Lowe Art Museum


The Lowe Art Museum is the art museum of the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The museum is located on the campus of the University of Miami and is accessible by Miami Metrorail at University Station.
Lowe Art Museum's comprehensive collection comprises more than 19,250 objects, which collectively represent more than 5,000 years of human creativity on every inhabited continent. The collection is divided into 14 thematic rooms with each room dedicated to a theme or artistic current in the collection. In addition to its 14 rooms, the museum includes the Palley Pavilion, which is dedicated to the museum's glass collection, and an outdoor garden, which includes contemporary art sculptures.

History

Lowe Art Museum at the University of Miami opened on February 22, 1950. The museum was originally established by a gift from philanthropists Joe and Emily Lowe. At the time of its opening, the museum was the first art museum in South Florida.
In 1951, Miami philanthropists Joe and Emily Lowe underwrote construction of a stand-alone facility on the University of Miami campus to absorb the gallery's rapidly growing collections. The new Lowe Art Gallery was dedicated on February 4, 1952. Four years later, in 1956, Alfred I. Barton donated his extensive collection of Native American art to Lowe, which was accommodated in a 1,300 square-foot purpose-built addition.
In 1961, Lowe Art Gallery was selected as a repository for 43 works from the Samuel H. Kress Collection of European Renaissance and Baroque art, which was housed in a new wing built specifically for it.
In 1968, Lowe Art Gallery was renamed the Lowe Art Museum. In 1972, it was the first museum in Miami-Dade County to be professionally accredited by American Alliance of Museums.
In 1985, Lowe was recognized by the State of Florida as a major cultural institution, the first museum in Miami-Dade County to receive this designation.
In 1991, as a result of Lowe's continued art acquisitions, the museum underwent a major expansion. Miami architect Charles Harrison Pawley was selected for this project, which added 13,000 additional square feet of temporary and permanent exhibition gallery space to the museum, bringing its total footprint to over 36,000 square feet. This expansion also addressed Lowe's need for new HVAC, security, and fire protection systems.

Holdings

The museum has an extensive collection of art with permanent collections in Greco-Roman antiquities, Renaissance, Baroque, 17th- and 19th-century European art, 19th-century American Art, and modern art. The museum's national and international works come from Latin America, Africa, Asia, Native America, Ancient Americas, and Pacific Islands. It also has a large collection of glassworks including creations by Robert Arneson, Jun Kaneko and Christine Federighi. There are also glassworks by Pablo Picasso, William Morris, Emily Brock, Harvey Littleton, Erwin Eisch, and Ginny Ruffner in its permanent collection.
The permanent collection includes works by: Lippo Vanni, Sano di Pietro, Lorenzo di Bicci, Lorenzo di Credi, Vincenzo Catena, Francesco Bacchiacca, Bernardino Fungai, Adrian Isenbrandt, Jacob Jordaens, Jusepe de Ribera, El Greco, Francisco Goya, Thomas Gainsborough, Paul Gauguin, Claude Monet, Alfred Sisley, Frank Stella, Knox Martin, and Duane Hanson. There are also Modern works of Art by Roy Lichtenstein, Sandy Skoglund, Purvis Young, Louise Nevelson, Julian Stanczak, and Enrique Montenegro in the permanent collection.
The museum's most recent expansion, the Myrna and Sheldon Palley Pavilion for Contemporary Glass and Studio Arts, opened in 2008 and added another 4,500 square feet of exhibition space. The museum's collections also include pieces ranging from classical archeology to contemporary art, with important pieces of Renaissance, Baroque, Asian, and Native American art.

Indigenous art of the Americas

Alfred I. Barton Wing

This gallery, which is dimly lit to preserve its contents, hosts pottery, basketry, sculpture, costumes, and textiles of Native North, Central, and South America. Works on view span from the period of 2500 BCE to contemporary works by living Native artists.

Contemporary and modern art

Ben Tobin Galleries

The long gallery is dedicated to contemporary artwork that is globally influenced and culturally diverse. Contemporary art, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century, combines materials, methods, concepts, and subjects that continue to challenge boundaries. Diverse and eclectic, this work is a part of a cultural dialogue that concerns larger contextual frameworks such as personal and cultural identity, politics, community, and nationality.

Contemporary glass and ceramics

Myrna and Sheldon Palley Pavilion and Pat and Larry Stewart Hall, Beaux Arts Bay and Matus Bay

The Myrna and Sheldon Palley Pavilion for Contemporary Glass and Studio Arts and houses over 100 objects from Lowe's glass collection as well as ceramics. Palley Pavilion opened on May 1, 2008 thanks to the vision of long-time University supporters and alumni, Sheldon and Myrna Palley, whose collection is a promised gift.

Renaissance and Baroque

Francesco da Rimini Adoration of the Magi, c. 1340
Francesco Guardi View of the church of Santa Maria della Salute c. 1750
Jacopo Robusti known as Tintoretto Portrait of a young man c. second half of 16th century
Vincenzo Catena Portrait of Giambattista Memmo c. 1510
Lucas Cranach the Elder Portrait of a scholar c. 1515 ca.
Lippo Vanni Madonna and Child Enthroned with Donors and Saints Dominic and Elizabeth of Hungary c. 1343
Jacob Jordaens The oath of Paris c. 1620–1625
Adriaen Isenbrandt Madonna with child and member of the Hillensberger family 1513
Giuseppe Maria Crespi Lady with dog c. 1690–1700
Lorenzo di Credi Madonna and Child c. 1500
Andrea del Sarto Madonna with child and San Giovannino c. 1429
Antonio da Correggio Portrait of a young woman c. 1515
Ambrogio Bergognone Madonna and Child 1520 ca.

17th to 20th century American and European art

Jusepe de Ribera Sant' Onofrio c. 1642 St. Peter
Dominikos Theotokopoulos known as El Greco Christ Carrying the Cross Feast in the House of Simon
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo Portrait of a Gentleman
Thomas Gainsborough Portrait of Mrs. Collins c. 1770–1775
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes Jose Antonio, Marques de Caballero 1807
Paul Gauguin Le Chaland et la barque 1882
Claude MonetWaterloo Bridge 1903
Albert Bierstadt Yosemite Valley, California c. 1863
André Masson Mistral
Fernando Botero Las Frutas 1964
Carlos Alfonzo Lifetime 1988
José Bedia Nkunia, Gajo or Rama 1995

Contemporary

Roy LichtensteinModular Painting in Four Panels V 1969
Frank StellaLe Neveu de Rameau 1974
Duane HansonFootball Player 1981
Deborah ButterfieldRex 1991
Tatiana ParceroInterior Cartography # 43 1996
Sandy SkoglundBreathing Glass, installation, 2000