Philadelphia Museum Of Art Entrance

Philadelphia Museum Of Art

The Philadelphia Museum of Art is an art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at the northwest end of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway at Eakins Oval. The museum administers collections containing over 240,000 objects including major holdings of European, American and Asian origin. The various classes of artwork include sculpture, paintings, prints, drawings, photographs, armor, and decorative arts.

Several special exhibitions are held in the museum every year, including touring exhibitions arranged with other museums in the United States and abroad. The museum had 437,348 visitors in 2021, making it the 65th most-visited art museum worldwide.

Construction Of The Main Building

The City Council of Philadelphia funded a competition in 1895 to design a new museum building, but it was not until 1907 that plans were first made to construct it on Fairmount, a rocky hill topped by the city’s main reservoir. The Fairmount Parkway , a grand boulevard that cut diagonally across the grid of city streets, was designed to terminate at the foot of the hill. But there were conflicting views about whether to erect a single museum building, or a number of buildings to house individual collections. The architectural firms of Horace Trumbauer and Zantzinger, Borie and Medary collaborated for more than a decade to resolve these issues. The final design is mostly credited to two architects in Trumbauer’s firm: Howell Lewis Shay for the building’s plan and massing, and for the detail work and perspective drawings. In 1902, Abele had become the first African-American student to be graduated from the University of Pennsylvania‘s Department of Architecture, which is presently known as Penn’s School of Design. Abele adapted classical Greek temple columns for the design of the museum entrances, and was responsible for the colors of both the building stone and the figures added to one of the pediments.

The building is also adorned by a collection of bronze griffins, which were later adopted as the symbol of the museum in the 1970s.

The Philadelphia Museum Of Art Is Home To These 12 Notable Paintings

The curation of this content is at the discretion of the author, and not necessarily reflective of the views of Encyclopaedia Britannica or its editorial staff. For the most accurate and up-to-date information, consult individual encyclopedia entries about the topics.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art was founded in 1876 as the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art it adopted its current name in 1938. Today its collection consists of more than 240,000 artworks. This list focuses on just 12 of its paintings.

Earlier versions of the descriptions of these paintings first appeared in 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die, edited by Stephen Farthing . Writers names appear in parentheses.

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Philadelphia Museum Of Art Parking Garage

$15 for the first four hours, $2 each additional hour

Philadelphia Museum of Art members: First hour free, $10 for the next four hours, $2 each additional hour. Please validate your parking ticket in the Museum to receive visitor and member rates.

2151 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA 19130

Gehrys Quiet Interventions Reshape The Philadelphia Museum

No billowing sails of glass or glimmering titanium in the renovation of the museums Beaux-Arts home. Equally surprising are several new shows and the American galleries.

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By Jason Farago

PHILADELPHIA You know whats chicer than spending a ton on a landmark building? Spending a ton and barely showing it.

When other museums and cultural institutions have turned to Frank Gehry, the Canadian Angeleno and 92-year-old grandmaster of torquing titanium, he has summoned up buildings both inventive and ostentatious: curves of metal at the Guggenheim Bilbao or Disney Hall in Los Angeles, or billowing sails of glass at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris. But here in Philadelphia, where he was tasked to reimagine one of the countrys oldest and most significant museums, he has left the stainless steel and the kinematics software at home.

Youll see Gehrys hushed interventions first via the western entrance which I still think of as the back of the museum, although its been the primary access for years now. It has more inviting glass doors and proper ramps for wheelchair access. The west lobby, called Lenfest Hall, has been given larger windows, and been denuded of the postmodern ticket booths designed by the museums previous architects, Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown.

Philadelphia Museum of Art

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Philadelphia Museum Of Art General Admission Ticket

• Instant confirmation

• For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours in advance of the start date of the experience.

• For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours in advance of the start date of the experience.

• Access for 2 consecutive days to the main building, the Perelman Building, the Rodin Museum.
• A trip to the city would not be complete without a visit here to the cultural heart of Philadelphia
• Entry/Admission – Philadelphia Museum of Art
• Entry/Admission – Rodin Museum

• Cafeteria and espresso bar available

• Access for 2 consecutive days to the main building, the Perelman Building, the Rodin Museum.
• A trip to the city would not be complete without a visit here to the cultural heart of Philadelphia
• Entry/Admission – Philadelphia Museum of Art
• Entry/Admission – Rodin Museum

• Cafeteria and espresso bar available

• Returns to original departure point

• See Important Information for details
• 1Stop: 2 hours – Admission includedSee details
• Stop: 45 minutes – Admission includedSee details
• You’ll return to the starting point

Academy Of Natural Sciences Of Drexel University

1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA 19103www.ansp.org | 299-1000

Admission Update:Guests who plan to visit with a Pennsylvania ACCESS card are asked to arrive as close to the top of the hour as possible. A dedicated portion of our hourly capacity is held specifically for guests with the ACCESS Philly card, and due to museum capacity on Saturdays and Sundays, the top-of-the-hour arrival will help ensure admission availability.

