Art Museum

Walters Art Museum

Baltimore, United States

Walters Art Museum is an art museum in Baltimore, United States. 532 works from its collection are in this catalog, including Paolo Veronese and Jean Baptiste Camille Corot.

About Walters Art Museum

The Walters Art Museum is a public art museum located in the Mount Vernon neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. Founded and opened in 1934, it holds collections from the mid-19th century that were amassed substantially by major American art and sculpture collectors, including William Thompson Walters and his son Henry Walters. William Walters began collecting when he moved to Paris as a nominal Confederate loyalist at the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, and Henry Walters refined the collection and made arrangements for the construction what ultimately was Walters Art Museum.

Admission to the museum is free.

Overview & Identity

The Walters Art Museum is a public art museum located in the Mount Vernon neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. It serves as a civic institution housing a collection that spans seven millennia of art from cultures across the world. The museum's foundational collection consisted of 22,000 objects, which was begun by William T. Walters and expanded by his son, Henry Walters, who gifted the collection to the City of Baltimore.

Since opening in 1934, the museum has grown to hold more than 36,000 objects, expanding its scope across time, geography, and culture to include Ethiopian art, South and Southeast Asian sculptures, and art of the ancient Americas.

Collection Highlights

The collection is renowned for its breadth, including ancient art from Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome, as well as medieval European and Islamic art. A significant highlight is the medieval collection, which features unique objects such as the Byzantine agate Rubens Vase. The museum holds one of the largest and finest collections of medieval manuscripts and features Late Medieval devotional Italian paintings.

The European Renaissance and Baroque holdings include paintings, sculpture, furniture, and arms and armor. Henry Walters was particularly interested in the courtly arts of 18th-century France and assembled a notable group of Russian objects, including two Fabergé eggs, making him one of the first major American collectors of Russian art.

Significance & Legacy

The Walters Art Museum is significant for its transition from a private 'treasure box' collection to a public institution serving the Baltimore community. The Massarenti purchase of 1,700 pieces in the early 20th century was a landmark event in American art collecting, providing the second-largest collection of Italian paintings in North America at the time. The museum has evolved its philosophy, moving away from the 'encyclopedic' label to embrace its role as a 21st-century civic institution that fosters dialogue and reflection.

In 2006, the museum made admission free to all year-round, supported by grants from Baltimore City and the surrounding suburbs, ensuring public access to its extensive holdings.