Fuzzy Bus

One of the most famous museums in the world today, began as a simple building to house a collection of porcelain items and pottery.  The University Art Museum of Princeton now has a Picasso sculpture adorning the entrance way, and is filled with more than sixty thousand pieces of rare and famous art works, artifacts and samples of history from around the world, through a range of all the different time periods from Classical, to pre-Colombian to modern art.

All media is represented as well, from drawings of the old masters, beautiful works in stained glass, bronze sculptures and photography.  The formation of the art department for Princeton University was begun in 1882, when the president of the university, James McCosh put two men in charge…General George McClellan and William C. Prime.  Both men had very strong convictions to developing a department which valued works of art throughout history.

At first the museum was referred to as the Museum of Historic Art and contained in the collection predominantly archaeological artifacts.  Slowly, paintings began to be included in the collection, which is most likely due to the addition to the staff, of Frank Jewett Mather, who was hired to teach courses on Renaissance Art.  It was during this time that an expansion to the original museum became necessary, for storage space and for exhibition wall space.

Now it is one of the most outstanding and impressive university museums where classes are held and where visitors can witness the changes through time, and the influence art has had on those changes for many societies of the world.  A walk through this museum is like a walk through many museums…a walk through the history of not only different societies, but through the minds of those people living in those societies through time.  To find a hotel conveniently located close to the museum, click here. Any visit to this region of New Jersey would not be complete without experiencing all that the Princeton University Art Museum has to offer, to the mind and to the soul, of what it means to be human and to create.

Related posts:

1. Museums in Mallorca, Spain
2. Seahawks Fan Goes to University of Washington
3. New York, New York
4. Jimmy Ong & Singapore Ancestors
5. The Success of Leicester