Accessibility Accommodations

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Philadelphia Museum Of Art Parking Options

The Philly Art Museum has a garage parking structure located west of the mainbuilding. Its within short walking distance of the entrance and near the Rodin Museum. To reach the museum parking facility from Kelly Drive, turn onto either Anne dHarnoncourt or Waterworks Drive. If going from Spring Garden Street and through Anne dHarnoncourt Drive, the garage will be on your left. Either way, youll see the following sign when you get there:

Accessible parking is available on all garage levels, next to the elevators. Any guest who occupies an ADA spot needs to display a disabled parking permit or license plate. Standard parking rates apply, and they are listed below.

Free Parking Near The Philadelphia Museum Of Art

The parking lot on Waterworks Drive near the boathouse offers a limited number of free spaces. Its location is convenientright before you reach the museum gatebut the lot is almost always full, and finding an available spot is extremely hard. If youre budget-conscious, we suggest checking it out but prepare a backup plan. You could also search for a free on-street spot on Pennsylvania or Fairmont Avenue just dont forget to check the signs for time limits and other useful information.

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The Carl Otto Kretzschmar Von Kienbusch Collection

The museum also houses the armor collection of Carl Otto Kretzschmar von Kienbusch. The Von Kienbusch collection was bequeathed by the celebrated collector to the museum in 1976, the Bicentennial Anniversary of the American Revolution. The Von Kienbusch holdings are comprehensive and include European and Southwest Asian arms and armor spanning several centuries.

On May 30, 2000, the museum and the State Art Collections in Dresden, Germany , announced an agreement for the return of five pieces of armor stolen from Dresden during World War II. In 1953, Von Kienbusch had unsuspectingly purchased the armor, which was part of his 1976 bequest. Von Kienbusch published catalogs of his collection, which eventually led Dresden authorities to bring the matter up with the museum.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art organizes several special exhibitions each year. Special exhibitions have featured Salvador Dalà in 2005, in 2009, in 2010,Vincent van Gogh in 2012,Pablo Picasso in 2014,John James Audubon and Andy Warhol in 2016,Winslow Homer and John Singer Sargent in 2017, and the Duchamp siblingsâ, Gaston, Raymond and Suzanneâin 2019. A Jasper Johns exhibition is planned for 2021.

In 2009, the museum organized Bruce Nauman: Topological Gardens, the official United States entry at the 53rd International Art Exhibition, more commonly known as the Venice Biennale, for which the artist Bruce Nauman was awarded the Golden Lion.

Nude Descending A Staircase No 2

Nude Descending a Staircase No. 2 was the painting that launched into the realms of notoriety, although it took months to find its way into the public gaze. Intended for the Paris Salon des Independants show of 1912, it appears to have been too independent for the committee to approve and was vetoed. Duchamp looked elsewhere and the painting traveled abroad, where it was seen at an exhibition in Barcelona before being moved on to New Yorks Armory Show in 1913. At the time, many critics were shocked by their first glimpse of a Cubist-Futurist painting. Cartoonists ridiculed the piece in which motion is depicted by successive superimposed images. The stark color and harsh angles are suggestive of an aggression that many viewers found unsettling. But despite its Futurist overtones, Duchamp later said that while painting it he was totally unaware of the Futurist style.

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Polish American Cultural Center Museum Exhibit Hall

Confirmed for 2022

The Polish American Cultural Center and Museum Exhibit Hall are a focal point for many Polish American affairs in the greater Philadelphia area. The Cultural Centers Exhibit Hall, located in the heart of this district allows thousands of tourists to experience Polish history, culture, and pride.

• Polish American Cultural Center Museum Exhibit Hall Hours
• Open 10 AM 4 PM
• May through December Monday to Saturday
• Closed on holidays

• Admission is free.
• The Polish American Cultural Center is located at 308 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106.
• Limited metered parking available on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, N 21st Street, and N 22nd Street.
• For more information about The Polish American Cultural Center visit their website here or contact them at 922-1700.

In Pictures: See How Starchitect Frank Gehry Reimagined The Philadelphia Museum Of Art With A Brand

The starchitect’s uncharacteristically subtle renovation of the Philadelphia museum is now open to the public.

May 12, 2021

Giant Three-Way Plug

For fans of Marcel Duchamp and Rocky Balboa alike, the Philadelphia Museum of Art has long been a pilgrimage site. Last week, the venerable museum gave fans a new reason to visit, opening the first phase of an architectural expansion that has been decades in the making.

The museum is famous at least as much for its temple-like architecture as for any of the works in its collection. Frank Gehry, the starchitect known and parodied for his glamorously rule-bending structures, is not the first person you might have imagined for the job of building on its stately strengths.

