Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art
Established | 1994 |
---|---|
Location | 4420 Warwick Boulevard, Kansas City, Missouri, United States |
Coordinates | 39°2′47″N 94°35′7″W / 39.04639°N 94.58528°W |
Type | Art museum |
Website | www |
Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art opened in 1994 in Kansas City, Missouri. With a $5 million annual budget and approximately 75,000 visitors each year, it is Missouri's first and largest contemporary museum.[1]
Founders
The core of the museum's permanent collection is the Bebe and R. Crosby Kemper Jr. Collection, a gift of the museum's founders. In May 2013, both Kempers stepped down from museum board of trustees, with their daughter, Mary Kemper Wolf, becoming the chairman of the board.[2] R. Crosby Kemper Jr. died in 2014.[3]
Collection
The Kemper Museum permanent collection includes more than 1,400 works created after the 1913
The museum opened in 1994 with an exhibition of rare early series of 28 watercolors by Georgia O'Keeffe, known as the "Canyon Suite" (1916-1918), that had never been shown publicly as a group. In 1999, the paintings' authenticity was challenged because the paper used for some of them could not have been obtained in the United States from 1916 to 1918, when O'Keeffe taught art at
Architecture
Kemper Museum’s 23,200-square-foot concrete, steel, and glass building, constructed from 1992 to 1994 at a cost of $6.6 million, was designed by architect Gunnar Birkerts.[7] The structure has a large central atrium under an articulated skylight. Two wings extend from either side of the atrium. The main gallery hosts three major exhibitions each year. Side galleries present works from the permanent collection in rotation. Works of art are always on view in the atrium and the corridors of each wing. San Francisco Chronicle noted that Birkerts “used concrete, glass and steel in ways that seemed to flow, almost as if shaped by hand”.[8]
Cafe
Café Sebastienne combines the worlds of contemporary art and contemporary cuisine in the heart of the museum. The dining area features 110 paintings collectively known as "The History of Art" by renowned African-American artist Frederick J. Brown. The restaurant was named after his daughter, Sebastienne Nicole Brown.[citation needed][9]
References
- ^ Kinzer, Stephen Kinzer (April 24, 2002). "IN THE MIDDLE; What's This? An Art Boom In the Heartland". The New York Times. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
- ^ Spencer, Laura (May 1, 2013). "Kemper Founders Step Down From Museum Board". KCUR-FM. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
- ^ Thorson, Alice (September 6, 2014). "Post-Crosby, the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art looks to the future". The Kansas City Star. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
- New York Times.
- ^ "28 O'Keeffe Paintings in Doubt as Experts Challenge Authenticity". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. March 12, 2000. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
- New York Times.
- ^ "Modern Art Museum Opening in Kansas City". The New York Times. October 2, 1994. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
- ^ Schudel, Matt (August 20, 2017). "Gunnar Birkerts, architect who emphasized light and elegance, dies". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
- ^ Feruzza, C. (2004, November 18). Night gallery. Pitch Weekly. https://www.thepitchkc.com/night-gallery/