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Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

January 08, 2023

"VMFA" redirects here. For Marine Fighter Attack Squadrons, see List of active United States Marine Corps aircraft squadrons § VMFA.

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, or VMFA, is an art museum in Richmond, Virginia, United States, which opened in 1936. The museum is owned and operated by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Private donations, endowments, and funds are used for the support of specific programs and all acquisition of artwork, as well as additional general support.[3]

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
VFMA in 2010
Interactive fullscreen map
EstablishedMarch 27, 1934 (1934-03-27)
Location200 N. Arthur Ashe Blvd., Richmond, VA 23220
Coordinates37°33′22″N 77°28′30″W / 37.55611°N 77.47500°W / 37.55611; -77.47500Coordinates: 37°33′22″N 77°28′30″W / 37.55611°N 77.47500°W / 37.55611; -77.47500
TypeArt museum
AccreditationAmerican Alliance of Museums
Key holdingsFabergé eggs
Rumors of War by Kehinde Wiley
CollectionsModern and Contemporary art
Collection size22,000 works (as of 2011)[1]
DirectorAlex Nyerges
ArchitectRick Mather & SMBW (2010 addition)
Public transit access bus , stop at Grove Ave. between Thompson & Robinson.
Websitevmfa.museum
Virginia Museum
Built1936
ArchitectPeebles & Ferguson
Architectural styleGeorgian Revival; English Renaissance Revival
Part ofBoulevard Historic District (ID86002887[2])
Designated CPSeptember 18, 1986

Considered among the largest art museums in North America for square footage of exhibition space,[4] the VMFA's comprehensive art collection includes African art, American art, British sporting art, Fabergé, and Himalayan art.[5] One of the first museums in the American South to be operated by state funds, VMFA offers free admission, except for special exhibits.

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, together with the adjacent Virginia Historical Society, anchors the eponymous "Museum District" of Richmond, and area of the city known as "West of the Boulevard".[6]

The museum includes the Leslie Cheek Theater, a performing arts venue. For 50 years there was a theater company operating here, known most recently as TheatreVirginia. Built in 1955 as a 500-seat theatre within the art museum, it started as a community theater and also hosted special programs in dance, film, and music. In 1969 the director established an Actors' Equity/LORT company known as Virginia Museum Theatre, hiring both local actors and professionals from New York City or elsewhere. Some of its productions received national notice. In 1973 its production of Maxim Gorky's play Our Father transferred to New York, to the Manhattan Theater Club. Because of continuing financial problems, the non-profit theater closed in 2002. After renovation, it reopened in 2011 as part of the museum to host a range of live performance events.

History

Origins

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts has its origins in a 1919 donation of 50 paintings to the Commonwealth of Virginia by Judge John Barton Payne. During the Great Depression, Payne collaborated with Virginia Governor John Garland Pollard to gain funding from the Federal Works Projects Administration under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in order to augment state funding and establish the state art museum in 1932.[7] Payne's gift had been made in memory of his late second wife Jennie Byrd Bryan Payne and his mother Elizabeth Barton Payne.[8]

The site for the museum was chosen on Richmond's Boulevard, near the corner of a contiguous six-block tract of land used as a veterans' home for Confederate soldiers. Additional services were provided to their wives and daughters.[9]

The main building of the VMFA was designed by Peebles and Ferguson Architects of Norfolk. It has been described as Georgian Revival or English Renaissance. Commentators have said the architects expressed influence from Inigo Jones and Christopher Wren.[10] Construction began in 1934.[11] Two wings were originally planned, but only the central portion was then built.[11] The museum opened on January 16, 1936.[11]

Major acquisitions and first addition, 1940–1969

 
The Peter the Great Egg by the firm of Fabergé, donated to the museum in 1947.

In 1947, the VMFA was given the Lillian Thomas Pratt Collection of some 150 jeweled objects created by Peter Carl Fabergé and other Russian workshops, including the largest public collection of Fabergé eggs outside of Russia.[12] That year the Museum also received the "T. Catesby Jones Collection of Modern Art". Further donations in the 1950s came from Adolph D. Williams and Wilkins C. Williams, and from Arthur and Margaret Glasgow. They established the museum's oldest funds used for art acquisitions.[citation needed]

In 1948 Leslie Cheek, Jr. was selected as director of the museum, where he served until 1968.[13] During these decades, he introduced many innovations and was noted as having had significant influence on the course of the institution. His obituary in the New York Times said that he "transformed [the VMFA] from a small local gallery to a nationally known cultural center."[13][14] Cheek in 1953 introduced the world's first "Artmobile", a mobile tractor-trailer that carried exhibits to rural areas (prior to museum galleries being established in distant areas).[15] In 1960, he was the first in the United States to introduce night hours at an art museum.[16]

Cheek worked with his curators and designers to cultivate a degree of theatrical "showmanship" in exhibits, such as velvet drapery for the Fabergé collection, a "tomb-like" setting of the museum's Egyptian exhibit, and using music to set the mood in the galleries.[7][16][17][18] To enhance the museum as a cultural center, Cheek gained approval for construction of a theater, used for museum and outside societies' performing events in dance, music, and film.

During his tenure, Cheek oversaw construction of the first addition, built in 1954 by Merrill C. Lee, Architects, of Richmond, and supported financially by Paul Mellon. Cheek had gained board approval to construct a theater as part of this addition. The 500-seat theater was intended to provide space for a community theater, as well as for annual programs of the Virginia societies for dance, music, and film, all within a central cultural facility.[7]

Virginia Museum Theatre

What is now known as the Leslie Cheek Theater, the 500-seat proscenium theater within VMFA, was originally built in 1955 and known as the Virginia Museum Theatre. It was designed under the supervision of director Cheek, a Harvard/Yale-educated architect. He consulted with Yale Drama theater engineers Donald Oenslager and George Izenour for the state-of-the-art facility.[19] Cheek envisioned a central role for a theater arts division in the museum.[20] The theater brought the arts of drama, acting, design, music, and dance to the art galleries. It also hosted programs of the Virginia Film Society.

Through the 1960s, the Virginia Museum Theater (VMT) hosted a museum-sponsored volunteer or "community theater" company, under the direction of Robert Telford.[21] The company presented subscription seasons of live drama to thousands annually. Local players and occasional guest professionals offered musicals (Peter Pan, e.g.), dramas (Peter Shaffer's The Royal Hunt of the Sun), and classics (Shakespeare's Hamlet). VMT also served as a venue for annual programs of the Virginia Music Society, Virginia Dance Society, and Virginia Film Society. Cheek retired from the museum in 1968 but was an adviser to the VMFA trustees about the next director of the theater arts division.

In 1969 Keith Fowler was appointed as artistic director of VMT. Under Fowler, VMT continued to serve as the headquarters for the Dance, Film and Music societies. He is known for having expanded and upgrading the live theater operations, establishing Richmond's first resident Actors Equity/LORT company. Both community actors and New-York based professionals became part of this.[22] The troupe's core members included Marie Goodman Hunter, Janet Bell, Lynda Myles, E.G. Marshall, Ken Letner, James Kirkland, Rachael Lindhart, and dramaturg M. Elizabeth Osborn.

Fowler retained a focus on classics and musicals, but added an emphasis on new plays and U.S. premieres of foreign works. His debut production in 1969, Marat/Sade, written by Peter Weiss, was produced with the first racially integrated company on the VMT stage.[23] While the production was praised by two Richmond newspapers, an editorial in the afternoon Richmond News Leader criticized Fowler for "latitudinarianism."[24]

The company became known as VMT Rep (for "repertory"). Fowler attracted national notice in 1973 with his production of Macbeth, starring E.G. Marshall. Critic Clive Barnes of The New York Times hailed it as the "'Fowler Macbeth'... "splendidly vigorous... probably the goriest Shakespearean production I have seen since Peter Brook's 'Titus Andronicus'."[25] As Fowler heightened the professional quality of the theater, VMT led Richmond into what some recall as a golden age of theater.[when?]

