Lake Michigan · Since 1888 · Art, architecture and international collections

The Milwaukee Art Museum brings together more than thirty-four thousand works, from Antiquity to today, on a campus famous for the architecture of Eero Saarinen, David Kahler and Santiago Calatrava.

The origins of the Milwaukee Art Museum date back to 1888, when the Layton Art Gallery opened as the city's first major permanent gallery. The Milwaukee Art Institute then developed teaching and exhibitions. In 1957, the collected collections are installed in the War Memorial Center designed by Eero Saarinen on the shores of Lake Michigan. An extension by David Kahler opened in 1975. In 2001, the Quadracci Pavilion in Santiago Calatrava gave the museum its emblem architectural: a large mobile sunshade, the Burke Brise Soleil, which spreads its wings above the lake. The collection today exceeds thirty-four thousand works, from Antiquity to contemporary creation. It is distinguished by the american decorative arts, German expressionism, folk and self-taught art, Haitian art, design, photography and an important ensemble by Georgia O'Keeffe. The paintings chosen reveal several European facets. Caillebotte builds the Perissoires on the Yerres by the geometry of boats and water. Monet dissolves Waterloo Bridge in the London light. Franz Marc transforms the animal with an expressive color. Gérôme confronts the lion and the desert in The Two Majesties, a spectacular image of power and solitude. The "Milwaukee Art Museum" selection notably compares Perissoires sur l'Yerres - Caillebotte and Waterloo Bridge, sun effect - Monet. His reading favor the material.

In Milwaukee, architecture is not just a container: the museum, lake and wings of Calatrava form a complete visual experience with the works.