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The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in Brooklyn, New York, adjacent to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Crown Heights and Prospect Heights. At 560,000 square feet, it is the second largest art museum in New York City and among the finest in the world.[1] Tracing its roots to 1823, the museum occupies a grand Beaux-Arts building (with later additions) on Eastern Parkway designed by the firm McKim, Mead & White. The museum's sizeable collection spans a broad range of world cultures from prehistory to the present and features many works of high quality and importance, with certain areas of the collection having national and international significance. The latter include the arts of ancient Egypt and the United States, among others.[2]


History[edit]

The history of the museum extends from 1823 with the founding of the Brooklyn Apprentices' Library, in Brooklyn Heights. The purpose of this organization was "to bring benefits of knowledge to that portion of our youth who are engaged in learning the mechanical arts." In addition to books, maps and other publications, the library featured exhibitions of art and mechanical models and tools. From its start, the library was conceived as a resource for general education focused as much on objects as books.[3] The Library moved in 1841 to a building on Washington Street also occupied by the Brooklyn Lyceum, an organization that hosted lectures and provided meeting space to local organizations. Two years later the institutions merged to form the Brooklyn Institute. The Institute was a community organization that offered exhibitions on subjects including fine arts and mechanical mechanical models, lectures on diverse subjects and a home to various Brooklyn clubs and intellectual societies.[4]

In 1890, the Institute reconstituted itself as the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences with an ambition to create an enormous museum building that would encompass a wide scope of human knowledge. At the laying of the cornerstone for the museum, the Institute's director, Franklin Hooper, observed that the purpose of the museum was to embrace "all known human history, the infinite capacity of man to think and to love, and the many departments of science and of art he has developed. Through its collections in the arts and sciences, and through its libraries it should be possible to read the history of the world."[5]

The Institute of Arts and Sciences hired the architectural firm McKim, Mead & White to design its new building. Their plan proposed a structure four times as large as what was built from 1893 through 1927 when construction ended. After Brooklyn ceased to be an independent city and became part of Greater New York City in 1898, support for the project diminished as the museum became one of a larger group of cultural facilities administered by New York rather than a major Brooklyn civic project.[6] In addition to the museum, the Institute eventually included the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, the Brooklyn Children's Museum and the Brooklyn Museum Art School. The building was envisioned as a centerpiece of a grand civic district extending from the entrance to Prospect Park and (begining in 1941) the Brooklyn Library at Grand Army Plaza to the Museum and Brooklyn Botanic Garden, all accessible from the farther reaches of the borough via Flatbush Avenue and Eastern Parkway.[7]

In 1934, the Institute narrowed its mission to focus on the fine arts and distributed its natural history and scientific collections to other organizations. During the 1970s, the Academy of Music, Botanic Garden and Children's Museum each became independent entities, with the museum retaining the legal name of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences. In 1984, the museum closed the Art School, with its faculty moving to the Pratt Institute.[8]

Building[edit]

Completed in phases beginning in 1898, the original Brooklyn Museum building is a steel frame structure clad in masonry, designed in the Beaux-Arts style by the architectural firm McKim, Mead, and White. Construction began in 1897 with the West wing of the building and continued until 1927 with the completion of the monumental quadrant that houses the triple-height Beaux-Arts Court on the third floor. No additional work was undertaken on the Mckim Mead and White plan after the 1920s.

Daniel Chester French, was principal designer of the multicultural exterior sculptural program, which features 33 12.5-foot (3.8 m) statues along the cornice. The program alludes to a range of historical sources including Roman epic poetry, Hebrew law, Persian philosophy and Japanese art. The pediment sculpture represents the museum's original program, with allegorical figures of Science and Art at center, flanked by Sculpture, Architecture and Painting on the right and Astronomy, Geology and Biology on the left. The names of cultural figures such as Socrates, Moses, Confucius and Mohammed are also carved into the facade.

Two allegorical figures of Brooklyn and Manhattan that French designed in 1916 for the Brooklyn approach to the Manhattan Bridge were relocated to the museum in 1963 when the roadway was reconfigured and now flank the entrance.