The company commissioned and produced eight American and World premieres, introducing new plays by Americans Romulus Linney and A.R. Gurney, as well as by major foreign authors, such as Harold Pinter, Joe Orton, Athol Fugard, and Peter Handke. In 1975 the Soviet Arts Consul provided coverage on Moscow Television for Fowler's U.S premiere of Maxim Gorky's Our Father (originally Poslednje in Russian).[26][27] This VMT production transferred to New York City, where it premiered at the Manhattan Theater Club.[28]

Over eight years, VMT's subscription audience increased from 4,300 to 10,000 patrons. Fowler resigned in 1977 after a dispute with VMFA administration over the content in VMT's premiere of Romulus Linney's Childe Byron.[29][30]

Artistic directors Tom Markus (1978-1985) renamed the company and its playhouse "TheatreVirginia." As with all American professional not-for-profit performing arts organizations, TheatreVirginia ran mounting deficits for years.[31][32] Despite this, artistic director Terry Burgler (1986-1999), who succeeded him, had a successful operation. He later became a co-founder in 2004 of the Ohio Shakespeare Festival.

The museum Board of Trustees continued to underwrite the deficits to maintain the theater but their priority was the museum. There were tensions in this arrangement, and the Board was increasingly concerned about the viability of the theater. A study in 1987 showed that it was difficult for the theatre company to deal with a board that was essentially constituted to oversee the art museum. In addition, the city of Richmond was still characterized as having a "historical resistance" to the offerings of professional theatre.[32]

Problems continued into the early 21st century, when there was a loss of some state funding because of budget problems. In addition, the museum wanted to regain the theater space for other uses. The theater was expected to relocate in 2003, and was projected to be an anchor tenant in a new Virginia Performing Arts Center. But that was not planned for completion until 2007 and, by late 2002, the theater had not found temporary relocation space. In 2002 a series of fatal sniper attacks in the metropolitan DC area and northern Virginia region killed five people in quick succession.[33] Residents were fearful of going out, and the theater suffered reduced audiences and additional lost income. In December 2002, the board decided to close TheatreVirginia.[34] It struggled financially to operate in a state-supported museum.

 
VMFA Lewis Galleries in 2021

For eight years the theater was dormant. Renovation of the space and its revival as a live performance space was completed in 2011; that year it was renamed as the Leslie Cheek Theater in honor of its first director, who had also been director of the museum for two decades. The theater's reopening has returned live performing arts to the heart of the Virginia Museum.[35] The Leslie Cheek Theater does not support a resident company, but is available for bookings of special theater, music, film, and dance showings.[36]

Building expansions 1970–1990

The second addition, the South Wing, was designed by Baskervill & Son Architects of Richmond and completed in 1970. It featured four new permanent galleries and a large gallery for loan exhibitions, as well as a new library, photography lab, art storage rooms, and staff offices. A gift of funds from Sydney and Frances Lewis of Richmond in 1971, provided for the acquisition of Art Nouveau objects and furniture.

A third addition, known as the North Wing, was designed by Hardwicke Associates, Inc. of Richmond and completed in 1976. It included an adjacent sculpture garden with a cascading fountain, designed by landscape architect Lawrence Halprin.[37] The North Wing was designed as the new main entrance for the museum, with a separate dedicated entrance added for the theater. It provided three more gallery areas – two for temporary exhibitions and one for the Lewis Family's Art Nouveau Collection while also housing a gift shop, members' dining room, and other visitor functions. However, the curved walls of the North Wing's "kidney-shaped" design proved to be functionally awkward and impractical, and it was later replaced.[7][10] The 1976 wing and sculpture garden were later demolished to make room for the 2010 McGlothlin Wing.[citation needed]

In the following years, the Lewis and Mellon families proposed major donations from their extensive private collections, and helped provide the funds to house them. In December 1985, the museum opened its fourth addition, the 90,000 square feet (8,400 m2) square foot West Wing.[38] The architects, Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates of New York, were chosen by the Lewises based on their appreciation of the firm's 1981 design for the Best Products headquarters building north of Richmond.[7] The wing now houses the collections of these two families.

Redesigned campus and McGlothlin wing expansion 1991–2010

Home For Confederate Women
 
Location301 N. Sheppard St., Richmond, Virginia
Area2 acres (0.81 ha)
Built1932
ArchitectLee, Merrill
Architectural styleFederal, Federal Revival
NRHP reference No.85002767[2]
VLR No.127-0380
Significant dates
Added to NRHPNovember 7, 1985
Designated VLRApril 16, 1985[39]
 
Robinson House 2014

In 1993, the Commonwealth of Virginia transferred the care of the Robinson House from the Department of General Services to VMFA.[40] The nearly fourteen acre property of Robinson House, a former veterans camp, was transferred between state agencies to the museum. Beginning in 2001, the VMFA created a master plan for development of this land in what was otherwise a built-out residential part of the city.[7]

By the 1990s, the functions of the adjacent Confederate Home for Women had ceased, and its last residents moved out.[41] In 1999, the former home was adapted for use as the Center for Education and Outreach (now the Pauley Center), housing the museum's Office of Statewide Partnerships.

The VMFA undertook a $150-million[42] building expansion to increase the museum's gallery space by fifty percent, adding 165,000 square feet (15,300 m2). The new wing opened in 2010 and was named in honor of patrons James W. and Frances G. McGlothlin. The museum reoriented the McGlothlin Wing by reinstating the entrance on the Boulevard, the same as with the original 1936 entrance.

The design includes a three-story atrium named for Louise B. and J. Harwood Cochrane,[43] with a 40-foot (12 m)-tall glass wall to the east and broad expanses of glass walls to the west, and a partially glazed roof.[44] The London-based architect Rick Mather collaborated with Richmond-based SMBW Architects in the design of the building,[45] while landscape architecture was handled by OLIN.[42] Landscaping included a new 4-acre (16,000 m2) sculpture garden, named for philanthropists E. Claiborne and Lora Robins.[42]

American art is the major focus of exhibitions in the McGlothlin Wing. In 2008 the museum received a $200,000 grant from the Luce Foundation to support the installation and interpretation of its American collections.[46] Mather's design for the VMFA expansion earned a 2011 RIBA International Award for architectural excellence.[47]

Rumors of War and Another Expansion 2010-present

In 2019, Rumors of War was installed on the front lawn of the museum facing Arthur Ashe Boulevard after being displayed in Times Square.

In June 2021, the VMFA announced that architect firm SmithGroup was designing a $190 million expansion of the museum and a renovation of current spaces such as the Evans Court and Leslie Cheek Theater.

Permanent collection

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts has divided its encyclopedic collections into several broad curatorial departments, which largely correspond to the galleries:[48][49]

  • African Art: In 1994 and 1995, the museum exhibited its entire 250-object African art collection in Spirit of the Motherland: African Art at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. As of 2011, the collection has grown to around 500 objects, with particular strengths in the art of the Kuba, the Akan, the Yoruba, and the Kongo peoples, and the art of Mali.[50]
  • American Art: The American art collection began with twenty works of the John Barton Payne donation.[51] Since the 1980s, the museum has begun to systematically build its holdings in American art, aided in 1988 by the creation of an endowment by patrons Harwood and Louise Cochrane to support such acquisitions.[51]
In 2005, the McGlothlin family promised a bequest of their collection of American art and financial support, valued at well above $100 million.[citation needed]
  • Ancient American art
  • Ancient art: Begun in 1936, the Ancient collection expanded under Director Leslie Cheek, with the advice of the Brooklyn Museum and other institutions.[52] The collection consists of works from the Ancient Egyptian, Ancient Greek, Phrygian, Etruscan, Ancient Roman, and Byzantine civilizations.[53] It includes one of two ancient Egyptian mummies in the city of Richmond, "Tjeby" (the other is at the University of Richmond).[52][54]
  • Art Nouveau & Art Deco: Begun from the core collection of furniture and decorative arts the Lewis family began assembling in 1971; today it includes Art Nouveau works by Hector Guimard, Emile Galle, Louis Majorelle, Louis Comfort Tiffany, works by the Vienna Secession and Peter Behrens, Arts & Crafts works by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Frank Lloyd Wright, Stickley, and Greene & Greene, and Parisian Art Deco pieces by Eileen Gray and Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann.[18]
  • East Asian art: Begun in 1941, the East Asian collection consists of Chinese, Japanese and Korean art. The collection includes Chinese jade, bronzes and Buddhist sculpture; Japanese sculpture, and paintings from Kyoto; as well as Korean ceramics and bronzes from two private collections. In 2004, the collection added two imperial Buddhist paintings from the Qing dynasty, dating from 1740. The collection includes the Rene and Carolyn Balcer Collection of works by the Japanese woodblock artist Kawase Hasui. That collection consists of some 800 works, woodblock prints, screens, watercolors and other works by Hasui, including rarely seen prints made by Hasui prior to the 1923 earthquake that destroyed half of Tokyo.[55]
 
