Encyclopedic museum with an emphasis on 19th and 20th century
European and American art.
Joslyn Art Museum has served as a premier center for the
visual arts since it opened November 29, 1931.
Nebraska's only fine arts museum with an encyclopedic
permanent collection, Joslyn features works from antiquity to the present with
an emphasis on 19th- and 20th-century European and American art. The Museum was
built as a gift to Omaha from Sarah Joslyn in memory of her husband George, a
businessman and community leader. The original building is one of the finest
examples of Art Deco architecture in the nation and features a spectacular
procession of public spaces: entry foyer, fountain court, and inner foyer, all
culminating in a 1,000-seat concert hall. The galleries run alongside these
spaces. Also featured are an education center with the Scott Education
Technology (EdTech) Gallery; the 200-seat Abbott Lecture Hall, and the Abrahams
Library for art research (30,000+ volumes).
November 1994 marked the opening of Joslyn's
58,000-square-foot addition, the Scott Pavilion, the first expansion project in
the Museum's history. Designed by the internationally renowned architectural
firm of Sir Norman Foster and Partners, this building features galleries for
temporary exhibitions and for Joslyn's collection of late 20th-century art. The
original building and new structure are linked by the glass ConAgra Atrium which
offers a second entrance and features the Durham Café and Hitchcock Museum Shop
as well as a spectacular and unique permanent installation by glass artist, Dale
Chihuly.
Highlights & Collections:
European Art
Joslyn Art Museum features fine
examples of European art, ranging from Old Master paintings to more contemporary
works. Artists include Veronese, Titian, Claude Lorrain, El Greco, Delacroix,
Doré, Courbet, Degas, Monet, Renoir, Bouguereau, and Meissonier.
American Art
Encompassing nearly two centuries of
achievement, the collection includes examples by James Peale, Mather Brown,
Thomas Cole, George Inness, Albert Bierstadt, Thomas Moran, Winslow Homer,
Thomas Eakins, Childe Hassam, and William Merritt Chase.
Twentieth-Century Art
The contemporary collection
reflects the great diversity of this century and includes works by Henri
Matisse, Stuart Davis, Theodore Roszak, John Sloan, Grant Wood, Thomas Hart
Benton, Jackson Pollock, Hans Hofmann, Helen Frankenthaler, George Segal, Tom
Wesselmann, Deborah Butterfield, Sol LeWitt, and Martin Puryear.
Western American Art
Joslyn is noted for its
Western American collection and is world-renowned for the watercolors and prints
by Swiss artist Karl Bodmer which document his 1832-34 journey to the Missouri
River frontier with Prince Maximilian of Wied. Related to the subject of Western
American paintings is Joslyn's collection of Native American art, which features
examples of drawings, prints, and decorated objects by the native peoples of
North America.
Ancient Art
The production of Greek pottery
spanned many centuries. The fine pieces in Joslyn's collection represent
over 1,000 years of continuous ceramic industry, including the Omaha
Painter.