Bequeathed to Baltimore "for the benefit of the public" in 1931, the collection of the Walters Art Museum was built by Henry Walters and his father, William. The Walters' legacy has grown from 22,000 to 28,000 works dating from antiquity to the 20th century and representing cultures across the globe. The Mount Vernon museum is free.
The Walters' trove of Italian paintings is one of the best in the U.S. But that is just a start. The Mount Vernon institution's three very different buildings hold items such as an Egyptian mummy, suits of armor, Asian art and jewelry.
Current Exhibit: Maps: Finding Our Place in the World
The Walters' Collection: 19th-Century Art
Centre Building, Level 4
The Walters Museum's European and American paintings and sculptures include works by Delacroix, Ingres, Daumier, Monet, Pissarro, Manet and Alfred Jacob Miller plus a large assembly of the works of animal sculptor Antoine-Louis Barye.
Ancient Art
Centre Street Building, Level 2
Two 3,000-pound statues of an Egyptian lioness-headed goddess guard the entrance to the ancient world gallery. An Egyptian mummy and sarcophagus are among the most popular exhibits. But the ancient art collection also includes Roman portraits, Greek vases, Etruscan bronze works and jewelry.
Centre Building, Level 4
The Walters Museum's European and American paintings and sculptures include works by Delacroix, Ingres, Daumier, Monet, Pissarro, Manet and Alfred Jacob Miller plus a large assembly of the works of animal sculptor Antoine-Louis Barye.
Ancient Art
Centre Street Building, Level 2
Two 3,000-pound statues of an Egyptian lioness-headed goddess guard the entrance to the ancient world gallery. An Egyptian mummy and sarcophagus are among the most popular exhibits. But the ancient art collection also includes Roman portraits, Greek vases, Etruscan bronze works and jewelry.
Asian Art
Hackerman House
More than 1,000 works of Chinese, Japanese, Southeast Asian and Korean art are in this grand old townhouse in Mount Vernon (accessed by Level 3 of the Charles Street Building), including Chinese and Japanese porcelains, lacquers and metalwork. Baltimore is home to the oldest wood image of the Buddha, dating to the 7th century.
The Medieval World
Centre Street Building, Level 3
The Walters' medieval collection includes Western religious and secular items, Ethiopian art, Islamic art and armor. Works range from a 4th-century carved agate vase to Western medieval enamels and stained glass.
Hackerman House
More than 1,000 works of Chinese, Japanese, Southeast Asian and Korean art are in this grand old townhouse in Mount Vernon (accessed by Level 3 of the Charles Street Building), including Chinese and Japanese porcelains, lacquers and metalwork. Baltimore is home to the oldest wood image of the Buddha, dating to the 7th century.
The Medieval World
Centre Street Building, Level 3
The Walters' medieval collection includes Western religious and secular items, Ethiopian art, Islamic art and armor. Works range from a 4th-century carved agate vase to Western medieval enamels and stained glass.
Chamber of Wonders
Charles Street Building, Level 2
Modeled after the collection of a 17th-century nobleman, this exhibit features natual and man-made curiosities of the day integrated with paintings, sculpture and jewelry. Children particularly enjoy the hands-on exhibits of butterflies and insects. Also in this area is the museum's collection of Dutch art.
European Decorative Arts
Charles Street Building, Level 2
Henry Walters' personal interest in European decorative arts is the reason behind this collection. Highlights include Svres porcelains, two Fabergé eggs and jewelry by Tiffany and Lalique.
Charles Street Building, Level 2
Modeled after the collection of a 17th-century nobleman, this exhibit features natual and man-made curiosities of the day integrated with paintings, sculpture and jewelry. Children particularly enjoy the hands-on exhibits of butterflies and insects. Also in this area is the museum's collection of Dutch art.
European Decorative Arts
Charles Street Building, Level 2
Henry Walters' personal interest in European decorative arts is the reason behind this collection. Highlights include Svres porcelains, two Fabergé eggs and jewelry by Tiffany and Lalique.
Manuscripts & Rare Books
Charles Street Building, Level 3
Manuscripts and rare books are on display throughout the Walters Museum in Baltimore along with other objects from their time and place of origin. There is also a small gallery housing rotating manuscript exhibits.
Charles Street Building, Level 3
Manuscripts and rare books are on display throughout the Walters Museum in Baltimore along with other objects from their time and place of origin. There is also a small gallery housing rotating manuscript exhibits.
Renaissance & Baroque Art
Charles Street Building, Level 3
The grand galleries of the Palazzo house the paintings, sculpture, and decorative arts of the European Old Masters. Spanning the 14th through 18th centuries, these Renaissance and Baroque artworks include pieces by Giovanni di Paolo, El Greco, Veronese, Bernini, Raphael and Tiepolo.