Miniature watercolor painting from Rajasthan, in the South Asian collection
In 1970, Ailsa Mellon Bruce donated some 450 European decorative objects, including a group of 18th- and 19th-century gold, porcelain and enamel boxes.
Pinkney L. Near (1927 - 1990)[56] was curator of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts for thirty years. He was responsible for the museum's acquisition of many works of European art,[57] including arranging for the museum to purchase the Francisco Goya portrait of General Nicolas Guye (long believed to be the most valuable work of art in the museum's collections) from John Lee Pratt.[58] The Guye portrait by Goya is now on view in the posthumously created Pinkney Near Gallery at the VMFA. In 1989 Pinkney Near was named to the newly created post of Paul Mellon Curator and senior research curator, a post in which he continued to work closely with the Mellon Collection and Paul Mellon. Malcolm Cormack succeeded Pinkney Near as Paul Mellon Curator of European Art, from 1991 until his retirement in 2003. Mitchell Merling became Cormack's successor as curator of the Mellon Collection.
Paul Mellon's donations added to the French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works and a collection of British Sporting Art, given to the museum in 1983. At his death in 1999, Mellon bequeathed additional French and British works, including five paintings by George Stubbs. The Mellon Galleries closed January 2, 2018 for renovations, with a scheduled reopening in 2020. Curator Mitchell Merling selected 70 major works from the VMFA Mellon Collection to tour during this period on loan to museums, such as the Frick Art and Historical Center in Pittsburgh, the Frist Center for the Visual Arts in Nashville, and the Musee de la Chasse et de la Nature in Paris. Works sent on loan during renovations of the galleries included paintings by Vincent van Gogh, Henri Rousseau, and George Stubbs.[59]
  • English silver: In 1997 a collection of 18th and 19th-century English silver was given to the museum by Jerome and Rita Gans.
  • Fabergé The Pratt Fabergé collection, the largest collection of Fabergé eggs outside Russia, includes five Imperial Easter Eggs: the Rock Crystal Egg of 1896, the Pelican Egg of 1898, the Peter the Great Egg of 1903, the Tsarevich Egg of 1912, and the Red Cross with Imperial Portraits Egg of 1915.[12]
  • The South Asian collection comprises works from what are today India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Tibet. The collection began in the late 1960s, with the initial core of the Himalayan collection being acquired in 1968.[60]
 
VFMA Cochrane Atrium in 2021

When the 2010 wing was completed, a 27-ton marble late-Mughal garden pavilion from Rajasthan was installed inside the galleries.[61]

  • Modern & Contemporary: The core of the Modern & Contemporary collection was assembled by Sydney and Frances Lewis in the mid- to late-20th century. Much of the more than 1,200 works in their collection were acquired by trading products (such as appliances and electronics) from their company, Best Products, to artists in exchange for works, while at the same time befriending many of them.[38][62]

In 2019, the Virginia Museum of Fine Art commissioned a large-scale monumental sculpture from artist Kehinde Wiley that was installed in front of the museum.[63] The work in bronze, which Wiley had titled Rumors of War, was modeled after one of Monument Avenue’s Confederate statues after he visited Richmond for a retrospective exhibition of his artwork held at the museum in 2016.[64][63]

Gallery

Special exhibitions

In addition to the galleries that display selections of the permanent collection, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts presents special exhibitions of artwork drawn from its own and others' collections, as well as work of active artists.

In 1941, the museum presented an exhibition of Modernist works by artists of the School of Paris from the collection of Walter P. Chrysler Jr. (which later became the basis for the Chrysler Museum of Art).

In the 1950s, VMFA originated shows such as "Furniture of the Old South" (1952), "Design of Scandinavia" (1954) and "Masterpieces of Chinese Art" (1955). In the 1960s, there were "Masterpieces of American Silver", followed by "Painting in England, 1700–1850," which drew from the private collections of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon. At the time, it was the most comprehensive exhibition of British painting ever presented in the United States. In 1967, the museum also mounted a major exhibition of the work of the English social satirist William Hogarth.

In 1978, the museum presented an exhibition on Colonial cabinetmaking in early Virginia, "Furniture of Williamsburg and Eastern Virginia, 1710–1790." Another first, and one that received widespread international attention, was the 1983 exhibition "Painting in the South: 1564–1980."

In the fall of 1996, VMFA was one of five major American museums to present "Fabergé in America" and "The Lillian Thomas Pratt Collection of Fabergé." These two exhibitions, featuring more than 400 objects and 15 imperial Easter eggs, drew more than 130,000 visitors to Richmond.

In 1997, the VMFA showed "William Blake: Illustrations of the Book of Job," an exhibition that featured a complete set of 21 engravings by English Romantic artist William Blake, created in 1825 and purchased by the museum in 1973. In addition to the engravings, the exhibit included six of the 1805 watercolors upon which Blake based them, on view and on loan from New York's Pierpont Morgan Library. Also on view were a complete set of the artist's preliminary drawings from the Fitzwilliam Museum at Cambridge University and the "New Zealand" set of copies of Blake's engravings from the Yale Center for British Art.[65]

In 1999, the museum presented "Splendors of Ancient Egypt," an exhibition assembled from the renowned collection of the Pelizaeus Museum in Hildesheim, Germany. Nearly a quarter of a million people saw the show in Richmond. It was one of the largest exhibitions of Egyptian art ever to tour the United States.[66]

In 2011, VMFA was one of seven museums worldwide chosen to exhibit one hundred seventy-six paintings from the personal collection of Pablo Picasso. The exhibit was held from February 19 – May 15, 2011 in ten galleries of the newly renovated museum. Director Alex Nyerges noted: "An exhibition this monumental is extremely rare, especially one that spans the entire career of a figure who many consider the most influential, innovative and creative artist of the 20th century." The collection of paintings was from a permanent collection housed in the Musée Picasso, then under renovation.[67]

The VMFA is a member of the French Regional & American Museums Exchange (FRAME).

Education and programs

The Office of Statewide Partnerships delivered programs and exhibitions throughout the commonwealth via a voluntary network of more than 350 nonprofit institutions (museums, galleries, art organizations, schools, community colleges, colleges and universities).[when?] Through this program, the museum offered crated exhibitions, arts-related audiovisual programs, symposia, lectures, conferences and workshops by visual and performing artists. The traveling artmobile program, tailored to help students meet the state's Standards of Learning, was also included.[68]

VMFA has offered in-house educational programs that are supported by multiple specialized studios and on-site exhibition space.[69] These have included courses in drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, fashion, digital arts, and mixed media.[70]

Group highlights tours are offered daily. K-12 group tours are also offered, incorporating the Virginia Standards of Learning. All college student tours of VMFA's permanent collection — guided and self-directed — are free. Tours can be requested online.[71]

VMFA's ARTshare is a multiyear digital initiative to expand the museum's digital outreach and make its collection more accessible.[72]

VMFA established a Fellowship Program in 1940 which, by 2011, had delivered grants in excess of $5 million with 1,250 awards to Virginia artists since the program's inception. The fellowship funds come from a privately endowed fund administered by VMFA. The Fellowship Program was initially funded by the late John Lee Pratt of Fredericksburg (the husband of Lillian Pratt, donor of the museum's Fabergé collection). By 2011, fellowships were primarily funded through the Pratt endowment and supplemented by gifts from the Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation and the J. Warwick McClintic Jr. Scholarship Fund.[73] Notable recipients of VMFA fellowship grants include Vince Gilligan,[74] Emmet Gowin, David Freed, Laura Pharis, Richard Carlyon, and Nell Blaine.[75]

