Heckscher Museum of Art
| Established | 1920 |
|---|---|
| Location | 2 Prime Avenue, Huntington, New York |
| Type | Art museum |
| Director | Michael W. Schantz, Ph.D., Executive Director and CEO |
| Curator | Lisa Chalif, Curator |
| Website | http://www.heckscher.org/ |
The Heckscher Museum of Art is located in scenic Heckscher Park, in Huntington, New York, within walking distance of downtown shops and award-winning restaurants. The Museum provides a dynamic schedule of changing exhibitions on American art. Additionally, public programs for adults, families, and children, include First Friday concert series, gallery talks, festivals and workshops.
In 1920, the German-American industrialist and developer August Heckscher opened the Museum and park for the benefit of the people of Huntington and the surrounding region. Operated by a private foundation, the Museum presented works from Mr. Heckscher's collection of Old Masters such as Lucas Cranach the Elder, François Girardon, and Henry Raeburn, as well as American painters like Thomas Moran, Ralph Albert Blakelock, and George Inness .
The modern life of The Heckscher Museum began in 1957 when the Town of Huntington delegated operational responsibility for the Museum to the Board of Trustees of a newly formed, non-profit corporation. The collection began to grow, and the museum developed an active exhibitions schedule and new initiatives. In 1962, Eva Gatling was hired as Director, one of the first women to direct an art museum in the United States. During her tenure, the Museum made an important acquisition with the purchase of George Grosz’s (1853-1959) Eclipse of the Sun, 1926- a monumental painting from the height of Grosz’s activity in Berlin. Other significant pieces were added to the collection during her 16-year career, including works by American Modernist Arthur Dove (1880-1946) who, like Grosz, had lived in Huntington for an extended period.
The addition of the Baker/Pisano Collection in 2001 focusing on nineteenth-and twentieth-century American works of art was the single largest gift to the Museum since Mr. Heckscher’s founding donation. A major historic preservation and renovation project was initiated in 2007, upgrading the exhibition galleries and highlighting the original architectural features of the museum.
...
Wikipedia