CROCKER ART MUSEUM

In 1868, Judge Edwin B. Crocker purchased several buildings at^3rd and O Streets, and commissioned architect Seth Bason to transform them into an Italianate-style mansion for his family. He also asked that an adjoining house be dedicated to the family's art collection, a gallery in which local notables could come and admire all his pieces brought back from Europe and the four corners of the United States. During the construction period, the Crocker family spent three years in Europe, purchasing numerous works by the great masters of the time. They brought back with them a Dürer, the first to cross the Atlantic Ocean! Back in the States, the family settled into their manor house, which had become the centerpiece of their architect's work. After her husband's death, Margaret Crocker decided to make her collection public, to give everyone the opportunity to contemplate these marvels. The Crocker Gallery was officially opened to the public in 1885, and has since become one of California's most important general museums. The museum's collection is a treasure trove of works, including 1,500 drawings by such masters as Albrecht Dürer, Fra Bartolomeo, François Boucher and Jean-Honoré Fragonard. There are also numerous works by the great names of late ^19th- and early ^20th-century American painting, including Childe Hassam, Joseph Kleitsch, Charles Christian Nahl Page and Thomas Hill. The Asian art collection is also very impressive, thanks in particular to its Chinese and Korean ceramics. The Crocker also holds some interesting pieces of traditional African and Oceanic art. The museum's acquisition policy over the years led to the construction of a new branch, commissioned in 2000. The Gwathmey Siegel & Associates agency was commissioned for the project, and delivered the building in 2010, enabling the collection to be displayed more widely and a greater number of temporary exhibitions to be organized. These exhibitions focus as much on the collection as on works and artists from elsewhere. The celebrated Chinese artist Ai Wei Wei, for example, presented a grandiose exhibition here in 2016. The Crocker Museum is a must-see for art lovers and curious minds alike, when considering a stopover in Sacramento!