Currier Museum of Art
Encyclopedia
The Currier Museum of Art is an art museum
in Manchester, New Hampshire
, USA, featuring European and American paintings, decorative arts, photographs and sculpture. The permanent collection includes works by Picasso
, Matisse
, Monet
, O'Keeffe
, Calder
, Scheier and Goldsmith
, John Singer Sargent
, Frank Lloyd Wright
, and Andrew Wyeth
. Public programs include tours, live classical music and "Family Days" which include activities for all ages.
and his third wife, Hannah Slade Currier
.
Currier's will provided for the establishment of an art museum, "for the benefit and advancement of humanity." While not an art collector himself, his funding allowed for the purchase of a great deal of art.
After his third wife's death in 1915, a board of trustees was appointed to carry out the Curriers' wishes that a structure be constructed. Multiple architectural proposals were entertained and the project was not awarded until 1926 to the New York firm of Tilton and Githens. In October 1929, the art gallery opened its new facility.
The first director was Maud Briggs Knowlton, one of the first women to be a museum administrator in the United States.
In 1982, new pavilions, designed by the New York firm Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer, were built to accommodate the museum’s growing collections, programs and staff. The Currier Art Center, home to art activities for all ages, was relocated to the adjacent former Women’s Aid Home in 1998.
In September 2002, the Gallery changed its name to the Currier Museum of Art, because, in the words of its then-director, it "recognizes the Currier’s true mission and clarifies our function for those less familiar with us."
On June 30, 2005, as part of the first phase of major renovations, a moving firm moved the historic Kennard House, formerly the location of the museum offices, from Beech Street to Pearl Street. The house was built in 1867 in the Second Empire style, and was home to several of the city's wealthy industrialists.
The museum closed on June 27, 2006 for the duration of the $21.4 million expansion. The construction took 21 months, and the museum reopened to the public as scheduled on March 30, 2008. The addition and renovations received a 2008 Design Honor Award from the New Hampshire chapter of the American Institute of Architects
, as well as a "People's Choice Award" through the AIA.
. It is complete with the original furnishings and the owners' fine art collection. The Zimmerman House is the only Wright-designed house in New England open for public tours, which are offered March-December.
The Isadore J. and Lucille Zimmerman House was designed in 1950 by Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959), one of America’s greatest modern architects. Wright designed the house, the interiors, all the furniture, the gardens, and even the mailbox. In 1979, the building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Dr. and Mrs. Zimmerman left the house to the Currier Museum of Art in 1988. In 1990 it was opened to the public so that visitors could enjoy a private world from the 1950s and 1960s including the Zimmermans unique collection of modern art, pottery, and sculpture. In the estimation of many it is a total work of art and serves as “the largest outdoor sculpture in the collection.” It is the only Wright home open to the public in New England and one of only several of his Usonian homes open nationwide.
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
in Manchester, New Hampshire
Manchester, New Hampshire
Manchester is the largest city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire, the tenth largest city in New England, and the largest city in northern New England, an area comprising the states of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. It is in Hillsborough County along the banks of the Merrimack River, which...
, USA, featuring European and American paintings, decorative arts, photographs and sculpture. The permanent collection includes works by Picasso
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
, Matisse
Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse was a French artist, known for his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known primarily as a painter...
, Monet
Claude Monet
Claude Monet was a founder of French impressionist painting, and the most consistent and prolific practitioner of the movement's philosophy of expressing one's perceptions before nature, especially as applied to plein-air landscape painting. . Retrieved 6 January 2007...
, O'Keeffe
Georgia O'Keeffe
Georgia Totto O'Keeffe was an American artist.Born near Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, O'Keeffe first came to the attention of the New York art community in 1916, several decades before women had gained access to art training in America’s colleges and universities, and before any of its women artists...
, Calder
Alexander Calder
Alexander Calder was an American sculptor and artist most famous for inventing mobile sculptures. In addition to mobile and stable sculpture, Alexander Calder also created paintings, lithographs, toys, tapestry, jewelry and household objects.-Childhood:Alexander "Sandy" Calder was born in Lawnton,...
, Scheier and Goldsmith
Edwin Scheier
Edwin Scheier , was an American artist, best known for his ceramic works with his wife, Mary Scheier.- Early life :...
, John Singer Sargent
John Singer Sargent
John Singer Sargent was an American artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian era luxury. During his career, he created roughly 900 oil paintings and more than 2,000 watercolors, as well as countless sketches and charcoal drawings...
, Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
, and Andrew Wyeth
Andrew Wyeth
Andrew Newell Wyeth was a visual artist, primarily a realist painter, working predominantly in a regionalist style. He was one of the best-known U.S. artists of the middle 20th century....
. Public programs include tours, live classical music and "Family Days" which include activities for all ages.
History
The museum, originally known as the Currier Gallery of Art, was founded in 1929 from a bequest of former New Hampshire Governor Moody CurrierMoody Currier
Moody Currier was a lawyer, banker, generous patron of the arts, and Republican politician from Manchester, New Hampshire. Born in Boscawen, New Hampshire, USA, he served New Hampshire in the state’s Senate and on the Governor’s Council. Currier served as a fellow at Bates College from 1882 to 1889...
and his third wife, Hannah Slade Currier
Hannah Slade Currier
Hannah Slade Currier was the youngest daughter of Enoch Slade, Esq., a distinguished citizen of Thetford, Vermont, and sister of General Samuel W. Slade, an eminent lawyer of St. Johnsbury, in the same state. She received her early education in Thetford Academy, at that time one of the most famous...
.
Currier's will provided for the establishment of an art museum, "for the benefit and advancement of humanity." While not an art collector himself, his funding allowed for the purchase of a great deal of art.
After his third wife's death in 1915, a board of trustees was appointed to carry out the Curriers' wishes that a structure be constructed. Multiple architectural proposals were entertained and the project was not awarded until 1926 to the New York firm of Tilton and Githens. In October 1929, the art gallery opened its new facility.
In 1982, new pavilions, designed by the New York firm Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer, were built to accommodate the museum’s growing collections, programs and staff. The Currier Art Center, home to art activities for all ages, was relocated to the adjacent former Women’s Aid Home in 1998.
In September 2002, the Gallery changed its name to the Currier Museum of Art, because, in the words of its then-director, it "recognizes the Currier’s true mission and clarifies our function for those less familiar with us."
Museum expansion
The museum closed on June 27, 2006 for the duration of the $21.4 million expansion. The construction took 21 months, and the museum reopened to the public as scheduled on March 30, 2008. The addition and renovations received a 2008 Design Honor Award from the New Hampshire chapter of the American Institute of Architects
American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the architecture profession and improve its public image...
, as well as a "People's Choice Award" through the AIA.
Zimmerman House
The museum operates tours of the nearby Zimmerman House a Usonian House designed by Frank Lloyd WrightFrank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
. It is complete with the original furnishings and the owners' fine art collection. The Zimmerman House is the only Wright-designed house in New England open for public tours, which are offered March-December.
The Isadore J. and Lucille Zimmerman House was designed in 1950 by Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959), one of America’s greatest modern architects. Wright designed the house, the interiors, all the furniture, the gardens, and even the mailbox. In 1979, the building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Dr. and Mrs. Zimmerman left the house to the Currier Museum of Art in 1988. In 1990 it was opened to the public so that visitors could enjoy a private world from the 1950s and 1960s including the Zimmermans unique collection of modern art, pottery, and sculpture. In the estimation of many it is a total work of art and serves as “the largest outdoor sculpture in the collection.” It is the only Wright home open to the public in New England and one of only several of his Usonian homes open nationwide.