National Museum of African Art
The National Museum of African Art is a museum of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC It is located on the National Mall and specializes in African art and culture dedicated. It was established as a private museum in 1964 and officially became part of the Smithsonian Institution in August 1979.
The main entrance is between the Smithsonian Castle garden and Independence Avenue . Like the Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery , the National Museum of African Art is an underground museum. The museum is often confused with the Museum for African Art in New York City .
history
The museum's roots come from a bargain purchase in the early 1960s. Warren M. Robbins bought a Yoruba carving in Hamburg for $ 15 . A year later, Robbins acquired another 32 pieces of African art. When he returned to the United States, he brought his collection with him and displayed it in his Washington, DC apartment. After a newspaper report about his collection, the first visitors appeared at his door and were invited in to view the collection.
In 1963 Robbins bought one half of the house (316-18 A Street Northeast). The house was the residence of the abolitist Frederick Douglass from 1871 to 1877 . When the museum opened in 1964, it was the first museum in the United States to be solely dedicated to African art. The Frederick Douglass Institute of Negro Arts and History was founded in 1966. In the years that followed, Robbins raised money to buy the other half of the Douglass house, calling it the Museum of African Art . As his collection grew, he bought neighboring apartment buildings until his museum consisted of 9 townhouses, 16 garages and 2 coach houses.
In 1979, Congress approved the Smithsonian Institution's acquisition of the collection's performance. Robbins was the first museum director. He held this post until 1983, when he was appointed Founding Director Emeritus and Smithsonian Senior Scholar and replaced as Director by Sylvia H. Williams. The museum was moved from its Capitol Hill location to the National Mall in 1987 and renamed the National Museum of African Art.
Web links
- Official website (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Hevesi, Dennis. "Warren Robbins, Whose Collection Led to a Smithsonian, Dies at 85" , The New York Times , December 10, 2008. Accessed December 11, 2008.
Coordinates: 38 ° 53 '16.7 " N , 77 ° 1' 31.8" W.