Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Morgan Great Hall


Morgan Great Hall -- named after Junius Spencer Morgan from the famous financier family -- has been rehung salon-style with 95 paintings from the Atheneum's European collection. 


"Salon-style" refers to a tightly packed, multi-level approach to hanging artwork, illustrated in this 1749 painting, The Picture Gallery of Cardinal Sylvio Valenti Gonzaga, by Giovanni Paolo Panini.


The Wadsworth Atheneum is the country's oldest continuously operating art museum.  Founded in 1842, the original building is a castle-like Gothic Revival structure designed by Alexander Jackson Davis.  With four other connected buildings from different periods, it now houses 50,000 artworks. 

21 comments:

GreensboroDailyPhoto said...


I like salon style. It can be a lot to take in at once, but very efficient use of space.

Janis
GDP

John "By Stargoose And Hanglands" said...

The museum's website hasn't caught up with the refit yet so interested readers can view the ghastly pink walls that it had in its earlier form. I suggest they could use your excellent photographs, Jack, when they get around to updating their site.

VP said...

It's one of the museums that I would really like to visit!

Karl said...

A big hall, but mainly a great one !
I would like to accompany VP :)

Kate said...

Oh, My! What a collection of treasures. It would take several trips for me to get through this marvelous museum.

Tanya Breese said...

these are wonderful...i'd sure hate to be the designated picture hanger there though!

Lowell said...

I would love to spend a few hours there! What a delightful and rich collection!

Birdman said...

OMG!
No wonder they used that abbreviation over the entrance. 50,000 works! You are probably not seeing them all in a day... and living to talk about them. THAT would be art overload. GRIN.

Sharon said...

There is a lot to take in in this one room. I might have to take a seat to enjoy it all. Judging from the coats and sweaters on people, it looks like there is a chill in the air up your way.

Luis Gomez said...

Beautiful shots. What a great place.

Sylvia K said...

What an amazing place, Jack!! I would love to visit there!! Your pics are the next best thing!! Hope your week is going well! Enjoy!!

RedPat said...

There is a salon style gallery room at the Ontario Gallery of Art and it is always startling when you first walk in but quite enjoyable. This looks like a grand space, Jack!

Halcyon said...

I love the colored walls and the way the paintings are arranged. Very nice!

William Kendall said...

Tightly packed indeed! Beautiful works!

Mo said...

Ah money boys have always been around. Now they spend more on wine and women than works of art

Bob Crowe said...

This is a place I'd love to visit. This style of display,though, (think of the Louvre) overwhelms me. Can't see the trees for the forest.

Kay said...

OMG! One room at this scale with so much art is entirely enough to boggle. But it sounds like there's plenty more where these came from. It looks like a stunning renovation.

EG CameraGirl said...

The gold frames look very elegant on the grey walls.

Harriet said...

Thanks for all the info! It certainly makes me want to visit your city again.

PerthDailyPhoto said...

A high impact style of hanging art. I rather like it but it wouldn't work for me now that I've decided on a minimalistic approach to decor :)

jennyfreckles said...

That looks really effective, though maybe you can't appreciate the higher up works quite so well.