University of Michigan Museum of Art

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University of Michigan Museum of Art

The University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA) is an American art museum in Ann Arbor that is part of the University of Michigan . The museum was founded in 1946 to showcase the university's growing art collection.

History of the building

The building of the museum was built as "Alumni Memorial Hall" to the the American Civil War fallen alumni (alumni) to commemorate the university. A first attempt at this was made as early as 1864, but came to a standstill after a few years. In 1903 a group of alumni took up the idea again, and in 1904 the university administration promised a piece of land on the southwest corner of the campus at the corner of South University Avenue and State Street. The university would also take over the maintenance of the building after it was built. The architects Donaldson & Meier ( Detroit ) provided the design for the building, which was built between 1908 and 1910 for just under USD 200,000. The university contributed a quarter of the construction costs, with the majority coming from the Alumni Association and individual donors.

The "Alumni Memorial Hall" was built in the Beaux Arts style (an American variant of neoclassicism ). The main entrance to the west is formed by a mighty portal supported by corner pillars and two double columns without fluting . The building is 35 m wide and 46 m deep, has two floors and has a complete basement; the usable area is approx. 3,800 m². The building is bricked, the facade is completely clad with stone slabs. Between 2006 and 2009 the "Alumni Memorial Hall" was completely restored and a wing designed by the architect Brad Cloepfil (Portland, OR) with a floor area of ​​4,900 m² was added to the building, doubling the usable area of ​​the museum. The total cost of the project was $ 41.9 million.

Foundation of a museum and art collection

The “Alumni Memorial Hall” was designed from the outset in such a way that it could also accommodate exhibitions. The university library, which until then had housed the university's art collection, also suffered from a lack of space. The “Alumni Memorial Hall” took on parts of the art collection from the moment it opened. In 1946 the entire building was taken over and the University of Michigan Museum of Art was officially founded. There are still bronze plaques in the house with the names of the fallen alumni from the American Civil War (1861–1865), the Mexican-American War (1846–1848) and the Spanish-American War (1898).

Parts of the collection have been shown in the museum since 1946, and there are also temporary exhibitions. The museum's collection consists of art from many regions and eras. European art includes older works such as those by de Champaigne and Teniers , but also works from the 18th and 19th centuries such as those by Natoire (the oil painting Alliance de la Poésie et de la Musique ), Bouguereau (the oil painting La Charité ), and Delacroix (21 works) and Monet (the oil painting La Débâcle or Les Glaçons ). American art from the 18th and 19th centuries is well represented, including works by Peale (the oil painting Martha Dandridge Custis Washington ) and Whistler (almost 200 drawings and prints). The 20th century is represented in the collection through photographic works by Ansel Adams and Stieglitz .

Web links

Commons : University of Michigan Museum of Art  - Collection of pictures, videos, and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Building Project ( Memento of the original from September 25, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on the University of Michigan Museum of Art website. (Retrieved February 5, 2009.) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.umma.umich.edu
  2. ↑ Alumni Memorial Hall ( Memento of the original from July 14, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. with photos and text of the plaque. (Retrieved February 5, 2009.) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.plantext.bf.umich.edu
  3. ↑ UMMA Collections on the University of Michigan Museum of Art website. Contains online search access to the museum's database, which includes the entire collection inventory. (Retrieved February 5, 2009.)

Coordinates: 42 ° 16 ′ 31.5 "  N , 83 ° 44 ′ 23.6"  W.