Kimbell Art Museum
Fort Worth businessman Kay Kimball and his wife Velma Fuller had a passion for fine art. In 1936, Kay Kimball founded the Kimball Art Foundation. Over the course of 30 years, Kay and Velma amassed an impressive collection of art created by some of Europe's most celebrated artists. Prior to his death in 1964, Kay Kimball requested that his extensive art collection be displayed in a museum.
In 1972, Kay Kimball's wish was realized when the Kimball Art Museum opened in Fort Worth. The Kimball Art Museum's distinctive building was designed by American architect Louis. I. Kahn. Kahn designed the Kimball Art Museum so that natural light would continually shine on all of the art on display in ever-changing patterns.
The Kimball Art Museum showcases art from some of Europe's great masters. The permanent collection features art by Pablo Picasso, Claude Monet, and Piet Mondrian. One of the museum's most impressive works is _The__Torment of Saint Anthony_, which is the first known painting by the artist Michelangelo. Michelangelo is best known for painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City. In addition to European pieces, the Kimball Art Museum features artwork from Asia, Africa, Oceania, and ancient American cultures such as the Aztec. There is no art created in the modern United States, or later than the twentieth century in the museum's permanent collection because the nearby Amon Carter Museum and the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth feature contemporary American pieces.
Since 2013, the Kimball Art Museum has featured regular special exhibitions in a separate building designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano. Past exhibitions have included a collection of haute-couture dresses designed by Cristobal Balenciaga, a series of Claude Monet's early works, and drawings and prints by the seventeenth-century artist Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione.
The Kimball Cafe--located in the Louis I. Khan building--serves light lunches. Tuesday-Sunday, the Kimball Cafe serves afternoon tea for two. Tea service includes loose-leaf tea, and a delectable selection of treats including scones, cookies, and finger sandwiches. The Kimball Art Museum features two shops that sell art books, jewelry, and other art-inspired keepsakes.
The Kimball Art Museum features one of the most celebrated collections of art in the American Southwest. Recent acquisitions include _Still Life with Mackerel _by eighteenth-century French artist Anne Vallayer-Coster. The Kimball Art Museum is home to an impressive collection of paintings, sculptures, and ancient artifacts crafted by some of history's greatest artists.
