Lovely pics. But none of the Bloch Building!
The
Nelson-Atkins is actually one of the best encyclopedic museums in the country. It is really the greatest treasure of the city.
Couple small, school-marmish things. I apologize if my tone gets a little pedantic-
The Asian collections are among the very best in the US.
The Chinese painting collection is
one of the most important outside of Asia. The jade collection has one of the most revered Chinese carvings anywhere -
http://www.nelson-atkins.org/art/col...-carousel-2520 There is a sculpture -
Guanyin of the Southern Sea, that is so beautiful that it can bring you to tears
The Japanese galleries are closed and being renovated as I type. Not the best collection, though the screens are quite nice.
Regarding the pic that you captioned "This is a gallery they were redoing" - that is part of the Bloch Galleries, a total gut job of the entire NE corner of the first floor. It is a $25 million+ rebuild of the galleries which contain European art from 1750-1945 -
http://www.nelson-atkins.org/art/exh...och-galleries/. The money, along with 29 new pieces added to the already strong collection, has taken the collection from very good to great. Thanks to Henry Bloch of H&R Bloch. So please don't say "They even have a Van Gogh." It minimizes the collection, which includes multiple Van Gogh's, multiple Monet's, multiple Cezanne's, Degas' etc. etc.
As far as other European art, the museum has one of the VERY FEW Caravaggios in the US, a very important Petrus Christus, high quality Hals and Rembrandt. It's collection of Northern Renaissance art generally is really excellent and can give a patron a very good understanding of what was happening 1400-1650 in the North of Europe. Also, very good Spanish art, esp of 1400 and 1500's.
The American Indian art collection is quite good with some astounding pieces. The Nelson is one of the few art museums to have a dedicated curator for the arts of Native Americans, and look at pieces from a art history, rather than a ethnographic lens.
The American art collection is VERY strong, especially 19th century, as well as the Bentons.
The photography collection. Again, extraordinary, amongst the best largely through the gift and purchase of the Hallmark Photographic Collection.
The museum is decent in Modern art, with some very fine works by Kline, de Kooning, and Motherwell. Also, a entire collection of Noguchi scultpures. The contemporary is good, and getting better (they have to get around Nelson's rule restricting purchasing art from living artists).
Lots more - African is quite good. These are all in the Bloch Building (Henry has been very generous), a spectacular building designed by Stephen Holl -
http://www.archdaily.com/4369/the-ne...oll-architects
The sculpture park is fabulous. Gorgeous grounds designed by Dan Kiley and a really top-notch collection. Beautiful
The museum's ancient and pre-Columbian are ehh... and there is always room to add more.
I could go on and on; about the decorative arts collection, pottery. etc.etc. I haven't lived in KC for decades, but I go there every time I visit. It had a huge impact on me when I was a child.
If you go to KC, go to the Nelson-Atkins Museum
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