References

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  2. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  3. ^ . Virginia Performs. Archived from the original on January 5, 2011. Retrieved March 10, 2011.
  4. ^ Tyler Green (May 24, 2010). . blogs.artinfo.com. Archived from the original on May 2010. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  5. ^ "Fodor's Expert Review: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts". Fodor's Travel.
  6. ^ . Museum District Website. Museum District Association. Archived from the original on July 11, 2011.
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  8. ^ Holmes, Elizabeth (January 1, 1993). "The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts: its Founding, 1930-1936". Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. doi:10.21220/s2-xr1t-4536. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  9. ^ "About the Robert E. Lee Camp Confederate Soldiers' Home". Library of Virginia Website. Library of Virginia. Retrieved February 28, 2011.
  10. ^ a b Wilson, Richard Guy (2002). Buildings of Virginia: Tidewater and Piedmont. Oxford University Press. pp. 262, 270. ISBN 0-19-515206-9.
  11. ^ a b c Brownell, Charles E.; et al. (1992). The Making of Virginia Architecture. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts / University Press of Virginia. p. 382. ISBN 0-917046-33-1.
  12. ^ a b . VMFA Website. VMFA. Archived from the original on April 4, 2011.
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  14. ^ "Leslie Cheek, Jr". Dictionary of Art Historians. Retrieved February 27, 2011.
  15. ^ "VMFA's Artmobile: Past and Present - VMFA Connect". www.vmfa.museum. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
  16. ^ a b . Time Magazine. December 7, 1959. Archived from the original on February 1, 2011. Retrieved February 27, 2011.
  17. ^ O' Leary, Elizabeth; et al. (2010). American Art at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. University of Virginia Press. pp. 1–9. ISBN 978-0-917046-93-3.
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  19. ^ "Leslie Cheek Jr., 84 - Led Virginia Museum". The New York Times. December 8, 1992. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  20. ^ NY Times, Ibid.
  21. ^ "Director of theatre tells of plays here in 1752". The Free Lance-Star. Fredericksburg, Virginia. November 17, 1960.
  22. ^ . lort.web.officelive.com. Archived from the original on April 23, 2012. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  23. ^ During state segregation, some casting of black actors had occurred for race-specific roles, such as maids and other servants, but Marat/Sade was the first VMT show to include African-American performers in roles not defined by race.
  24. ^ Editorial, "The Thing at the Museum," Richmond News Leader, October 10, 1969
  25. ^ Barnes, Clive (February 12, 1973). "Stage: Fowler 'Macbeth'; A Vigorous Production Staged in Richmond The Cast" (PDF). The New York Times.
  26. ^ Program of the Virginia Museum Theater Repertory Company, Our Father, February 7–22, 1975
  27. ^ Translated by William Stancil, VMT's Music director.
  28. ^ Gussow, Mel (May 10, 1975). "Stage - Gorky's Difficult 'Our Father' - A Family Split in Two Is Under Scrutiny". New York Times. Retrieved April 27, 2013.
  29. ^ Rosenfeld, Megan, The Washington Post, Thursday, March 24, 1977
  30. ^ Pahnelas, William, "Fowler Resigns, Cites Artistic Differences," The Commonwealth Times, March 29-April 4, 1977
  31. ^ "Commercial theaters versus not-for-profit theaters" (PDF). www.sc.edu. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  32. ^ a b Houser, Patricia G.; American University (1987). "VIRGINIA MUSEUM THEATRE: A CASE STUDY". Retrieved February 22, 2021.
  33. ^ Getter, Lisa, Vicki Kemper and Jonathan Peterson (2002-10-04). "5 Shot Dead in Suburban D.C. as Fear Spreads," Los Angeles Times
  34. ^ Kenneth Jones (April 9, 2003). . www.playbillcom. Archived from the original on July 19, 2014. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  35. ^ Matthew Miller (May 22, 2011). ""Art" at VMFA's Leslie Cheek Theater". Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  36. ^ "Richmond area arts and entertainment event calendar for Feb. 19 - Richmond Times-Dispatch: Entertainment/Life: P, entertainment, events_calendar". Archived from the original on February 4, 2013. Retrieved February 28, 2012.
  37. ^ "Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Sculpture Garden". Historic American Buildings Survey. Library of Congress. Retrieved February 27, 2011.
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  41. ^ "For Richmond's Confederate Home for Women, It's Finally Appomattox". New York Times. August 25, 1989. Retrieved February 27, 2011.
  42. ^ a b c "Débuts". Museum. Washington D.C., USA: American Association of Museums. 89 (4): 17. July–August 2010.
  43. ^ Adams, Noah (December 1, 2008). "For Virginia Museum Director, Life Is Rarely Still". NPR. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
  44. ^ "Expansion Fact Sheet". Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Retrieved July 23, 2010.[permanent dead link]
  45. ^ "Virginia Museum of Fine Arts / Rick Mather + SMBW". ArchDaily. August 16, 2011. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
  46. ^ . Henry Luce Foundation. Archived from the original on July 18, 2010. Retrieved July 23, 2010.
  47. ^ . May 19, 2011. RIBA. Archived from the original on September 30, 2011. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
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  51. ^ a b Yount, Sylvia (2010). "Introduction". American Art at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. VMFA & University of Virginia Press.
  52. ^ a b Proctor, Roy (May 23, 1999). "Under 'Splendors' Spell". Richmond Times-Dispatch.
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  54. ^ . The Collegian. February 26, 2009. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved February 27, 2011.
  55. ^ Anne B. Barriault (April 24, 2010). . Archived from the original on March 22, 2012.
  56. ^ "Pinkney L. Near". articles.baltimoresun.com. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  57. ^ Library, VMFA. "Special Collections in European Art: The Pinkney Near Collection". Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Richmond, Virginia. Retrieved January 6, 2016.
  58. ^ Merritt, Robert (September 30, 1990). "Pinkney Near left mark on museum". Richmond Times-Dispatch. p. 1.
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  75. ^ "VMFA visual arts fellowship recipients (1940-2007) in permanent collection" (PDF). Retrieved December 28, 2017.

    External links

    • Virginia Museum of Fine Arts official website
    • Architectural images of the museum, prior to the 2005–2010 expansion, including the now-demolished 1976 wing
    • Virtual tour of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts provided by Google Arts & Culture
    •   Media related to Virginia Museum of Fine Arts at Wikimedia Commons

