Top 10 Art Museums in the U.S. (hotel, home)

[Natural510]

Going by permanent collections....this list is debatable (hence the thread). I'd say:

Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York)
National Gallery of Art (Washington DC)
Art Institute of Chicago
Museum of Modern Art (New York)
Museum of Fine Arts (Boston)
Detroit Institute of Arts
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Cleveland Museum of Art
Baltimore Museum of Art
Barnes Foundation (Merion, PA)

[kidphilly]

Originally Posted by Natural510

Going by permanent collections....this list is debatable (hence the thread). I'd say:

Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York)
National Gallery of Art (Washington DC)
Art Institute of Chicago
Museum of Modern Art (New York)
Museum of Fine Arts (Boston)
Detroit Institute of Arts
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Cleveland Museum of Art
Baltimore Museum of Art
Barnes Foundation (Merion, PA)

Barnes is in process of moving (opening May 2012) right next to the Rodin Museum which is right next to the Philadelpha Art Museum. Great collection and the new location will replicate the home setting but allow for more visitors as the former location was more remote and limited daily attendence. I believe this is the largest single collection of impressionist art in the world and largest collection of African art in America

The Barnes Foundation - Home

[po-boy]

1. Metropolitan Museum of Art: New York
2. National Gallery of Art: DC
3. Art Institute of Chicago
4. Getty Center: LA
5. Museum of Fine Art: Boston
6. Philadelphia Art Museum
7. Museum of Modern Art: New York
8. Museum of Fine Art: Houston
9. Solomon Guggenheim Museum: New York
10 (tie): Seattle Museum of Art and Cleveland Museum of Art

[usaf_1832]

1. Metropolitan Museum of Art: New York
2. National Gallery of Art: DC
3. Art Institute of Chicago
4. Museum of Fine Art: Boston
5. Philadelphia Art Museum
6. Getty Center: LA
7. Museum of Modern Art: New York
8. Museum of Fine Art: Houston
9. Cleveland Museum of Art
10. Seattle Museum of Art

[Natural510]

Originally Posted by kidphilly

Barnes is in process of moving (opening May 2012) right next to the Rodin Museum which is right next to the Philadelpha Art Museum. Great collection and the new location will replicate the home setting but allow for more visitors as the former location was more remote and limited daily attendence. I believe this is the largest single collection of impressionist art in the world and largest collection of African art in America

The Barnes Foundation - Home

So it is a done deal then? I know there was a large fight against the move (despite the need for more revenue) because the two rules established by its founder were 1) never move the museum and 2) never lend out any works.

[Drewcifer]

The Minneapolis Institue of Art has a larger collection than the Detroit Institute of Art, the Museum of Fine Art Houston, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Seattle Art Museum or the Barnes Foundation. Its collection is double the size of Cleveland's and triple the size of the SAM.

It is an excellent museum (and free) but the Twin Cities are one of least visited major metros in the country so most people aren't familiar with it.

[kidphilly]

Originally Posted by Natural510

So it is a done deal then? I know there was a large fight against the move (despite the need for more revenue) because the two rules established by its founder were 1) never move the museum and 2) never lend out any works.

Is a done deal, has been under construction for nearly two years now. Last month the Supreme Court threw the suit out (long long litigation on this one) They are selling tickets for the grand opening and gala and tickets for the new facility. Just saw an article that there has already been 200K tickets purchased by people in France alone (expecting over 300K hotel nights this summer directly related to the opening) for the coming summer. I am personally excited in that this will retain most of the layout of the original (works set in room layouts etc) and will also have space to display many other works not availble to be viewed in the old location. Not to mention hugely increaseing the numbers of people that will be able to see the collection, prior there were very limited viewings daily with very specific time limitations on how long you stay in the gallerys.

This is a big deal for Art in general (the collection of Renoirs alone is just amazing) and for the city as this is truly a remarkable collection. This collection set attendance records at the louve, National Art Mus in DC and NY Met when it went on tour over ten years ago.

Here is a picture of the building progress today, just scroll down is updated every 5 minutes
The Barnes Foundation - New Location

[Garfieldian]

Originally Posted by po-boy

1. Metropolitan Museum of Art: New York
2. National Gallery of Art: DC
3. Art Institute of Chicago
4. Getty Center: LA
5. Museum of Fine Art: Boston
6. Philadelphia Art Museum
7. Museum of Modern Art: New York
8. Museum of Fine Art: Houston
9. Solomon Guggenheim Museum: New York
10 (tie): Seattle Museum of Art and Cleveland Museum of Art

How about Atlanta high art museum. Or is it a piece of crap? What about Miami?

[Natural510]

Thanks for the info. Really enjoyed the PAM collection when I visited this year, but the Barnes encompasses by far my favorite era (post-Impressionism)

@Drewcifer, interestingly I've not heard much about the Minneapolis museum either. I may have to make a trip one of these years.

[RaymondChandlerLives]

I would argue that the LA County Museum of Art and MOCA (with its three branches) are better than the Getty.