City: Norfolk, VA

Category: Tours & Attractions

Telephone: (757) 664-6200

Address: 245 West Olney Rd.

Description: This is the patriarch of all area museums with a nationally recognized collection that is astounding for a region of this size. It was founded in 1939 as the Norfolk Museum of Arts and Sciences but really took off in 1971 when automobile scion Walter P. Chrysler Jr. handed the city his vast art collection. His wife was a Norfolk native, and when his collection outgrew a small museum in Provincetown, Mass., he was looking for a new place and settled on, and in, Norfolk.Chrysler had begun collecting as a 14-year-old and always intended that his works would wind up on public view. From his first watercolor, a nude by Renoir, he eventually amassed a vast array of French and Italian paintings and some 8,000 pieces of art glass, including Art Nouveau and early American objects. He was a neighbor of Louis Comfort Tiffany and collected many of the glass master’s works. He also collected rare books, many of which comprise the museum’s 40,000-volume library named after his wife, Jean Outland Chrysler. And he was a fan of music, founding a Music Library and Musical Instruments Museum with 10,000 volumes and 400,000 recordings, as well as instruments.Walter Chrysler died in Norfolk in 1988 leaving a rich legacy and a museum he was proud to have bear his name.The museum building itself is beautiful, an Italianate structure right on a historic inlet of the Elizabeth River. Inside are nearly 40,000 objects in the permanent collection and a variety of special exhibitions that ensure you will never run out of something new to see or something to see in a new way.There are six general areas of interest in the museum, which is basically organized by era or art form.The collection of American Paintings and Sculpture actually predates Chrysler’s involvement, but his endowment not only brought his personal collection but enticed his older sister to donate 164 folk art paintings and established the cachet for obtaining 70 marble sculptures from the renowned private James H. Ricau collection. The museum now boasts important colonial and folk painting, works by 19th-century American masters, examples of American impressionism, and those breathtaking sculptures.Chrysler loved to collect European works, and they form the basis of one of the most distinctive collections in the United States. Here you’ll see everything from delicate Renaissance panel paintings to modernist works by Henri Matisse and Georges Braque. You can spend hours staring at the works of Dutch masters or get lost in a single Degas.The contemporary art section has continued growing since Chrysler’s death. Here you can enjoy a giant Roy Lichtenstein or marvel at Georgia O’Keefe and Alexander Calder’s use of color and contrast.For those who like their art to be utilitarian, there’s an emphasis on the decorative arts. Chrysler used some of the 18th-century furniture and silver now on display, then donated them when he shifted to Art Nouveau to furnish his homes. The museum also has some amazing southern furniture it had before Chrysler and a fabulous Worchester porcelain collection.Another strength is the photography collection. Chrysler actually never collected photographs, but that hasn’t stopped the museum that carries his name from becoming a leader in the field. There are more than 4,000 photos in the collection, from the earliest daguerreotypes to modern digital displays. It all began with a gift by controversial photographic artist Robert Mapplethorpe of two works in thanks for the Chrysler organizing his first museum exhibition and publishing his first catalogue. Look for the Civil War photos and those that chronicle the Civil Rights Movement in the five galleries dedicated to photography.All that alone would make the Chrysler an amazing museum. But its ultimate distinction is in the world of glass. Chrysler, smitten by Tiffany, was one of the first to collect art glass seriously, concentrating on glass made from the early 1800s through the 20th century, including Steubens and Tiffany lamps. He loved French glass and English cameos, and the collection contains John Northwood’s Milton Vase, a masterpiece in the rediscovery of the ancient Roman art form. The museum has continued to strengthen its collection by acquiring major studio and contemporary glass. The result is one of the great glass collections in America.And if all that isn’t enough, the museum offers a range of events from gallery talks by art experts to a yoga class for art lovers. And every Wed, there’s a free lecture and often a concert, from jazz to classical guitar. There’s a restaurant inside the museum, Cuisine & Company at the Chrysler Cafe, that stays open Wed until 8 p.m. so you don’t have to rush to get to the evening event.Admission is free. The museum is open Wed through Sun. Visiting exhibitions can have entrance fees but are always free to museum members and children five and under.