    January 08, 2023
    virginia, museum, fine, arts, vmfa, redirects, here, marine, fighter, attack, squadrons, list, active, united, states, marine, corps, aircraft, squadrons, vmfa, vmfa, museum, richmond, virginia, united, states, which, opened, 1936, museum, owned, operated, com. VMFA redirects here For Marine Fighter Attack Squadrons see List of active United States Marine Corps aircraft squadrons VMFA The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts or VMFA is an art museum in Richmond Virginia United States which opened in 1936 The museum is owned and operated by the Commonwealth of Virginia Private donations endowments and funds are used for the support of specific programs and all acquisition of artwork as well as additional general support 3 The Virginia Museum of Fine ArtsVFMA in 2010Interactive fullscreen mapEstablishedMarch 27 1934 1934 03 27 Location200 N Arthur Ashe Blvd Richmond VA 23220Coordinates37 33 22 N 77 28 30 W 37 55611 N 77 47500 W 37 55611 77 47500 Coordinates 37 33 22 N 77 28 30 W 37 55611 N 77 47500 W 37 55611 77 47500TypeArt museumAccreditationAmerican Alliance of MuseumsKey holdingsFaberge eggs Rumors of War by Kehinde WileyCollectionsModern and Contemporary artCollection size22 000 works as of 2011 1 DirectorAlex NyergesArchitectRick Mather amp SMBW 2010 addition Public transit accessGreater Richmond Transit Company bus route 16 stop at Grove Ave between Thompson amp Robinson Websitevmfa wbr museumVirginia MuseumU S Historic districtContributing propertyBuilt1936ArchitectPeebles amp FergusonArchitectural styleGeorgian Revival English Renaissance RevivalPart ofBoulevard Historic District ID86002887 2 Designated CPSeptember 18 1986Considered among the largest art museums in North America for square footage of exhibition space 4 the VMFA s comprehensive art collection includes African art American art British sporting art Faberge and Himalayan art 5 One of the first museums in the American South to be operated by state funds VMFA offers free admission except for special exhibits The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts together with the adjacent Virginia Historical Society anchors the eponymous Museum District of Richmond and area of the city known as West of the Boulevard 6 The museum includes the Leslie Cheek Theater a performing arts venue For 50 years there was a theater company operating here known most recently as TheatreVirginia Built in 1955 as a 500 seat theatre within the art museum it started as a community theater and also hosted special programs in dance film and music In 1969 the director established an Actors Equity LORT company known as Virginia Museum Theatre hiring both local actors and professionals from New York City or elsewhere Some of its productions received national notice In 1973 its production of Maxim Gorky s play Our Father transferred to New York to the Manhattan Theater Club Because of continuing financial problems the non profit theater closed in 2002 After renovation it reopened in 2011 as part of the museum to host a range of live performance events Contents 1 History 1 1 Origins 1 2 Major acquisitions and first addition 1940 1969 1 3 Virginia Museum Theatre 1 4 Building expansions 1970 1990 1 5 Redesigned campus and McGlothlin wing expansion 1991 2010 1 6 Rumors of War and Another Expansion 2010 present 2 Permanent collection 3 Gallery 4 Special exhibitions 5 Education and programs 6 References 7 External linksHistory EditOrigins Edit The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts has its origins in a 1919 donation of 50 paintings to the Commonwealth of Virginia by Judge John Barton Payne During the Great Depression Payne collaborated with Virginia Governor John Garland Pollard to gain funding from the Federal Works Projects Administration under President Franklin D Roosevelt in order to augment state funding and establish the state art museum in 1932 7 Payne s gift had been made in memory of his late second wife Jennie Byrd Bryan Payne and his mother Elizabeth Barton Payne 8 The site for the museum was chosen on Richmond s Boulevard near the corner of a contiguous six block tract of land used as a veterans home for Confederate soldiers Additional services were provided to their wives and daughters 9 The main building of the VMFA was designed by Peebles and Ferguson Architects of Norfolk It has been described as Georgian Revival or English Renaissance Commentators have said the architects expressed influence from Inigo Jones and Christopher Wren 10 Construction began in 1934 11 Two wings were originally planned but only the central portion was then built 11 The museum opened on January 16 1936 11 Major acquisitions and first addition 1940 1969 Edit The Peter the Great Egg by the firm of Faberge donated to the museum in 1947 In 1947 the VMFA was given the Lillian Thomas Pratt Collection of some 150 jeweled objects created by Peter Carl Faberge and other Russian workshops including the largest public collection of Faberge eggs outside of Russia 12 That year the Museum also received the T Catesby Jones Collection of Modern Art Further donations in the 1950s came from Adolph D Williams and Wilkins C Williams and from Arthur and Margaret Glasgow They established the museum s oldest funds used for art acquisitions citation needed In 1948 Leslie Cheek Jr was selected as director of the museum where he served until 1968 13 During these decades he introduced many innovations and was noted as having had significant influence on the course of the institution His obituary in the New York Times said that he transformed the VMFA from a small local gallery to a nationally known cultural center 13 14 Cheek in 1953 introduced the world s first Artmobile a mobile tractor trailer that carried exhibits to rural areas prior to museum galleries being established in distant areas 15 In 1960 he was the first in the United States to introduce night hours at an art museum 16 Cheek worked with his curators and designers to cultivate a degree of theatrical showmanship in exhibits such as velvet drapery for the Faberge collection a tomb like setting of the museum s Egyptian exhibit and using music to set the mood in the galleries 7 16 17 18 To enhance the museum as a cultural center Cheek gained approval for construction of a theater used for museum and outside societies performing events in dance music and film During his tenure Cheek oversaw construction of the first addition built in 1954 by Merrill C Lee Architects of Richmond and supported financially by Paul Mellon Cheek had gained board approval to construct a theater as part of this addition The 500 seat theater was intended to provide space for a community theater as well as for annual programs of the Virginia societies for dance music and film all within a central cultural facility 7 Virginia Museum Theatre Edit What is now known as the Leslie Cheek Theater the 500 seat proscenium theater within VMFA was originally built in 1955 and known as the Virginia Museum Theatre It was designed under the supervision of director Cheek a Harvard Yale educated architect He consulted with Yale Drama theater engineers Donald Oenslager and George Izenour for the state of the art facility 19 Cheek envisioned a central role for a theater arts division in the museum 20 The theater brought the arts of drama acting design music and dance to the art galleries It also hosted programs of the Virginia Film Society Through the 1960s the Virginia Museum Theater VMT hosted a museum sponsored volunteer or community theater company under the direction of Robert Telford 21 The company presented subscription seasons of live drama to thousands annually Local players and occasional guest professionals offered musicals Peter Pan e g dramas Peter Shaffer s The Royal Hunt of the Sun and classics Shakespeare s Hamlet VMT also served as a venue for annual programs of the Virginia Music Society Virginia Dance Society and Virginia Film Society Cheek retired from the museum in 1968 but was an adviser to the VMFA trustees about the next director of the theater arts division In 1969 Keith Fowler was appointed as artistic director of VMT Under Fowler VMT continued to serve as the headquarters for the Dance Film and Music societies He is known for having expanded and upgrading the live theater operations establishing Richmond s first resident Actors Equity LORT company Both community actors and New York based professionals became part of this 22 The troupe s core members included Marie Goodman Hunter Janet Bell Lynda Myles E G Marshall Ken Letner James Kirkland Rachael Lindhart and dramaturg M Elizabeth Osborn Fowler retained a focus on classics and musicals but added an emphasis on new plays and U S premieres of foreign works His debut production in 1969 Marat Sade written by Peter Weiss was produced with the first racially integrated company on the VMT stage 23 While the production was praised by two Richmond newspapers an editorial in the afternoon Richmond News Leader criticized Fowler for latitudinarianism 24 The company became known as VMT Rep for repertory Fowler attracted national notice in 1973 with his production of Macbeth starring E G Marshall Critic Clive Barnes of The New York Times hailed it as the Fowler Macbeth splendidly vigorous probably the goriest Shakespearean production I have seen since Peter Brook s Titus Andronicus 25 As Fowler heightened the professional quality of the theater VMT led Richmond into what some recall as a golden age of theater when The company commissioned and produced eight American and World premieres introducing new plays by Americans Romulus Linney and A R Gurney as well as by major foreign authors such as Harold Pinter Joe Orton Athol Fugard and Peter Handke In 1975 the Soviet Arts Consul provided coverage on Moscow Television for Fowler s U S premiere of Maxim Gorky s Our Father originally Poslednje in Russian 26 27 This VMT production transferred to New York City where it premiered at the Manhattan Theater Club 28 Over eight years VMT s subscription audience increased from 4 300 to 10 000 patrons Fowler resigned in 1977 after a dispute with VMFA administration over the content in VMT s premiere of Romulus Linney s Childe Byron 29 30 Artistic directors Tom Markus 1978 1985 renamed the company and its playhouse TheatreVirginia As with all American professional not for profit performing arts organizations TheatreVirginia ran mounting deficits for years 31 32 Despite this artistic director Terry Burgler 1986 1999 who succeeded him had a successful operation He later became a co founder in 2004 of the Ohio Shakespeare Festival The museum Board of Trustees continued to underwrite the deficits to maintain the theater but their priority was the museum There were tensions in this arrangement and the Board was increasingly concerned about the viability of the theater A study in 1987 showed that it was difficult for the theatre company to deal with a board that was essentially constituted to oversee the art museum In addition the city of Richmond was still characterized as having a historical resistance to the offerings of professional theatre 32 Problems continued into the early 21st century when there was a loss of some state funding because of budget problems In addition the museum wanted to regain the theater space for other uses The theater was expected to relocate in 2003 and was projected to be an anchor tenant in a new Virginia Performing Arts Center But that was not planned for completion until 2007 and by late 2002 the theater had not found temporary relocation space In 2002 a series of fatal sniper attacks in the metropolitan DC area and northern Virginia region killed five people in quick succession 33 Residents were fearful of going out and the theater suffered reduced audiences and additional lost income In December 2002 the board decided to close TheatreVirginia 34 It struggled financially to operate in a state supported museum VMFA Lewis Galleries in 2021 For eight years the theater was dormant Renovation of the space and its revival as a live performance space was completed in 2011 that year it was renamed as the Leslie Cheek Theater in honor of its first director who had also been director of the museum for two decades The theater s reopening has returned live performing arts to the heart of the Virginia Museum 35 The Leslie Cheek Theater does not support a resident company but is available for bookings of special theater music film and dance showings 36 Building expansions 1970 1990 Edit The second addition the South Wing was designed by Baskervill amp Son Architects of Richmond and completed in 1970 It featured four new permanent galleries and a large gallery for loan exhibitions as well as a new library photography lab art storage rooms and staff offices A gift of funds from Sydney and Frances Lewis of Richmond in 1971 provided for the acquisition of Art Nouveau objects and furniture A third addition known as the North Wing was designed by Hardwicke Associates Inc of Richmond and completed in 1976 It included an adjacent sculpture garden with a cascading fountain designed by landscape architect Lawrence Halprin 37 The North Wing was designed as the new main entrance for the museum with a separate dedicated entrance added for the theater It provided three more gallery areas two for temporary exhibitions and one for the Lewis Family s Art Nouveau Collection while also housing a gift shop members dining room and other visitor functions However the curved walls of the North Wing s kidney shaped design proved to be functionally awkward and impractical and it was later replaced 7 10 The 1976 wing and sculpture garden were later demolished to make room for the 2010 McGlothlin Wing citation needed In the following years the Lewis and Mellon families proposed major donations from their extensive private collections and helped provide the funds to house them In December 1985 the museum opened its fourth addition the 90 000 square feet 8 400 m2 square foot West Wing 38 The architects Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates of New York were chosen by the Lewises based on their appreciation of the firm s 1981 design for the Best Products headquarters building north of Richmond 7 The wing now houses the collections of these two families Redesigned campus and McGlothlin wing expansion 1991 2010 Edit Home For Confederate WomenU S National Register of Historic PlacesVirginia Landmarks Register Location301 N Sheppard St Richmond VirginiaArea2 acres 0 81 ha Built1932ArchitectLee MerrillArchitectural styleFederal Federal RevivalNRHP reference No 85002767 2 VLR No 127 0380Significant datesAdded to NRHPNovember 7 1985Designated VLRApril 16 1985 39 Robinson House 2014 In 1993 the Commonwealth of Virginia transferred the care of the Robinson House from the Department of General Services to VMFA 40 The nearly fourteen acre property of Robinson House a former veterans camp was transferred between state agencies to the museum Beginning in 2001 the VMFA created a master plan for development of this land in what was otherwise a built out residential part of the city 7 By the 1990s the functions of the adjacent Confederate Home for Women had ceased and its last residents moved out 41 In 1999 the former home was adapted for use as the Center for Education and Outreach now the Pauley Center housing the museum s Office of Statewide Partnerships The VMFA undertook a 150 million 42 building expansion to increase the museum s gallery space by fifty percent adding 165 000 square feet 15 300 m2 The new wing opened in 2010 and was named in honor of patrons James W and Frances G McGlothlin The museum reoriented the McGlothlin Wing by reinstating the entrance on the Boulevard the same as with the original 1936 entrance The design includes a three story atrium named for Louise B and J Harwood Cochrane 43 with a 40 foot 12 m tall glass wall to the east and broad expanses of glass walls to the west and a partially glazed roof 44 The London based architect Rick Mather collaborated with Richmond based SMBW Architects in the design of the building 45 while landscape architecture was handled by OLIN 42 Landscaping included a new 4 acre 16 000 m2 sculpture garden named for philanthropists E Claiborne and Lora Robins 42 American art is the major focus of exhibitions in the McGlothlin Wing In 2008 the museum received a 200 000 grant from the Luce Foundation to support the installation and interpretation of its American collections 46 Mather s design for the VMFA expansion earned a 2011 RIBA International Award for architectural excellence 47 Rumors of War and Another Expansion 2010 present Edit In 2019 Rumors of War was installed on the front lawn of the museum facing Arthur Ashe Boulevard after being displayed in Times Square In June 2021 the VMFA announced that architect firm SmithGroup was designing a 190 million expansion of the museum and a renovation of current spaces such as the Evans Court and Leslie Cheek Theater Permanent collection EditThe Virginia Museum of Fine Arts has divided its encyclopedic collections into several broad curatorial departments which largely correspond to the galleries 48 49 African Art In 1994 and 1995 the museum exhibited its entire 250 object African art collection in Spirit of the Motherland African Art at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts As of 2011 the collection has grown to around 500 objects with particular strengths in the art of the Kuba the Akan the Yoruba and the Kongo peoples and the art of Mali 50 American Art The American art collection began with twenty works of the John Barton Payne donation 51 Since the 1980s the museum has begun to systematically build its holdings in American art aided in 1988 by the creation of an endowment by patrons Harwood and Louise Cochrane to support such acquisitions 51 In 2005 the McGlothlin family promised a bequest of their collection of American art and financial support valued at well above 100 million citation needed Ancient American art Ancient art Begun in 1936 the Ancient collection expanded under Director Leslie Cheek with the advice of the Brooklyn Museum and other institutions 52 The collection consists of works from the Ancient Egyptian Ancient Greek Phrygian Etruscan Ancient Roman and Byzantine civilizations 53 It includes one of two ancient Egyptian mummies in the city of Richmond Tjeby the other is at the University of Richmond 52 54 Art Nouveau amp Art Deco Begun from the core collection of furniture and decorative arts the Lewis family began assembling in 1971 today it includes Art Nouveau works by Hector Guimard Emile Galle Louis Majorelle Louis Comfort Tiffany works by the Vienna Secession and Peter Behrens Arts amp Crafts works by Charles Rennie Mackintosh Frank Lloyd Wright Stickley and Greene amp Greene and Parisian Art Deco pieces by Eileen Gray and Emile Jacques Ruhlmann 18 East Asian art Begun in 1941 the East Asian collection consists of Chinese Japanese and Korean art The collection includes Chinese jade bronzes and Buddhist sculpture Japanese sculpture and paintings from Kyoto as well as Korean ceramics and bronzes from two private collections In 2004 the collection added two imperial Buddhist paintings from the Qing dynasty dating from 1740 The collection includes the Rene and Carolyn Balcer Collection of works by the Japanese woodblock artist Kawase Hasui That collection consists of some 800 works woodblock prints screens watercolors and other works by Hasui including rarely seen prints made by Hasui prior to the 1923 earthquake that destroyed half of Tokyo 55 Miniature watercolor painting from Rajasthan in the South Asian collection European art The European collection began with the original 1919 Payne donation and now includes works by Bacchiacca Murillo Poussin Rosa Gentileschi Goya and Bouguereau 18 In 1970 Ailsa Mellon Bruce donated some 450 European decorative objects including a group of 18th and 19th century gold porcelain and enamel boxes Pinkney L Near 1927 1990 56 was curator of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts for thirty years He was responsible for the museum s acquisition of many works of European art 57 including arranging for the museum to purchase the Francisco Goya portrait of General Nicolas Guye long believed to be the most valuable work of art in the museum s collections from John Lee Pratt 58 The Guye portrait by Goya is now on view in the posthumously created Pinkney Near Gallery at the VMFA In 1989 Pinkney Near was named to the newly created post of Paul Mellon Curator and senior research curator a post in which he continued to work closely with the Mellon Collection and Paul Mellon Malcolm Cormack succeeded Pinkney Near as Paul Mellon Curator of European Art from 1991 until his retirement in 2003 Mitchell Merling became Cormack s successor as curator of the Mellon Collection Paul Mellon s donations added to the French Impressionist and Post Impressionist works and a collection of British Sporting Art given to the museum in 1983 At his death in 1999 Mellon bequeathed additional French and British works including five paintings by George Stubbs The Mellon Galleries closed January 2 2018 for renovations with a scheduled reopening in 2020 Curator Mitchell Merling selected 70 major works from the VMFA Mellon Collection to tour during this period on loan to museums such as the Frick Art and Historical Center in Pittsburgh the Frist Center for the Visual Arts in Nashville and the Musee de la Chasse et de la Nature in Paris Works sent on loan during renovations of the galleries included paintings by Vincent van Gogh Henri Rousseau and George Stubbs 59 English silver In 1997 a collection of 18th and 19th century English silver was given to the museum by Jerome and Rita Gans Faberge The Pratt Faberge collection the largest collection of Faberge eggs outside Russia includes five Imperial Easter Eggs the Rock Crystal Egg of 1896 the Pelican Egg of 1898 the Peter the Great Egg of 1903 the Tsarevich Egg of 1912 and the Red Cross with Imperial Portraits Egg of 1915 12 The South Asian collection comprises works from what are today India Pakistan Bangladesh Sri Lanka Nepal and Tibet The collection began in the late 1960s with the initial core of the Himalayan collection being acquired in 1968 60 VFMA Cochrane Atrium in 2021 When the 2010 wing was completed a 27 ton marble late Mughal garden pavilion from Rajasthan was installed inside the galleries 61 Modern amp Contemporary The core of the Modern amp Contemporary collection was assembled by Sydney and Frances Lewis in the mid to late 20th century Much of the more than 1 200 works in their collection were acquired by trading products such as appliances and electronics from their company Best Products to artists in exchange for works while at the same time befriending many of them 38 62 In 2019 the Virginia Museum of Fine Art commissioned a large scale monumental sculpture from artist Kehinde Wiley that was installed in front of the museum 63 The work in bronze which Wiley had titled Rumors of War was modeled after one of Monument Avenue s Confederate statues after he visited Richmond for a retrospective exhibition of his artwork held at the museum in 2016 64 63 Gallery Edit Peter Paul Rubens Study for Pallas and Arachne 1636 37 Artemisia Gentileschi Cupid and Venus Nicolas Poussin Achilles on Skyros 1656 Elisabeth Vigee Lebrun Portrait of the Comte de Vaudreuil 1784 Angelica Kauffman Cornelia Mother of the Gracchi 1785 Junius Brutus Stearns Washington as Farmer at Mount Vernon 1851 Eugene Delacroix Amadis Delivers Princess Olga from Galpans Castle 1860 Gustave Caillebotte Boater Docking His Skiff 1878 Henri Rousseau Tropical Landscape American Indian Struggling with a Gorilla 1910 John Singer Sargent The Sketchers 1914 Special exhibitions EditIn addition to the galleries that display selections of the permanent collection the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts presents special exhibitions of artwork drawn from its own and others collections as well as work of active artists In 1941 the museum presented an exhibition of Modernist works by artists of the School of Paris from the collection of Walter P Chrysler Jr which later became the basis for the Chrysler Museum of Art In the 1950s VMFA originated shows such as Furniture of the Old South 1952 Design of Scandinavia 1954 and Masterpieces of Chinese Art 1955 In the 1960s there were Masterpieces of American Silver followed by Painting in England 1700 1850 which drew from the private collections of Mr and Mrs Paul Mellon At the time it was the most comprehensive exhibition of British painting ever presented in the United States In 1967 the museum also mounted a major exhibition of the work of the English social satirist William Hogarth In 1978 the museum presented an exhibition on Colonial cabinetmaking in early Virginia Furniture of Williamsburg and Eastern Virginia 1710 1790 Another first and one that received widespread international attention was the 1983 exhibition Painting in the South 1564 1980 In the fall of 1996 VMFA was one of five major American museums to present Faberge in America and The Lillian Thomas Pratt Collection of Faberge These two exhibitions featuring more than 400 objects and 15 imperial Easter eggs drew more than 130 000 visitors to Richmond In 1997 the VMFA showed William Blake Illustrations of the Book of Job an exhibition that featured a complete set of 21 engravings by English Romantic artist William Blake created in 1825 and purchased by the museum in 1973 In addition to the engravings the exhibit included six of the 1805 watercolors upon which Blake based them on view and on loan from New York s Pierpont Morgan Library Also on view were a complete set of the artist s preliminary drawings from the Fitzwilliam Museum at Cambridge University and the New Zealand set of copies of Blake s engravings from the Yale Center for British Art 65 In 1999 the museum presented Splendors of Ancient Egypt an exhibition assembled from the renowned collection of the Pelizaeus Museum in Hildesheim Germany Nearly a quarter of a million people saw the show in Richmond It was one of the largest exhibitions of Egyptian art ever to tour the United States 66 In 2011 VMFA was one of seven museums worldwide chosen to exhibit one hundred seventy six paintings from the personal collection of Pablo Picasso The exhibit was held from February 19 May 15 2011 in ten galleries of the newly renovated museum Director Alex Nyerges noted An exhibition this monumental is extremely rare especially one that spans the entire career of a figure who many consider the most influential innovative and creative artist of the 20th century The collection of paintings was from a permanent collection housed in the Musee Picasso then under renovation 67 The VMFA is a member of the French Regional amp American Museums Exchange FRAME Education and programs EditThe Office of Statewide Partnerships delivered programs and exhibitions throughout the commonwealth via a voluntary network of more than 350 nonprofit institutions museums galleries art organizations schools community colleges colleges and universities when Through this program the museum offered crated exhibitions arts related audiovisual programs symposia lectures conferences and workshops by visual and performing artists The traveling artmobile program tailored to help students meet the state s Standards of Learning was also included 68 VMFA has offered in house educational programs that are supported by multiple specialized studios and on site exhibition space 69 These have included courses in drawing painting sculpture photography fashion digital arts and mixed media 70 Group highlights tours are offered daily K 12 group tours are also offered incorporating the Virginia Standards of Learning All college student tours of VMFA s permanent collection guided and self directed are free Tours can be requested online 71 VMFA s ARTshare is a multiyear digital initiative to expand the museum s digital outreach and make its collection more accessible 72 VMFA established a Fellowship Program in 1940 which by 2011 had delivered grants in excess of 5 million with 1 250 awards to Virginia artists since the program s inception The fellowship funds come from a privately endowed fund administered by VMFA The Fellowship Program was initially funded by the late John Lee Pratt of Fredericksburg the husband of Lillian Pratt donor of the museum s Faberge collection By 2011 fellowships were primarily funded through the Pratt endowment and supplemented by gifts from the Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation and the J Warwick McClintic Jr Scholarship Fund 73 Notable recipients of VMFA