Worcester Art Museum
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The Worcester Art Museum, located at 55 Salisbury Street, Worcester, Massachusetts, is one of the largest art museums in Central Massachusetts.
History and Collection Overview
The museum opened in 1898, and was established by Stephen Salisbury III, a Massachusetts state Senator and wealthy Worcester landowner. It houses over 35,000 works of art dating from antiquity to the present day, representing cultures from all over the world. It also contains the Higgins Education wing which offers a plethora of classes to the Worcester community year-round.
Strengths of the collection include the Roman mosaic-laden Renaissance court, and a 12th century French chapter house. European paintings include some fine Flemish Renaissance paintings, an El Greco, a Rembrandt, and a room of impressionist and 20th century works by the likes of Matisse, Renoir, Gauguin, and Kandinsky. The American painting collection includes works by Thomas Cole, Winslow Homer, and John Singer Sargent among others and a 20th century gallery including works by Franz Kline, Jackson Pollock, and Joan Mitchell.
Collection Highlights
- El Greco - The Repentant Magdalene, about 1577
- Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn - St. Barholemew
- Paul Gauguin - The Brooding Woman, 1891
- Edward Hicks - The Peaceable Kingdom, about 1833
