Yesterday I visited the Toledo Museum of Art. Even though Toledo is a small Ohio town, their art museum is an amazing facility. The museum was founded by Toledo glassmaker Edward Drummond Libbey in 1901 and moved to its present location in 1912. The Greek Revival building was expanded twice, in the 1920's and 1930's. A sculpture garden was added in 2001 and runs in a narrow band along the museum's Monroe Street facade. One of my favorite sculptors, George Rickey, has a piece showcased in the garden.
A concert hall within the east wing, the Peristyle, was built in a classical style to match the museum's exterior. It is home to the Toledo Symphony Orchestra.
The museum contains major collections of 19th and 20th century European and American art, as well as small but distinguished Renaissance, Greek and Roman, and Japanese art. Notable individual works include Rubens, Monet, Picasso, Degas, O'Keefe, Rembrandt, Hopper, de Kooning, Henry Moore, Chuck Close, Gauguin, Renoir, Remington, Julian Schnabel, Wyeth, Van Gogh, Singer Sargent, Winslow Homer, and jewelry by Tiffany.
The main building is joined by a Frank Gehry designed University of Toledo Center for the Visual Arts and the newest addition, the Toledo Museum of Art Glass Pavilion. (next post)