Early 20th century postcard

In the mid-1930's, the Beaux-Arts style of the museum's architecture fell out of favor for public buildings with the emergence of Modernism in architecture.{banham} Around this time, as Brooklyn Museum director and his staff were reconceiving the museum as a fine arts insititution, the building's monumental entrance staircase began to show dangerous deterioration. As the stairs, about three times the height of the stairs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, were rarely used by visitors, the museum elected to remove them and create a new, more functional entrance at plaza level.{REF}

Service Extension

Auditorium

West Wing

Rubin Pavillion In April 2004, the museum opened the James Polshek-designed entrance pavilion on the Eastern Parkway facade.[9]

Directors and notable events[edit]

Franklin Hooper was the museum's first director, succeeded by William Henry Fox who served from 1914 to 1934. He was followed by Philip Newell Youtz (1934–1938), Laurance Page Roberts (1939–1946), Isabel Spaulding Roberts (1943–1946), Charles Nagel, Jr. (1946–1955), and Edgar Craig Schenck (1955–1959).

Thomas S. Buechner became the museum's director in 1960, making him one of the youngest directors in the country. Buechner oversaw a major transformation in the way the museum displayed art and brought some one thousand works that had languished in the museum's store rooms and put them on display. Buechner played a pivotal role in rescuing the Daniel Chester French sculptures from destruction due to an expansion project at the Manhattan Bridge in the 1960s.[10]

Duncan F. Cameron held the post from 1971 to 1973, with Michael Botwinick succeeding him (1974–1982) and Linda S. Ferber acting director for part of 1983 until Robert T. Buck became director in 1983 and served until 1996.

Arnold Lehman

In 1999, the museum hosted the Charles Saatchi exhibition Sensation, resulting in a court battle[11] over New York City's municipal funding of institutions exhibiting controversial art, eventually decided in favor of the museum on First Amendment grounds.[12][13][14]

In May 2015, Creative Time president and artistic director Anne Pasternak was named the museum's next director; she assumed the position on September 1, 2015.[15]

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and its negative impact on museum revenue, the museum raised funds for an endowment to pay for collections care by selling or deaccessioning works of art. The endowment will allow the museum to direct annual fundraising revenues dedicated to conservation and collection care to other purposes. The October 2020 sale consisted of 12 works by artists including Lucas Cranach the Elder, Gustave Courbet, and Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot.[16] Other sales throughout October 2020 included Modernist artists.[17] Though usually prohibited by the Association of Art Museum Directors, the association allowed such sales to proceed for a two-year window through 2022 in response to the effects of the pandemic.[18]

Funding[edit]

The Brooklyn Museum, along with numerous other New York institutions, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the American Museum of Natural History, and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, is part of the Cultural Institutions Group (CIG). Member institutions occupy land or buildings owned by the City of New York and derive part of their yearly funding from the City. The Brooklyn Museum also supplements its earned income with funding from Federal and State governments, as well as with donations by individuals and organizations.


In 2005, the museum was among 406 New York City arts and social service institutions to receive part of a $20 million grant from the Carnegie Corporation, in turn funded by New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg.[19][20]

Major benefactors include Frank Lusk Babbott. The museum is the site of the annual Brooklyn Artists Ball which has included celebrity hosts such as Sarah Jessica Parker and Liv Tyler.[21]


Directors[edit]

  • Franklin Hooper (1889—1914)
  • William Henry Fox]] (1914—1934)
  • Philip Newell Youtz (1934–1938)
  • Laurance Page Roberts (1939–1946)
  • Isabel Spaulding Roberts (1943–1946)
  • Charles Nagel, Jr. (1946–1955)
  • Edgar Craig Schenck(1955–1959)
  • Thomas S. Buechner (1960–1971)
  • Duncan F. Cameron (1971 to 1973
  • Michael Botwinick (1974–1982)
  • Robert Buck (1983—1996)
  • Arnold Lehman (1997—2015)
  • Anne Pasternak (2015—present)

