This month’s #WorcesterWednesday is featuring a place that I sadly do not visit nearly enough: the Worcester Art Museum. Growing up, my mom wanted me to be as well rounded as possible, so every summer I was only allowed to do both dance and soccer camp if I also did a camp or class at the Worcester Art Museum. I did everything from drawing, to fashion designing, to painting and I loved it! Every class included a tour of at least one of the museum’s exhibits and that was truly my favorite part (mainly because I have always considered myself to be “artistically challenged”). The Worcester Art Museum was where I first fell in love with Monet before I even realized who he was or the popularity of the painting I was looking it. WAM was the first museum in the entire world to purchase one of Monet’s water lilies paintings, and they purchased it directly from his dealer. I didn’t know any of that; all I knew was that I was transfixed by this French guy’s seemingly shapeless brushstrokes’ ability to make me understand that what I was actually seeing was his impression of water lilies, and I loved the random pops of pinks and purple.
WAM was founded in 1896 and for years was at the forefront of museums in the Americas. Aside from being the first in the world to purchase a Monet water lily, they were also one of the first American museums to showcase photography as fine art and to install an entire piece of architecture as a permanent exhibit. (To this day, I still do not understand how they managed to do that & I marvel at it every single time.)
Worcester also used to be home to the Higgins Armory Museum. When they closed, Worcester Art Museum acquired their collection and became home to the 2nd largest armor collection in the Americas, second only to the Met in New York. Between the tens of thousands of pieces of art on display, WAM is represents over 50 centuries worth of art and truly has something for everyone.
From now until April 28, 2019 you can see the exhibit Monet’s Waterloo Bridges. This is one of Monet’s lesser known collections, though still substantial with its over 100 paintings. This particular exhibit features nine of the paintings, including Worcester’s own from 1903. Monet painted the majority of these pieces from the balcony of his London hotel room, often having as many as six canvases set up at a single time. Monet wished to capture the full of effect of all the sun’s angles, and was inspired by the multitude of colors visible within the infamous London fog. It is truly incredible to see so many different representations of the same view from a single artist.
WAM also currently has a stunning exhibit called Rediscovering Brilliance, which features the stunning stained glass windows of Boston’s old Mount Vernon Congregational Church, which were commissioned in 1898 by the Tiffany Glass & Decoration Company. I won’t pretend to know much about stained glass art, but they are absolutely stunning! It is crazy to think that they were completely unseen from 1975-2016! While originally a stunning collection of three windows, the third one has been missing for decades.
If you’re a fan of fine art (or just pretty things in general) I would definitely recommend a visit to the Worcester Art Museum!
Worcester Residents: If you have a library card you may be able to borrow a pass for free admission. Shameless plug to support your local library!
If you would like to read more about why I started #WorcesterWednesday and why Worcester is so great, go here.
Want to learn more about New England’s second largest city? Check out the other #WorcesterWednesday posts!
January 2019: Worcester, MA: Why It Should Be Added To Your Bucket List
March 2019: Redemption Rock Brewing Company
July 2019: 6 Best Coffee Shops in Worcester
August 2019: Best Diners in Worcester
September 2019: The Five Breweries inWorcester
October 2019: Worcester Hauntings
November 2019: Holiday Shopping in Worcester