Gilcrease Museum
Gilcrease Museum main entrance
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| Former name | Gilcrease Institute |
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| Established | 1943 |
| Location | Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| Coordinates | 36°10′29″N 96°01′17″W / 36.17472°N 96.02139°WCoordinates: 36°10′29″N 96°01′17″W / 36.17472°N 96.02139°W |
| Type | Art Museum |
| Founder | Thomas Gilcrease |
| Director | James Pepper Henry |
| Owner | City of Tulsa |
| Website | gilcrease.org |
Gilcrease Museum is a museum located northwest of downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma. The museum houses the world's largest, most comprehensive collection of art of the American West, as well as a growing collection of art and artifacts from Central and South America. The museum is named for Thomas Gilcrease, an oil man and avid art collector, who began the collection. He deeded the collection, as well as the building and property, to the City of Tulsa in 1958. Since July 1, 2008, Gilcrease Museum has been managed by a public-private partnership of the City of Tulsa and the University of Tulsa.
The Helmerich Center for American Research at Gilcrease Museum was added in 2014 at a cost of $14 million to provide a secure archival area where researchers can access any of the more than 100,000 books, documents, maps and unpublished materials that have been acquired by the museum.
Thomas Gilcrease grew up in the Creek Nation, located within present day Oklahoma. At the turn of the 20th century the federal government distributed lands held by American Indian tribes to private citizens. His tribal membership entitled him to an allotment of 160 acres (0.65 km2) located south of Tulsa near Glenpool. The land subsequently became part of one of Oklahoma's major oil fields, and Gilcrease proved to be an able businessman. In 1922, he founded the Gilcrease Oil Company, and in less than ten years had greatly expanded his original holdings. Thomas Gilcrease traveled extensively in Europe during the 1920s and 1930s. His visits to European museums inspired him to create his own collection. Pride in his American Indian heritage and interest in the history of the American West provided a focus for his collecting.
Gilcrease purchased his first oil painting titled Rural Courtship by Daniel Ridgway Knight in 1912 for $1,500, but most of the collection was amassed after 1939. The first Gilcrease Museum opened at his oil company headquarters (at that time located in San Antonio, Texas) in 1943. Within a few years, he returned to Tulsa with his oil company and his growing collection. He opened a gallery for public viewing on his Tulsa estate in 1949.
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