But all in all, Gehrys $233 million expansion is a model of focus. The renovation does not add another flashy landmark to the complex. Most of the work had to do with opening up new spaces and access points, expanding downwards.

A cross-section shows the changes to the interior within the existing building . Architectural rendering by Gehry Partners, LLP and KX-L, 2016. Photo courtesy Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2021.

If youve visited before, you will find something that feels very much like the Philadelphia Museum you remember, both outside and in.

Exterior of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Photo by Ben Davis.

Telegenic interior spaces like the Great Stair Hall remain untouched.

The Great Stair Hall at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Photo by Ben Davis.

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Visitors Who Are Blind Or Partially Sighted

Large-Print Museum Materials

For large-print materials, email us three weeks before your visit at .

Audio Tour

Our audio tour offers a deeper look at some of the museums greatest hits. It is free for visitors who are blind or partially sighted. Request it at any Visitor Services Desk, located near all entrances.

Philadelphia Museums That Are Now Open

Philadelphias museums, attractions and historic sites are now open with new health and safety measures in place to keep guests and employees safe. Make sure to consult each museum or attractions website and social media for their respective policies to plan for your visit. Each of the museums listed below is operating under special hours and conditions, so be sure to consult their respective website for up-to-date information. The Independence Visitor Center is open along Independence Mall, offering attraction tickets and guidance for exploring Philadelphia, with health and safety measures in place throughout the building.

Many of the museums listed below are also still offering compelling digital experiences that can be accessed anytime, anywhere, such as virtual tours, behind-the-scenes videos, and more, as highlighted in our Philadelphia From Home guide.

Hours: Varies per location, for more details

Hours: 9 a.m. 5 p.m. daily

Dedicated to exploring the life and legacy of Benjamin Franklin, the National Park Services Benjamin Franklin Museum is open in Franklin Court, just steps from Independence Hall and the shops and restaurants of Old City. Inside, visitors can interact with exhibits and view rare artifacts throughout the museum, which is divided into five rooms representing the Founding Fathers traits. Tickets are available at the door and must be purchased on the day of your visit. To plan your visit, .

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Store Offers New Items Introduces Original Collaborations With Locally

Among the amenities visitors will discover inside the newly-opened North Entrance of the Philadelphia Museum of Art is a new Main Store, which greets them from the lobby and extends alongside the Vaulted Walkway. Designed by Frank Gehry, it offers an adventurous shopping experience at street level, with a variety of new merchandise that celebrates the museums history and spotlights the creativity of Philadelphias emerging artisans. Fine jewelry, ceramics, crafts, and art supplies, as well as an expanded childrens section that includes books and creative games, make the Main Store a destination for people of all ages and interests.

As with ThePencil Bar, much of the merchandise is themed, and displayed in dedicated sections throughout the Main Store. One section, The Heritage Shop, celebrates the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s past, present and future with items inspired by research in the museums archives. An image of the iconic griffin, a creature from classical mythology known to guard treasures, that figured in the museums logo circa 1938, now adorns t-shirts, mugs, and handbags . Another vintage design includes soft cotton t-shirts that feature the A bus route signage that was hand-painted on walls of the Vaulted Walkway generations ago, and still remains.

*As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, completion of the Core Project, originally scheduled for Fall 2020, will be delayed. A new completion date will be announced.

Historic House Mount Pleasant

Mount Pleasant in East Fairmount Park is one the grandest homes ever built along the Schuylkill River, once called the most elegant seat in Pennsylvania by statesman John Adams.

Closure Alert

Mount Pleasant is currently closed until further notice.

Things to Know

• Mount Pleasant is considered one of the greatest American houses of its type, still standing on its original site in what is now Fairmount Park.
• Often called the largest object in the museums collection, Mount Pleasant was the home of Scottish ship captain John Macpherson and his wife Margaret between 1762 and 1765.
• Mount Pleasant architect Thomas Nevell was an apprentice of Edmund Woolley, the builder of Independence Hall. The rooms feature craftmanship from carver Martin Jugiez, one of Philadelphias leading artisans.
• The Mount Pleasant estate originally included over 100 acres of land that the owners hoped to make productive through hay production, fruit and vegetable cultivation, and animal husbandry. Such a plantation involved a diversity of labor, including the enslavement of four people of African descent.

3800 Mount Pleasant Drive, Philadelphia, PA 19121

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Transportation To The Museum

The art museum suggests using one of the several public transportation services, depending on your starting point:

• subway or regional rail to 30th Street or Suburban Stationfrom the Philadelphia metro area
• PATCO Speedline to the city centerfrom South Jersey
• Amtrak train to 30th Street Stationfrom out of town

Philadelphia International Airport is 10 miles from the museum. If you search for a reliable PHL Airport transfer, consider one of the following options: