Honolulu Museum of Art

Portrait of Anna Rice Cooke , the founder of the museum (1910)

The Honolulu Museum of Art is one of the most important and extensive museums in the United States . It is divided into a historical and a contemporary museum; both buildings are located in the capital of the state of Hawaii on the island of Oahu .

history

The museum developed from the private art collection of the couple Charles Montague Cooke (1849-1909), a successful businessman in various fields, and Anna Rice Cooke (1853-1934). It was founded in 1922 by the widow and her daughters and opened in 1927. As a result of donations from other patrons, the museum's collections grew enormously in the period that followed and had to be divided between different buildings.

Contemporary Museum

The Contemporary Museum is located in the historic private building of Spalding House from 1925. It was converted into a museum for contemporary art in 1986 and opened in 1988; a branch is located in the high-rise building of the First Hawaiian Center . In 2011 the museum became part of the Honolulu Museum of Art .

Collections

The collections, which cover almost the entire spectrum of world art, now consist of more than 50,000 individual items, of which only a small part can be exhibited. A large part of the exhibits are all kinds of handicrafts .