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 | San Diego Museum of Art |
San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 232-7931
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Description:
History
SAN DIEGO— For nearly eight decades, the San Diego Museum of Art has honored the intentions of its original founders by not only developing a world renowned
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Visit one of the country's top art museums.
Permanent collection is rich in works from the Italian Renaissance, Dutch and Spanish baroque, old masters, American art and more.
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History
SAN DIEGO— For nearly eight decades, the San Diego Museum of Art has honored the intentions of its original founders by not only developing a world renowned
collection,
but
by
fostering
an
environment
where
both
the
local
and
international
community
could
enjoy
and
learn
about
art
in
an
elegant
and
inspirational
setting.
The Museum was established in 1922 when local business and civic leader, Appleton S. Bridges (1849-1929), agreed to fund the construction of a permanent structure to house a municipal art collection. The site of the fine arts building for the 1915 Panama-California International Exposition in Balboa Park was secured and construction got underway in April 1924. The Fine Arts Society subsequently formed in 1925 from the merger of the San Diego Art Guild and the Friends of Art to operate the new museum.
Bridges hired one of San Diego's leading architects at the time, William Templeton Johnson (1877-1950), to design and construct the new art gallery. The Spanish Colonial-style architecture from the 1915 exposition in Balboa Park suggested the style for Johnson's design. Johnson and his associate Robert W. Snyder (1874-1955), however, went one step further and looked directly to sixteenth-century Spanish Renaissance models in the plateresque style for their inspiration. For the building's exterior, they borrowed motifs from the Cathedral of Valladolid and the faç ade of the University of Salamanca, while for the interior, they adapted features of the Hospital de Santa Cruz in Toledo.
Architectural sculptor Chris Mueller, who had supervised the architectural details of the 1915 exposition buildings, enhanced the faç ade with the addition of sculptural elements including life-sized sculptures of Spanish old master painters Velazquez, Murillo, and Zurbará n as well as heraldic devices and the coats-of-arms of Spain, the United States, California, and San Diego. A seashell, the faç ade's central motif is also used as the Museum's logo.
With construction completed in the spring of 1925, the Fine Arts Gallery of San Diego officially opened its doors on February 28, 1926 at which time ownership and maintenance of the building was transferred to the City of San Diego. In 1925, Bridges hired Dr. Reginald Poland (1893-1975), former director of education at the Detroit Institute of the Arts, to serve as the Museum's first director. Under his direction, which lasted from 1925 until 1950, the core of the Museum's early collection was formed thanks to the generous donations of Bridges, Archer M. Huntington, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Timken, and Amy and Anne Putnam. During his tenure, Poland also instituted programs to foster appreciation of the arts for both children and adults through free artistic demonstrations by local artists and a series of free Sunday lectures given by critics, historians, and artists.
Poland also saw the Museum through the critical events of World War II when the Museum was forced to relocate its collection at other institutions further inland and at local bank vaults. A program of classes, films, lectures and other art activities were continued in members' homes. From 1943 until 1947, the Museum building actually served as a United States Navy Hospital with a ward of 423 beds.
The Museum underwent an important period of expansion, in terms of both its collections and gallery space, under successive directors Warren Beach (museum director 1955-69) and Henry Gardiner (museum director 1969-79). The completion in 1966 of the west wing, which doubled the space of Bridges's original structure, coincided with the receipt of major donations of art works by Mr. and Mrs. Norton Walbridge, Earle W. Grant, and Pliny F. Munger in the late 1960s and 1970s. In addition to augmenting an already significant collection of old masters, these gifts rounded out the Museum's holdings in nineteenth- and
< Show Less
The Museum was established in 1922 when local business and civic leader, Appleton S. Bridges (1849-1929), agreed to fund the construction of a permanent structure to house a municipal art collection. The site of the fine arts building for the 1915 Panama-California International Exposition in Balboa Park was secured and construction got underway in April 1924. The Fine Arts Society subsequently formed in 1925 from the merger of the San Diego Art Guild and the Friends of Art to operate the new museum.
Bridges hired one of San Diego's leading architects at the time, William Templeton Johnson (1877-1950), to design and construct the new art gallery. The Spanish Colonial-style architecture from the 1915 exposition in Balboa Park suggested the style for Johnson's design. Johnson and his associate Robert W. Snyder (1874-1955), however, went one step further and looked directly to sixteenth-century Spanish Renaissance models in the plateresque style for their inspiration. For the building's exterior, they borrowed motifs from the Cathedral of Valladolid and the faç ade of the University of Salamanca, while for the interior, they adapted features of the Hospital de Santa Cruz in Toledo.
Architectural sculptor Chris Mueller, who had supervised the architectural details of the 1915 exposition buildings, enhanced the faç ade with the addition of sculptural elements including life-sized sculptures of Spanish old master painters Velazquez, Murillo, and Zurbará n as well as heraldic devices and the coats-of-arms of Spain, the United States, California, and San Diego. A seashell, the faç ade's central motif is also used as the Museum's logo.
With construction completed in the spring of 1925, the Fine Arts Gallery of San Diego officially opened its doors on February 28, 1926 at which time ownership and maintenance of the building was transferred to the City of San Diego. In 1925, Bridges hired Dr. Reginald Poland (1893-1975), former director of education at the Detroit Institute of the Arts, to serve as the Museum's first director. Under his direction, which lasted from 1925 until 1950, the core of the Museum's early collection was formed thanks to the generous donations of Bridges, Archer M. Huntington, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Timken, and Amy and Anne Putnam. During his tenure, Poland also instituted programs to foster appreciation of the arts for both children and adults through free artistic demonstrations by local artists and a series of free Sunday lectures given by critics, historians, and artists.
Poland also saw the Museum through the critical events of World War II when the Museum was forced to relocate its collection at other institutions further inland and at local bank vaults. A program of classes, films, lectures and other art activities were continued in members' homes. From 1943 until 1947, the Museum building actually served as a United States Navy Hospital with a ward of 423 beds.
The Museum underwent an important period of expansion, in terms of both its collections and gallery space, under successive directors Warren Beach (museum director 1955-69) and Henry Gardiner (museum director 1969-79). The completion in 1966 of the west wing, which doubled the space of Bridges's original structure, coincided with the receipt of major donations of art works by Mr. and Mrs. Norton Walbridge, Earle W. Grant, and Pliny F. Munger in the late 1960s and 1970s. In addition to augmenting an already significant collection of old masters, these gifts rounded out the Museum's holdings in nineteenth- and
< Show Less
Services:
Tours
Shopping Centers & Malls;
Specialties:
Attractions
Products:
Real Estate
Additional Info:
Visit one of the country's top art museums.
Permanent collection is rich in works from the Italian Renaissance, Dutch and Spanish baroque, old masters, American art and more.
Business Categories:
Museums
Art Galleries & Dealers
Tours & Charters
Tourist Information & Attractions
Website
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