First opened to the public in 1933, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art maintains collections of more than 35,000 works of art.
A few highlights from the collection include Native American art from pre-European to contemporary, more than 7,000 works of Asian art spanning 5,000 years, 900 works of European art ranging from the medieval period to the late 19th century, a large collection of Old Master prints and drawings, and a collection of Modern Art from 1900 to 1959 representing Cubism, Expressionism, Fauvism, Dada, Surrealism, Bauhaus and Abstract Expressionism. The collection is displayed by culture, theme and medium.
An ongoing program of art acquisition meant the original Museum of Fine Arts building no longer provided sufficient space. This led to the unveiling, in 2007, of the Bloch Building, a state-of-the-art addition designed by Steven Holl Architects, which increased gallery and storage space for the growing collection.
Read our review of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Art Things Considered - An Art Geek Travel Blog.
Please check the museum website for updated exhibition information. Scheduling may have been modified as a result of the temporary museum closure.
A window onto important medieval era materials and beliefs
Nearly forty ancient Greek vases from 850 to 300 B.C.E
Silver thrones created in the early 1900s while India was under British colonial rule
Eighteenth-century European and American portrait miniatures
How France launched itself into the domestic porcelain industry in the 17th and 18th centuries
Paintings by young artists intent on capturing modern life
Art informed but not defined by artists’ individual experiences with immigration
An historic and a contemporary artist depict similar narratives
Illustrations mingle image and text
More than fifty objects of wide-ranging media created in the last 1,300 years
Nearly two dozen recent gifts of decorative arts and design
Works from the 1200s to 1800s exemplify the tradition of blue and green landscape painting
A selection of prints, drawings, and decorative arts featuring women worthies
100 objects largely drawn from the Fondation Giacometti in Paris trace his development