Detroit Institute of Arts

The museum bought Van Gogh's self-portrait in 1922, the first Van Gogh to enter an American public collection, and its holdings run wide from there. The centrepiece is Diego Rivera's Detroit Industry Murals, twenty-seven panels covering all four walls of the garden court, painted in 1932 and 1933 after Rivera spent months in the Ford Rouge plant; Edsel Ford commissioned them and defended them publicly when they were attacked as blasphemous and communist. When Detroit filed for bankruptcy in 2013, creditors pushed to sell the collection, which the city owned outright; the grand bargain of 2014 - foundations, the state and museum donors putting up money for pensions - transferred the art to a trust and ended the threat.

Background

The museum sits about 2 miles north of downtown, within the Cultural Center Historic District, opposite the Detroit Public Library and close to Wayne State University. Paul Philippe Cret designed the original building, now flanked by north and south wings, with white marble as the main exterior material throughout. It covers 658,000 square feet over more than 100 galleries, including 58,000 square feet added by an expansion finished in 2007. The first painting came as a gift in 1883, and the collection now numbers over 65,000 works. Early 20th-century acquisitions included a dragon tile relief from Babylon's Ishtar Gate, Bruegel's The Wedding Dance and Matisse's The Window, bought in 1922 with the Van Gogh.

Source: Wikipedia, "Detroit Institute of Arts"

What to look for

• Rivera's Detroit Industry Murals - twenty-seven panels round the court.
• The first Van Gogh in an American public collection - bought 1922.
• An encyclopedic collection - across cultures and periods.
• A collection nearly sold in 2013 - saved by the grand bargain.

When to go

Year round; closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Half a day.

What to expect

Free entry applies only to residents of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties. Special exhibitions cost extra. Some galleries rotate closed. Midtown parking is paid.

Nearby

The Michigan Science Center and the main library are adjacent.

Key facts