in recent decades is the
John Singleton Copley
John Singleton Copley (July 3, 1738 – September 9, 1815) was an Anglo-American painter, active in both colonial America and England. He was probably born in Boston, Massachusetts, to Richard and Mary Singleton Copley, both Anglo-Irish. Afte ...
painting of the woman who may well have triggered the Revolutionary War,
Margaret Kemble Gage
Margaret Kemble Gage (1734–1824) was the wife of General Thomas Gage, who led the British Army in Massachusetts in the American Revolutionary War. She was born in New Brunswick, Province of New Jersey and resided in East Brunswick Township. S ...
.
Selected works
Pieter Bruegel the Elder - Landscape with the Parable of the Sower - WGA03340.jpg, '' Parable of the Sower'' by Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Pieter Bruegel (also Brueghel or Breughel) the Elder (, ; ; – 9 September 1569) was the most significant artist of Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting, a painter and printmaker, known for his landscapes and peasant scenes (so-called genr ...
, 1557
Guercino Ritorno figliol prodigo.jpg, ''The Return of the Prodigal Son'' by Guercino
Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (February 8, 1591 – December 22, 1666),Miller, 1964 better known as Guercino, or il Guercino , was an Italian Baroque painter and draftsman from Cento in the Emilia region, who was active in Rome and Bologna. The vig ...
, 1654-1655
A Girl Receiving a Letter by Gabriel Metsu, Timken Museum of Art.JPG, ''A Girl Receiving a Letter'' by Gabriel Metsu
In Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብር ...
, ca. 1658
Jacob van Ruisdael - Vista de Haarlem com branquearia, c. 1665-70.jpg, Jacob van Ruisdael
Jacob Isaackszoon van Ruisdael (; 1629 – 10 March 1682) was a Dutch painter, draughtsman, and etcher. He is generally considered the pre-eminent landscape painter of the Dutch Golden Age, a period of great wealth and cultural achi ...
, ''A View of Haarlem and Bleaching Fields'', ca. 1665-1670
Nicolas de Largillière - Retrato de Marguerite de Sève.jpg, Portrait of Marguerite de Sève, Wife of Barthélemy-Jean-Claude Pupil by Nicolas de Largillière
Nicolas de Largillière (; 10 October 1656 – 20 March 1746) was a French portrait painter, born in Paris.
Biography
Early life
Largillière's father, a merchant, took him to Antwerp at the age of three. As a boy, he spent nearly two years in ...
, 1729
Nicolas de Largillière - Retrato de Barthélemy-Jean-Claude Pupil.jpg, Portrait of Barthélemy-Jean-Claude Pupil by Nicolas de Largillière, 1729
Albert Bierstadt - Cho-looke, the Yosemite Fall.jpg, ''Cho-looke, the Yosemite Fall'' by Albert Bierstadt
Albert Bierstadt (January 7, 1830 – February 18, 1902) was a German-American painter best known for his lavish, sweeping landscapes of the American West. He joined several journeys of the Westward Expansion to paint the scenes. He was no ...
'', 1864
Jonathan eastman johnson cranberry harvest.jpg, '' The Cranberry Harvest, Island of Nantucket'', by Eastman Johnson
Jonathan Eastman Johnson (July 29, 1824 – April 5, 1906) was an American painter and co-founder of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, with his name inscribed at its entrance. He was best known for his genre paintings, paintings of ...
, 1880
References
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
1965 establishments in California
Art museums established in 1965
Art museums and galleries in California
Balboa Park (San Diego)
Former private collections in the United States
Museums in San Diego