The Brooklyn Museum changed its name to Brooklyn Museum of Art in 1997, shortly before the start of Arnold L. Lehman's term as director. On March 12, 2004, the museum announced that it would revert to its previous name. In April 2004, the museum opened the James Polshek-designed entrance pavilion on the Eastern Parkway facade.[9] In September 2014, Lehman announced that he was planning to retire around June 2015.[22] In May 2015, Creative Time president and artistic director Anne Pasternak was named the museum's next director; she assumed the position on September 1, 2015.[23]

  1. ^ Lawrence, Deirdre E. (1987). "From Library to Art Museum: The Evolution of the Brooklyn Museum". The International Journal of Museum Management and Curatorship. 6 (4): 386. doi:10.1080/09647778709515090.
  2. ^ Spelling, Simon. "Entertainment: Brooklyn Museum". New York. Archived from the original on 2012-05-08. Retrieved 2014-08-01.
  3. ^ Darragh, Joan, ed. (1988). A New Brooklyn Museum: The Master Plan Competition. New York: Rizzoli. p. 33. ISBN 0847808637.
  4. ^ Leggio, James (2004). Brooklyn Museum: Building for the Future. London: Scala. pp. 4–5. ISBN 1857593553.
  5. ^ Darragh, Joan, ed. (1988). A New Brooklyn Museum: The Master Plan Competition. New York: Rizzoli. p. 33. ISBN 0847808637.
  6. ^ White, Norval; Wilensky, Elliot; Leadon, Fran (June 9, 2010). AIA Guide to New York City. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 605–606. ISBN 978-0195383867. Retrieved 2014-08-01.
  7. ^ Darragh, Joan, ed. (1988). A New Brooklyn Museum: The Master Plan Competition. New York: Rizzoli. p. 29. ISBN 0847808637.
  8. ^ McGill, Douglas C. (22 December 1984). "Museum Closing Art School". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
  9. ^ a b Muschamp, Herbert (July 16, 2004). "Brooklyn's Radiant New Art Palace". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-10-27.
  10. ^ Grimes, William (June 17, 2010). "Thomas S. Buechner, Former Director of Brooklyn Museum, Dies at 83". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-06-19.
  11. ^ Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences v. City of New York, 64 F.Supp.2d 184 (E.D.N.Y. Nov 01, 1999)
  12. ^ "BROOKLYN INSTITUTE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES v. CITY OF NEW YORK". ncac.org. Archived from the original on 2015-03-13. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
  13. ^ "Lessons from the Brooklyn Museum Controversy" (PDF). Hettingern.people.cofc.edu. Retrieved 2017-06-30.
  14. ^ [1] [dead link]
  15. ^ Lescaze, Zoë (19 May 2015). "Anne Pasternak Named Director of the Brooklyn Museum". ArtNews. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
  16. ^ Pogrebin, Robin (16 September 2020). "Brooklyn Museum to Sell 12 Works as Pandemic Changes the Rules". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  17. ^ Kenney, Nancy (16 October 2020). "Brooklyn Museum steams ahead on deaccessioning". www.theartnewspaper.com. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  18. ^ "Association Of Art Museum Directors' Board Of Trustees Approves Resolution to Provide Additional Financial Flexibility to Art Museums During Pandemic Crisis" (PDF). Association of Art Museum Directors. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  19. ^ Roberts, Sam (July 6, 2005). "City Groups Get Bloomberg Gift of $20 Million". The New York Times.
  20. ^ "Carnegie Corporation of New York announces twenty million dollars in New York City grants" (Press release). Carnegie Corporation. July 5, 2005. Archived from the original on September 14, 2012. Retrieved 2014-08-01.
  21. ^ "Brooklyn Museum's Artists Ball: Sarah Jessica Parker & Liv Tyler Broadcast Their Art Credit". Huffington Post. May 5, 2011. Retrieved 2014-08-01.
  22. ^ Vogel, Carol (September 9, 2014). "Brooklyn Museum's Longtime Director Plans to Retire". The New York Times. Retrieved 2014-09-16.
  23. ^ Lescaze, Zoë (19 May 2015). "Anne Pasternak Named Director of the Brooklyn Museum". ArtNews. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
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