Philadelphia Museum of Art

The building went up in 1928 at the head of the parkway in a Greek temple manner with polychrome terracotta on the pediments, and the seventy-two steps in front became famous through the 1976 film - a bronze Rocky statue stands at the bottom, moved there after an argument about whether a film prop belonged at an art museum. Inside, the collection runs wide: the largest holding of Marcel Duchamp anywhere, including The Large Glass and the peephole tableau Etant donnes, one of Cezanne's Large Bathers, strong American and South Asian collections, and complete rooms and architectural interiors installed whole. A Frank Gehry renovation opened new core galleries in 2021.

Background

The museum was chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition and opened on May 10, 1877, then called Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art. The school went its own way in 1964. Construction of the main building started in 1919 on Fairmount, a rocky rise crowned by the city's main reservoir. Within Trumbauer's firm, Howell Lewis Shay shaped the plan and massing, while Julian Abele drew the details and perspectives. In 1902 Abele had been the first African-American student to graduate in architecture at the University of Pennsylvania. The collections hold over 240,000 objects, and the museum also runs the Rodin Museum, the Perelman Building of 2007 and two colonial-era houses in Fairmount Park.

Source: Wikipedia, "Philadelphia Museum of Art"

What you'll find

• The largest Duchamp holding anywhere - including Etant donnes.
• A Cezanne Large Bathers - among the museum's set pieces.
• Installed architectural interiors - whole rooms, not fragments.
• The steps and the Rocky statue - the statue at the bottom, by decision.

When to go

Year round; closed Tuesdays. Half a day.

What to expect

The steps draw crowds who never go inside. It is very large - one visit covers a fraction. Special exhibitions cost extra. The main entrance at the top of the steps is not always the open one.

Nearby

The Barnes Foundation is down the parkway; Fairmount Park is behind.

Key facts