Crocker Art Museum

The Crocker Art Museum is the oldest art museum in the Western United States. Located in Sacramento, California, and founded in 1885, the institution holds one of the premier collections of Californian art in the country. Its holdings encompass American works dating from the Gold Rush to the present, European paintings and master drawings, one of the largest international ceramics collections in the United States, and collections of Asian, African, and Oceanic art. The museum is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums.

Judge Edwin B. Crocker (1818-1875) and his wife Margaret Crocker (1822-1901) assembled the foundation of the collection during an extended trip to Europe from 1869 to 1871. Upon returning to Sacramento, they created an art gallery in their grand home at the corner of Third and O streets, which opened to the public in 1872. With 694 paintings, it boasted the largest private collection in the country at the time, becoming a hub of social activity and hosting visitors such as Queen Liliuokalani, President Ulysses S. Grant, and Oscar Wilde. After Edwin Crocker's death in 1875, Margaret Crocker loaned the gallery to the California Museum Association (CMA) in 1885 for Central California's first Art and Curio Loan Exhibition. CMA president David Lubin then convinced Margaret and her three daughters to donate the space and collection to the CMA and the City of Sacramento in trust for the public, valued at more than $500,000. A school of art was established at the gallery in 1886. The institution was renamed the Crocker Art Museum in 1978.

The museum's collection spans Californian and American art from statehood to the present, European paintings and master drawings from the 16th to the 19th centuries, international ceramics, and Asian, African, and Oceanic art. The European collection is unusual among American museums because it was formed mid-19th century by a single family. While Edwin Crocker was susceptible to dealer fraud regarding famous names, he acquired genuinely rare works by a broader array of artists than he realized, including 701 paintings and 1,344 Old Master drawings. The European painting strengths include 17th-century Dutch and Flemish works, 17th- and 18th-century French and Italian pieces, and 19th-century German and Austrian art. The ceramics collection numbers approximately 1,800 pieces and features a rich ensemble of Meissen porcelain tableware. The Asian collection includes Chinese grave goods, Japanese armor and tea ceramics, and Indian and Persian miniature painting, while the African and Oceanic holdings feature everyday objects and traditional ceremonial art, including Asmat Bis poles from New Guinea.

The core of the early Californian art collection features works by Charles Christian Nahl, who applied the large scale and detail of European history painting to Gold Rush scenes. The Crockers commissioned five major works from Nahl, including Sunday Morning in the Mines (1872). Other notable Californian works include Great Canyon of the Sierra (1871) by Thomas Hill, and Market Scene (1872) and The Larder (1879) by Samuel Marsden Brookes. In the European collection, notable Dutch and Flemish works include Gerrit van Honthorst's Allegory of Painting, Jan van Goyen's River Estuary with Round Tower, and Maria van Oosterwyck's Roses and Butterfly. French highlights include Philippe de Champaigne's Portrait of a French Court Official, Simon Vouet's Salome, and Alexandre Roslin's Portrait of the Painter Anne-Vallayer Coster. Italian works include a Saint Catherine by Francesco Morandini (Il Poppi) and a Saint Peter by Guercino. The drawing collection of approximately 1,400 pieces includes works by Albrecht Durer, Rembrandt, and Francois Boucher.

In 1868, Edwin B. Crocker acquired the property and existing buildings at the corner of Third and O streets. He commissioned local architect Seth Babson (1830-1908) to remodel the property into a grand Italianate-style mansion and to design an elaborate gallery building next door to house the growing collection. Babson envisioned an integrated complex built from the finest materials. The gallery building originally contained a bowling alley, ice rink, and billiard room on the ground floor, a natural history museum and library on the first floor, and gallery rooms on the second floor. Completed in 1872, the mansion and gallery are considered the masterpieces of Babson's career. The family seat was repeatedly remodeled until a 1989 renovation restored the historic facade and installed modern galleries inside. The gallery building is a California Historical Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2002, the museum commissioned Gwathmey Siegel & Associates to design a major addition. This modern expansion opened on October 10, 2010, and tripled the museum's exhibition space.