Crocker Art Museum
- Good for Kids: Yes
16 Reviews for Crocker Art Museum
Alright, I admit that I am used to big art museums that I can wander around in for hours, so I had to take a step back when I walked into the Crocker. Beautiful architecture, yes. Cheap admission, indeed. But I didn't hear the soaring trumpets announcing "this is art!"
The "Language of the Nude" exhibit was interesting, but not quite what I expected. They had some fascinating small ivory carvings of religious scenes and a pairing of older Indian drawings with a modern Indian comic. Cool. But, I gotta say, I was a little confused by the Californian/European Room.
All in all, I guess I expected something different from the major art museum in a capital city.
Could you imagine going to europe and extending your trip only because you decided to buy some art? What if that art you bought resulted in one of the finest collections of european art of its time? Then what would you be?
You would be a Crocker, that's what. And that is how this museum got started. From a trip to Europe!! So next time your parents yell at you for wanting to go to Europe, just tell them, hey you never know! I could come back the beginnings of a museum!
This museum is amazing to walk through, especially for being one of the larger museums in Sacramento. It also is a great place to host private events as well. I went to a big dinner here and it almost felt magical, dining in a museum. I still can't believe that this house used to be the house the Crockers lived in! And to top that off the Crockers helped create one of the best collections of California art there is!!
So go here one day and stroll through this historical place where you can see a historical landmark full of paintings and pictures and photos from history too!!
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This was a pleasant surprise. The building itself is well worth the admission. The collection was surprisingly eclectic. There is a lot of American genre painting, a room of dishes (if you're into that sort of thing), a collection of figure drawings, it has a modest but interesting Asian wing. There is a modern art wing with well chosen works including sculptures. It lost a star because the paintings were poorly lit to the point of many being hard to see from the glare and direction of lights weren't aimed with the direction of light done by the painter... also the docent/guards were really intimidating, practically breathing over my shoulder... but if you can ignore them, the collection and the architecture are definitely worth spending a couple hours with.
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One of the best art museums that California will probably ever see.
This is a great little museum that should enjoy a renaissance once all the construction is completed and the new wings open to the public. We went on Sunday and got to take advantage of the free admission 10 AM - 1 PM. Yay! I had enough money left over to sample the art-o-mat which is a brilliant reworking of a defunct cigarette machine into functional art work.
We got to see a ton of Theibauds, walk through a mirrored/glass/iron house, and get a view of old California. Every once in a while, I started to forget that this used to be someone's (beautiful!) house. Then, I would come across the family portraits and china collections and remember again. This place offers a terrific mixture of the personal and the historical.
FUN TID BITS:
* In the current exhibit of Robert Cremean's work, the male model (that all of the male nudes seem to be based upon) bears a striking resemblance to Alfred Hitchcock. This is not to say that his work is Hitchcockian. It is not. But, if you have been itching to see The Hitch laid out bare, this is the place to do it.
* The "woman" in Maes' Portrait of a Woman is a dude -- I swear! Check it out for yourself. True, dude looks like a lady. But, if art historians dig in to the model's past, I bet they will discover that the lady is really a gentelman in drag.
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I have been to the crocker art museum a bizillion times. although i always went to the museum when I was a young, naive student and I was forced to go. A couple of years ago, I went on my own and I realized how amazing this museum is. It is very diverse in the themes of artwork while at the same time very educational. If you like art and small museums, you should definitely check this one out! I really enjoy going especially when they have special themes. Now that I have experienced other art museums, I have realized that this one is quite unique and interesting even though it is tiny compared to most!
Check out art for free on Sundays. Free admission from 1000 to 1300 for you frugal minded souls like myself. Kick ass art to eyeball for free?..'nuff said.
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When I announce to my toddlers we're going to the Crocker, they yell "Yay!" and "Art! Art! Art!" (While doing a seal imitation, including clapping flappers. Goofballs.)
