The Milwaukee Art Museum is a world-renowned museum located in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded in 1888, the museum houses more than 30,000 works of art from all over the world. From ancient sculpture and artifacts to modern and contemporary pieces, the Milwaukee Art Museum offers something for everyone.
The museum was founded by a group of Milwaukee business and civic leaders who wanted to bring art to the city. The original founders included Colonel Allis and Frederick Layton, both of whom had a passion for art and wanted to share it with their community. Allis was an industrialist who had made his fortune in lumber, while Layton was a banker who had been interested in art since childhood.
In 1887, the two men formed the Layton Art Gallery, which opened on May 25th of that year with an inaugural exhibition featuring works by European masters such as Rembrandt and Rubens as well as contemporary American artists like James Whistler and Winslow Homer. The gallery was successful from the beginning and became one of the most important venues for art exhibitions in Wisconsin at that time.
In 1911, Allis and Layton decided to expand the gallery by creating a permanent home for it. They commissioned architect Edward Townsend Mix to design a building that would be able to house both the permanent collections of artwork as well as traveling exhibitions from around the world. In 1913, construction on this building began and when it opened two years later it became known as the Milwaukee Art Institute (MAI).
The MAI quickly became one of the best-known art museums in America, hosting some of the most important exhibitions in history such as “Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon” in 1921. In 1957, it changed its name to become today’s Milwaukee Art Museum (MAM) after receiving a large donation from philanthropists Elizabeth and Frederick Mayer. Today MAM continues to be one of America’s top destinations for viewing art from all over the world.
The Milwaukee Art Museum is an enduring legacy left behind by Colonel Allis and Frederick Layton: two influential businessmen who were passionate about bringing great works of art to their city so that everyone could benefit from them. Thanks to their vision, more than 130 years later people are still enjoying one of America’s most impressive collections of artwork at MAM every day.
Conclusion: Colonel Allis and Frederick Layton founded The Milwaukee Art Museum in 1888 with an inaugural exhibition featuring works by European masters such as Rembrandt and Rubens as well as contemporary American artists like James Whistler and Winslow Homer.. Through their vision this museum has become one of America’s top destinations for viewing art from all over the world today – 130 years later!