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History of the Museum
The museum is a nationally acclaimed institution that serves to quench the thirst of art and aims to bring people nearer to art and culture. Originally known as J. B. Speed Memorial Museum, it was founded by Hattie Bishop Speed as a memorial to James Breckinridge Speed, her husband. Then later again, the name of the museum was changed to The J.B. Speed Art Museum to finally pause at Speed Art Museum. Arthur Loomis, a Louisville architect, designed the building of the museum. The museum was opened on 5th January 1927.
Locational Details
Speed Art Museum is located at 2035 South Third Street, Louisville, Kentucky. The museum lies just next to the University of Louisville’s Belknap Campus. It was established in 1927. The history of Speed dates back to thousand of years ago. In fact, one of Kentucky’s oldest and largest art museums is that of Speed Art Museum.
The museum is a storehouse of more than twelve thousand pieces of art in its permanent collections. The collection of the museum ranges from masterpieces of Egyptian art and culture to contemporary art. Indeed, museum attracts more than lakhs of visitors every year.
Collections at Speed Art Museum
Speed Art Museum contains Renaissance and Baroque tapestries, illustrious collections of 17th century Flemish and Dutch painting, 18th century French art and significant holdings of contemporary American painting and sculpture. Besides, there are African and Native American works too. These works represent a growing segment of the museum’s collection. The Speed also houses paintings, sculpture, furniture and decorative arts by Kentucky artists and created for Kentuckians. In fact, after the museum was refurbished in 1997, it brought major exhibitions of painting, design, sculpture and photography. The mission of the museum was always to bring great art and people together. Hence, it fulfilled this task.
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