The University of Michigan Museum of Art in

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851. It is the principal city of the Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all ...

with is one of the largest university

art museum An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own collection. It might be in public or private ownership and may be accessible to all or have restrictions in place. Although primarily co ...

s in the United States. Built as a war memorial in 1909 for the university's fallen alumni from the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

, Alumni Memorial Hall originally housed U-M's Alumni office along with the university's growing art collection. Its first director was Jean Paul Slusser, who served from 1946 (first as acting director, then becoming director in 1947) to his retirement in 1957. The university contains a comprehensive collection that represents more than 150 years of history, with over 20,000 works of art that span cultures, eras, and media. Admission is free, but a $10 donation is suggested. In the spring of 2009, the museum reopened after a major $41.9 million expansion and renovation designed by Brad Cloepfil and Allied Works Architecture, which more than doubled the size of the museum. The museum comprises the renovated Alumni Memorial Hall with and the new Maxine and Stuart Frankel and the Frankel Family Wing. The museum's current director is Christina Olsen, who was appointed in 2017.

Construction

Alumni Memorial Hall was originally conceived in 1864 as a way to honor the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

students, faculty, and alumni who had died fighting in the Civil War. However, the project was put on hold until 1904, when a committee of Michigan alumni and professors, led by Professor Martin Luther D'Ooge and Judge Claudius B. Grant, secured a promissory note from the Board of Regents for the land the hall would eventually be built on. Alumni Memorial Hall cornerstone laying

With the land set aside, the Board of Regents created a committee to work in parallel with the Alumni Memorial Committee in 1905, and by the end of the year had awarded the project to the

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

architecture firm Donaldson and Meier at the cost of $175,000. The hall's cornerstone was laid by Judge Grant and construction began in June 1908. Alumni Memorial Hall was dedicated on May 11, 1910, with a final building cost of $190,000. The hall itself was built in the neoclassical tradition with a pair of two stone columns flanking the hall's main bronze doors with two smaller side doors. The inside continues to house the Alumni Association's headquarters and the university's vast art collection alongside pieces donated by alumni, including a bust of the university's first president

Henry Philip Tappan Henry Philip Tappan (April 18, 1805 – November 15, 1881) was an American philosopher, educator and academic administrator. He is officially considered the first president of the University of Michigan.The University of Michigan was establ ...

. It also housed the University Club, before the club moved across the street to the Union.

Artwork

Permanent collection

The museum's permanent collection includes work by

James McNeill Whistler James Abbott McNeill Whistler (; July 10, 1834July 17, 1903) was an American painter active during the American Gilded Age and based primarily in the United Kingdom. He eschewed sentimentality and moral allusion in painting and was a leading pr ...

, Franz Kline,

Helen Frankenthaler Helen Frankenthaler (December 12, 1928 – December 27, 2011) was an American abstract expressionist painter. She was a major contributor to the history of postwar American painting. Having exhibited her work for over six decades (early 1950s u ...

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 ...

Joshua Reynolds Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter, specialising in portraits. John Russell said he was one of the major European painters of the 18th century. He promoted the "Grand Style" in painting which depend ...

Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, , ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During ...

, Max Beckmann,

Walker Evans Walker Evans (November 3, 1903 – April 10, 1975) was an American photographer and photojournalist best known for his work for the Farm Security Administration (FSA) documenting the effects of the Great Depression. Much of Evans' work from ...

, Randolph Rogers, Kara Walker, Alvin D. Loving, Christian Boltanski, Donald Sultan, Jenny Holzer, Tracey Emin, Louise Nevelson, Yinka Shonibare, Romare Bearden, Michele Oka Doner,

Hiram Powers Hiram Powers (July 29, 1805 – June 27, 1873) was an American neoclassical sculptor. He was one of the first 19th-century American artists to gain an international reputation, largely based on his famous marble sculpture ''The Greek Slave''. ...

, Mark di Suvero, Tiffany & Co.,

Katsushika Hokusai , known simply as Hokusai, was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist of the Edo period, active as a painter and printmaker. He is best known for the woodblock print series '' Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji'', which includes the iconic print '' The Grea ...

, Utagawa Toyokuni I,

Shigeo Fukuda was a sculptor, medallist, graphic artist and poster designer who created optical illusions. His art pieces usually portray deception, such as ''Lunch With a Helmet On'', a sculpture created entirely from forks, knives, and spoons, that casts ...

, and

Alexander Calder Alexander Calder (; July 22, 1898 – November 11, 1976) was an American sculptor known both for his innovative mobiles (kinetic sculptures powered by motors or air currents) that embrace chance in their aesthetic, his static "stabiles", and hi ...

, among many others.

Outdoor artwork

The Mark di Suvero sculpture '' Orion'' was installed in front of the building from 2008 to 2018, then removed briefly for conservation, and reinstalled permanently in 2019. The kinetic sculpture ''

Shang The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty founded by Tang of Shang (Cheng Tang) that ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and ...

'' was a long-term loan to the university that stood outside the building from 2008 to 2020, when it was bought by a private collector. In November 2020, the Jaume Plensa piece '' Behind the Walls'' was installed in its place. Other sculptures outside of the museum include ''

Daedalus In Greek mythology, Daedalus (, ; Greek: Δαίδαλος; Latin: ''Daedalus''; Etruscan: ''Taitale'') was a skillful architect and craftsman, seen as a symbol of wisdom, knowledge and power. He is the father of Icarus, the uncle of Perdi ...

'' by Charles Ginnever, ''Ternary Marker'' by Beverly Pepper, '' Stiff Box No. 12'' by

Lucas Samaras Lucas Samaras (born 1936) is a Greek-American artist. Early life and education Samaras was born in Kastoria, Greece. He studied at Rutgers University on a scholarship, where he met Allan Kaprow and George Segal. Career Samaras participated in ...

, ''Requiem'' by Erwin Binder, and a trio of pieces by Michele Oka Doner.

Temporary exhibitions

Temporary exhibitions at the museum have included work by

Meleko Mokgosi Meleko Mokgosi (born 1981) is an artist and associate professor of painting and drawing at the School of Art at Yale University. His work includes large-scale paintings that explore themes of colonialism, democracy, nationalism, and life in South ...

, Mari Katayama,

Ceal Floyer Ceal Floyer (born 1968) is a Pakistani-born British visual artist. She is based in Berlin, Germany. Biography Floyer was born in 1968 in Karachi, Pakistan. Floyer received a BFA degree from Goldsmiths College, in 1994.Paul Rand, and others.

Gallery

References

External links

Official University of Michigan Museum of Art websiteSearch the University of Michigan Museum of Art collectionDescriptive Catalogue of the Museum of Art and AntiquitiesUniversity of Michigan Museum of Art
within

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 ...

* {{Authority control University of Michigan campus University museums in Michigan Art museums and galleries in Michigan Museums in Ann Arbor, Michigan Modernist architecture in Michigan 1909 establishments in Michigan Modern art museums in the United States Contemporary art galleries in the United States Art museums established in 1909 Michigan in the American Civil War African art museums in the United States Museums of American art University of Michigan