History of the Walters Art Museum: William Thompson Walters (1819-94), a native of central Pennsylvania, came to Baltimore in 1841. He established one of the largest wholesale liquor houses in the country. In 1858, William moved to a house on Mount Vernon Place, the most fashionable neighborhood in Baltimore. Around this time, William began amassing an art collection that included 19th-century and Asian art as well as manuscripts and rare books. In the 1870s he opened the Mount Vernon Place residence to the public every spring. Within a decade, he acquired an adjacent property and added a picture gallery.
After the Civil War, William's business shifted to railroads. After his death his son Henry (1848–1931), continued in that industry as well as continued. He also began to collect art even more enthusiastically than his father. Adding to the collection he inherited, Henry acquired the collections of a Vatican official, which included more than 1,700 works with masterpieces of European art from antiquity to the 19th-century. The scale of this purchase was unprecedented in the history of American collecting.
Henry transformed three buildings purchased in 1900 into a palazzo-like building, which opened to the public in 1909. When he died in 1931, he left the building and its contents to the City of Baltimore. Within a year of his death, a staff of five curators, a conservator and a chemist was appointed to remake the Walters Art Gallery into a modern, public institution.
The museum continued to expand its collection with a policy of enhancing the aspects of the collection that were inadequately represented rather than emphasizing its strengths. Over the years, however, inadequate display space became an issue.
The museum continued to expand its collection with a policy of enhancing the aspects of the collection that were inadequately represented rather than emphasizing its strengths. Over the years, however, inadequate display space became an issue.
Finally in 1966, a bond issue passed that provided the needed funding for expansion. In 1974 an extension in the Brutalist architectural style, which features poured concrete and angular geometry, was completed. In 2001, a renovation radically changed the exterior of that addition and reconfigured its five floors. In 2005 a Palazzo building reopened after a four-year renovation. In 2006 with funding from Baltimore City and Baltimore County, the Walters eliminated admission fees.
Visitor Information:
Walters Art Museum Programs and Exhibitions
Location: 600 N. Charles St. (at Mount Vernon Place)
Phone: 410-547-9000
Admission: Free
Hours: Wed. – Sun. 11 a.m. - 5 p.m., Fri. 11 a.m.- 8 p.m.
Closed for Thanksgiving, Dec. 24-25. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays including Memorial Day, July 4 and Labor Day. Open on the following holidays: New Years Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, President's Day, Easter and Columbus Day.
Tours:
Walters Art Museum Programs and Exhibitions
Level One of the Centre Street Building is dedicated to special exhibitions. Also in this area are the Family Art Center and the Graham Auditorium.
Facilities
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The Centre Street Building
The Walters largest structure, the Centre Street Building, opened in 1974 and was designed in the Brutalist architectural style, which features poured concrete and angular geometry. A 2001 renovation changed the exterior radically and reconfigured the layouts of its five floors. Its 39 galleries hold the Walters' ancient, medieval, and 19th-century art collections. The Centre Street Building also houses the Museum Store, Café, Auditorium and Family Art Center.
The Charles Street Building
Built between 1904 and 1909 as Henry Walters' original art gallery, this space echoes Renaissance and Baroque palace designs. The Sculpture Court is a replica of an internal courtyard in a 17th-century palazzo. Smaller galleries of decorative arts, the Hall of Arms and Armour and the Chamber of Wonders encircle the Sculture Court. On the upper level, richly decorated galleries display one of the best collections of Italian paintings in North America.
Hackerman House
This grand 1850 mansion opened to the public in 1991 as the home to the Walters' Asian art collection. The first floor with its ornately carved ceilings and striking spiral staircase leading to a magnificent Tiffany glass dome is quite different from the second with its sparse furnishings and bamboo floor coverings. The former outdoor garden space is now an indoor courtyard with marble fountain.
Location: 600 N. Charles St. (at Mount Vernon Place)
Phone: 410-547-9000
Admission: Free
Hours: Wed. – Sun. 11 a.m. - 5 p.m., Fri. 11 a.m.- 8 p.m.
Closed for Thanksgiving, Dec. 24-25. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays including Memorial Day, July 4 and Labor Day. Open on the following holidays: New Years Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, President's Day, Easter and Columbus Day.
Tours:
- Free docent-led tours of the permanent collection or the special exhibition begin Saturdays at 11:30 a.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. in the Centre Street visitor lobby.
- Free Self-Guided Audio Tours
- Family Tours
- Group tours