fellowship grants include Vince Gilligan 74 Emmet Gowin David Freed Laura Pharis Richard Carlyon and Nell Blaine 75 References Edit About the Collection VMFA Website Archived from the original on February 10 2011 Retrieved February 28 2011 a b National Register Information System National Register of Historic Places National Park Service March 13 2009 Agency Strategic Plan 2010 2012 Virginia Performs Archived from the original on January 5 2011 Retrieved March 10 2011 Tyler Green May 24 2010 One of America s quietest museums quietly expands blogs artinfo com Archived from the original on May 2010 Retrieved November 21 2016 Fodor s Expert Review Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Fodor s Travel History of the Museum District Museum District Website Museum District Association Archived from the original on July 11 2011 a b c d e f Slipek Jr Edwin March 30 2010 Open Indulgence Style Weekly Retrieved February 27 2011 Holmes Elizabeth January 1 1993 The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts its Founding 1930 1936 Dissertations Theses and Masters Projects doi 10 21220 s2 xr1t 4536 Retrieved November 9 2021 About the Robert E Lee Camp Confederate Soldiers Home Library of Virginia Website Library of Virginia Retrieved February 28 2011 a b Wilson Richard Guy 2002 Buildings of Virginia Tidewater and Piedmont Oxford University Press pp 262 270 ISBN 0 19 515206 9 a b c Brownell Charles E et al 1992 The Making of Virginia Architecture Virginia Museum of Fine Arts University Press of Virginia p 382 ISBN 0 917046 33 1 a b Faberge Factsheet VMFA Website VMFA Archived from the original on April 4 2011 a b Leslie Cheek Jr 84 Led Virginia Museum New York Times December 8 1992 Retrieved February 27 2011 Leslie Cheek Jr Dictionary of Art Historians Retrieved February 27 2011 VMFA s Artmobile Past and Present VMFA Connect www vmfa museum Retrieved November 1 2018 a b Art Cheek s Changes Time Magazine December 7 1959 Archived from the original on February 1 2011 Retrieved February 27 2011 O Leary Elizabeth et al 2010 American Art at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts University of Virginia Press pp 1 9 ISBN 978 0 917046 93 3 a b c Barriault Anne April 24 2010 Enriched Collections Apollo Leslie Cheek Jr 84 Led Virginia Museum The New York Times December 8 1992 Retrieved November 21 2016 NY Times Ibid Director of theatre tells of plays here in 1752 The Free Lance Star Fredericksburg Virginia November 17 1960 League of resident theaters lort web officelive com Archived from the original on April 23 2012 Retrieved November 21 2016 During state segregation some casting of black actors had occurred for race specific roles such as maids and other servants but Marat Sade was the first VMT show to include African American performers in roles not defined by race Editorial The Thing at the Museum Richmond News Leader October 10 1969 Barnes Clive February 12 1973 Stage Fowler Macbeth A Vigorous Production Staged in Richmond The Cast PDF The New York Times Program of the Virginia Museum Theater Repertory Company Our Father February 7 22 1975 Translated by William Stancil VMT s Music director Gussow Mel May 10 1975 Stage Gorky s Difficult Our Father A Family Split in Two Is Under Scrutiny New York Times Retrieved April 27 2013 Rosenfeld Megan The Washington Post Thursday March 24 1977 Pahnelas William Fowler Resigns Cites Artistic Differences The Commonwealth Times March 29 April 4 1977 Commercial theaters versus not for profit theaters PDF www sc edu Retrieved November 21 2016 a b Houser Patricia G American University 1987 VIRGINIA MUSEUM THEATRE A CASE STUDY Retrieved February 22 2021 Getter Lisa Vicki Kemper and Jonathan Peterson 2002 10 04 5 Shot Dead in Suburban D C as Fear Spreads Los Angeles Times Kenneth Jones April 9 2003 TheatreVirginia Closes Its Doors After 50 Years Citing Money Woes Loss of Home Sniper www playbillcom Archived from the original on July 19 2014 Retrieved November 21 2016 Matthew Miller May 22 2011 Art at VMFA s Leslie Cheek Theater Retrieved November 21 2016 Richmond area arts and entertainment event calendar for Feb 19 Richmond Times Dispatch Entertainment Life P entertainment events calendar Archived from the original on February 4 2013 Retrieved February 28 2012 Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Sculpture Garden Historic American Buildings Survey Library of Congress Retrieved February 27 2011 a b Kollatz Jr Harry May 2010 The West Wing Opens Richmond Magazine Retrieved February 27 2011 Virginia Landmarks Register Virginia Department of Historic Resources Archived from the original on September 21 2013 Retrieved March 19 2013 Elizabeth L O Leary Marc Wagner and Kelly Spradley Kurowski July 2013 National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Robinson House PDF Virginia Department of Historic Resources Archived from the original PDF on February 24 2014 Retrieved February 11 2014 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link For Richmond s Confederate Home for Women It s Finally Appomattox New York Times August 25 1989 Retrieved February 27 2011 a b c Debuts Museum Washington D C USA American Association of Museums 89 4 17 July August 2010 Adams Noah December 1 2008 For Virginia Museum Director Life Is Rarely Still NPR Retrieved February 20 2021 Expansion Fact Sheet Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Retrieved July 23 2010 permanent dead link Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Rick Mather SMBW ArchDaily August 16 2011 Retrieved February 20 2021 American Art Recent Grants 2008 Henry Luce Foundation Archived from the original on July 18 2010 Retrieved July 23 2010 RIBA International Award winners 2011 announced May 19 2011 RIBA Archived from the original on September 30 2011 Retrieved May 24 2011 About the Collection Curators VMFA Website Archived from the original on December 22 2010 Retrieved February 27 2011 Collections VMFA Website Archived from the original on February 21 2011 Retrieved February 27 2011 African Art Collection Factsheet VMFA Website VMFA Archived from the original on September 28 2011 Retrieved March 2 2011 a b Yount Sylvia 2010 Introduction American Art at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts VMFA amp University of Virginia Press a b Proctor Roy May 23 1999 Under Splendors Spell Richmond Times Dispatch Ancient Art Factsheet VMFA Website Archived from the original on September 28 2011 Classical Department displays 2 700 year old mummy The Collegian February 26 2009 Archived from the original on July 16 2011 Retrieved February 27 2011 Anne B Barriault April 24 2010 Enriched Collections Archived from the original on March 22 2012 Pinkney L Near articles baltimoresun com Retrieved November 21 2016 Library VMFA Special Collections in European Art The Pinkney Near Collection Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Richmond Virginia Retrieved January 6 2016 Merritt Robert September 30 1990 Pinkney Near left mark on museum Richmond Times Dispatch p 1 Curran Colleen December 30 2017 VMFA s Mellon Galleries to Close Richmond Virginia Richmond Times Dispatch pp B1 B5 Himalayan Factsheet VMFA Website Virginia Museum of Fine Arts permanent dead link Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Installation of the Indian Garden Pavilion time lapse Youtube Archived from the original on December 21 2021 Retrieved March 1 2011 Murray Elizabeth Fall 2005 Jennifer Bartlett Bomb a b Stamberg Susan June 25 2020 Rumors Of War In Richmond Marks A Monumentally Unequal America NPR Retrieved February 21 2021 Curran Colleen June 20 2019 VMFA acquires massive sculpture by artist Kehinde Wiley created in response to Confederate monuments Richmond Times Dispatch Retrieved February 20 2021 Proctor Roy November 2 1997 The Book of Job according to Blake Richmond Times Dispatch pp H1 H2 In the words of British born Malcolm Cormack the show s organizer and the museum s Paul Mellon Curator U nlike the earlier 1975 exhibition this show provides keys for a more complete understanding of the engravings Arthur Nicole August 27 1999 Pyramid Schemes Washington Post ISSN 0190 8286 Retrieved May 18 2022 Rea F T February 18 2011 Picasso s Richmond Period richmond com Archived from the original on February 1 2013 Retrieved March 10 2011 Revved up for VMFA on the Road mailchi mp Retrieved November 1 2018 Museum Programs Virginia Museum of Fine Arts vmfa museum Retrieved December 28 2017 Youth Studio Programs Youth Studio vmfa museum Retrieved December 28 2017 Museum Tours Museum Tours vmfa museum Retrieved December 28 2017 ARTshare Support VMFA vmfa museum Retrieved December 28 2017 VMFA awards more than 5 million to Virginia artists in the past 75 years VMFA Press Room vmfa museum Retrieved December 28 2017 Fellowship Recipients Where Are They Now Programs Virginia Museum of Fine Arts vmfa museum Retrieved December 28 2017 VMFA visual arts fellowship recipients 1940 2007 in permanent collection PDF Retrieved December 28 2017 source information on Payne donationExternal links EditVirginia Museum of Fine Arts official website Architectural images of the museum prior to the 2005 2010 expansion including the now demolished 1976 wing Virtual tour of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts provided by Google Arts amp Culture Media related to Virginia Museum of Fine Arts at Wikimedia Commons Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Virginia Museum of Fine Arts amp oldid 1129081234, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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