My kids have been coming here since they were infants. I love how Crocker has made an effort to make kids feel at home. Before every visit I go over the ground rules: Do not touch other people's art unless they specifically say you can; use your inside voice; no running, etc.
Time after time, we have enjoyed Crocker's Youth & Family programs. http://www.crockerartm... The majority of our time has been spent downstairs where they have worked with all kinds of art media and attended puppet shows.
Another family favorite is the art-o-mat near the stairwell: a refurbished cigarette vending machine stocked with small art from all over the country for $5. http://www.artomat.org/ You never quite know what you're going to get.
Children 6 and under get free admission. (Thanks to Marisa L. for the reminder regarding free admission on Sundays between 10 AM and 1 PM!) Free passes are also occasionally available and there are Free Museum Days annually.
When my kids were babies, I carried them throughout the museum and had them identify animals, shapes, and colors. Start your kids' love affair with art early. This is a terrific place to begin.
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Sacramento's realiable home for classic art - good for everywoman and everyman - I enjoy at least one exhibition a year, usually with my Manhattan auntie, just to touch base. Sure, it's no MOMA, but it fits Sacramento. It's honest Sacramento. I've also tried the Thursday jazz nites - fun to people watch in a different venue, eh?
See what we have to look forward to in September (from the website):
Grandma Moses: Grandmother to the Nation
September 8, 2007 - January 6, 2008
Anna Mary Robertson (Grandma) Moses' (1860-1961) attainment of that peculiar, yet vaunted status of cultural icon is extraordinary in American art. Raised on an upstate New York farm, she was a traditional daughter, wife, mother, homemaker and grandmother who at age 76 tried painting after arthritis made needlework painful. Her passion for painting came late in life, but she dedicated herself to it, creating more than 1,500 paintings before her death at age 101.
Distinguished by idyllic rural subjects, Moses' style is immediately recognized; her charming themes illustrate the American ideal of prosperity and happiness rooted in an agrarian society. Yet, she might have remained only a locally known folk artist but for the discovery of her work by a vacationing New York gallery owner in 1938. Suddenly, with her first New York exhibitions, Moses was a household name. She became a media-darling, adored by millions of Americans.
Featuring the work of America's most celebrated folk artist, this exhibition is an innovative and much overdue retrospective, highlighting unique perspectives on Grandma Moses by placing her art in the context of transition between the Great Depression and World War II, as well as the prosperity and domesticity of the 1950s. For the first time, her signature works are placed alongside those rarely seen, supplemented by an additional selection of the artist's personal artifacts.
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The Crocker is the oldest Art museum west of the Mississippi.
I write that thinking I probably need to cite something, but when I google, I get "oldest art museum in the Western United States" and "One of the oldest art museums", so probably it is.
UPDATED: Mildred Kemper is the oldest museum west of the Mississippi. That sentence was updated in the months since I wrote this review! All the googles of Crocker + oldest will give you
The oldest art museum in the American West. Which sounds even cooler...
I always liked the Crocker. Some of my fondest memories from field trips occurred there, as well as some raucus games of Red Rover in the park across from it.
In addition, one of my ancestors, Fortunato Arreola, is often featured in the California Room (the gallery above the ball room.) He was born in Vera Cruz, Mexico to a Spanish family, and he ran away and married a Mexican Indian woman named Isabella. She had 11 children, 3 survived, one was my great-great-grandma. So. It's neat to go there and see his self portrait and his works that span from the Mexican Volcanoes to the Santa Barbara Coastline and beyond. He was well traveled on the California Coast apparently.
I seriously do not know how many people can trace their ancestry back that far unless they are Mormon, and even then, how many of those were artistes? I thought so. Crocker Rocks.
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I went to see the "Dark Metropolis" exhibit showcasing the paintings of Irving Norman, who lived from 1906 to 1989. This is a wonderful collection of dark, social surrealism! I am astonished that a mainstream museum would be discerning enough to to take the chance.
This is NOT what you'd expect to see in this city.
The artist, Irving Norman, spent time as a volunteer in an American brigade in the Spanish Civil War fighting against Franco. He returned after the war with a wealth of images and impressions about war and industrialism and the urban environment....and their effect on people & society He was frustrated by the lack of artistic skills that he possessed, for they did not allow him to bring forth the images onto canvas. So, he enrolled in an art institute in San Francisco and got the technical skills that he needed to to express his art.
The skill in the painting technique and the mind-jarring compositions are a must see for anyone not averse to stark, disturbing ideas and images. There is plenty here to fill your brain with meditations on urban life.
Exhibits like this give me hope for the cultural future of Sacramento.
The museum stays open until 9PM on Thursday nights for their various music receptions(some nights, it's jazz & classical). The ballroom is usually the locale for these concerts. The wood floor there is beautiful! It'd be nice if they actually held a ball at the Crocker.
It's nice to be able to go in the evening to enjoy the art.
The "Dark Metropolis" exhibit will be there until January 7th, 2007.
http://www.crockerartm...
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clean, air conditioned, beautiful architecture. not the most impressive pieces but i liked their modern works and 5 stars b/c it's free on sunday mornings!
under construction so we're looking forward to what comes next!
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This is essentially the Sacramento region's only art museum. Yes, a region with 2 million people has just one art museum. There are some very nice early California paintings here (and the Nahl paintings are his masterpieces) but, on the whole, this collection needs the attention of Sacramento's billionaires. The quality of the old master paintings is low (although the drawings this museum owns are supposed to be quite good), and the few other things in the museum are also not of very high quality. I think the expansion of the Crocker may give the museum a chance to increase its presence in the city; maybe it will encourage the city's residents to collect art and donate it the museum. But, sadly, the exhibitions here are fairly dull and don't suggest that the museum's board is very serious about art. Maybe the next generation will be different.
Really really excellent. Sacramento is a relatively culturally bland city, so I was very very surprised to find such a great museum in downtown Sacramento.
It's housed in a lovely historic mansion and has some lovely works by several California and international important artists. What I love about the museum is how tastefully it is curated. It's not quite too pretty to be saccharine or cute, but there is a lovely flow about how the pieces are arranged. The taste of the curatorial staff is some of the best I've seen. (Note: I haven't been in at least 2 years, but this is how it was for at least the 5 straight years I went regularly).
I was there last night 11/16/06 for their Thursday Jazz series to see my friend Sony Holland http://www.sonyholland... as her band was performing. Due to the weather the even was held inside. The performance was fabulous and resulted in a standing ovation which was pretty cool. The capacity of the room is anywhere from about three to four hundred people and it's basically a party setting. There are those who attend specifically for the jazz show and those who attend the mixer. There is also food and wine served during the musical sets. The building itself with it's elaborate architecture and some fantastic art is very appealing and perfect with the setting. Due to the party atmosphere it tends to be a bit loud however alot of fun. I live in San Francisco but would definitely make the trip again for the show. It's located right in the downtown area of Sacto. A must see so check it out.
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It seems like this is the only art museum in Sacto. Parking can be a bit of a problem but it's worth it to visit this place. I love the Victorian style of the building, the large staircases, the wrought iron fence, and the ornate appliqus inside. It's not very antique in the actual galleries however; they have lots of clean white walls and spotless wood floors. They have a variety of art, which include sculptures, paintings, textiles and glass works. My favorites are their landscapes in oils. They also get some intriguing modern pieces too; they are very adventurous when it comes to their modern art exhibits. I went there during there during their Day of the Dead exhibit, which was a fun and startling experience. They have a culturally diverse exhibit every year. Admission is free on Sundays 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM which is great! I used to stroll through this place quiet frequently as a broke college student. They also have some wonderful art programs for children. Check out their website for more details.
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