High Museum of Art
1280 Peachtree St NE
Atlanta, GA 30309 (404) 577-6940
- Nearest Transit:
Arts Center (North-South, Northeast-South, East-West, Proctor Creek)
- Hours:
Tue-Wed 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
Thu 10:00 a.m.-8:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
Sun 12:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. - Good for Kids: Yes
23 Reviews for High Museum of Art
This museum is a great place to visit because they constantly have traveling exhibits! It's HUGE, and will take a good part of the day to see everything. No pictures allowed in most exhibits. The museum staff is friendly. If you live in the area - it's worth it to become a member (benefits include free entrance to other museums in the US).
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I like that I came on a day that was not crowded.. but I was very excited about the Louvre exhibit in Atlanta, but then was sadly disappointed by the items displayed.. I was expecting more sculptures but it was more CERAMIC PIECES.
I went to the contemporary part of the museum. I don't really appreciate contemporary art, and it verifies it today...ALot of the things on display I felt like I could do.. there were squares painted.
The museum itself had really nice people who worked there, and the fact that it was not super crowded was a PLUS! It's also nice that there is a restaurant adjacent.. good for dates and or meeting up w/ friends!
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The High Museum was one of the reasons I moved to Atlanta. Now I don't mean I moved BECAUSE the High was here, but it was one of the places that reassured me that Atlanta had the culture scene I could be apart of.
The High is a good combination of architecture/collections/and exhibits that an art museum needs to set itself apart from the pack.
If you're not an art person, I don't think the High will make you one, but if you are, you won't go wrong with the High. The Highlight (no pun intended) are the series of Louvre exhibits that are on display for the coming years. Every 6 months or so, the museum gets a new shipment of art from the Louvre, for many pieces it's the first time they've been outside of France, since that little guy Napoleon tried to take over the world.
The building is a modern work of art itself, using a lot of natural light to show off it's interior.
The permanent collection is a mix of contemporary and historic art, with a focus (it seems to me at least) on American artists.
The location could not be better, just across the street from the Arts Center MARTA station, and an easy walk to hangouts in the Arts Center area/Crescent ave area.
I could easily see this being a cool date place, especially on Thursdays (when they stay open later).
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Without knowing much about modern-day Atlanta other than CNN, Coca-Cola and the CDC, my views about the city as an uncultured, East Coast version of car-obsessed L.A. was overturned partially as a result of my visit to the High Museum.
Beyond many of the great works you'll discover at the High, the one essential reason to visit is the original building itself, designed by Richard Meier. [My last trip there was when the extension, by Renzo Piano, was under construction].
Several features of the High's exterior typify Meier's vernacular: a devotion to the color white, mix of boxy and curvy geometry, and large sheets of stone and glass.
The greatest pleasure can be found on the inside. The center atrium is a large, cavernous space that invites a seemingly endless supply of natural light inside. Walk-paths spiral upwards along the walls toward the ceiling, leading to different exhibition rooms along the way.
Many liken this part of the High to the Guggenheim in New York City, but I think the comparison is unjustified. There is a certain heaviness associated with the Guggenheim, with its use of thick slabs of concrete and diffusive lighting. The building feels like a well-designed bunker unit, closed to the outside world.
The High's interior, by contrast, has an airy, almost ethereal feel. Here, effortless flow seems to be a guiding principle, with a seamless connection between the outside and inside. Meier seems to be inspired by the same humanistic ideals that gave us the neoclassical monuments in Washington, DC, while intent on preserving a linkage to nature.
The collection spans a wide range of periods, mostly from 19th century to contemporary works. The High also features a number of great southern artists, many of whom I've never heard of. The pieces are installed in ways that promote access, contemplation and minimize confusion. You won't see wall-to-wall coverage, clutter or pairings devoid of context, as one sees in some of our better known museums (sorry, Metropolitan).
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I ended up at the High on accident, and loved it. It was a visually stunning building, with a great variety of art.
We went and saw the Louvre exhibit which was interested. IT is really bizarre to see things made in the BC days. It was very interesting.
Impressionism can be overdone, but the variety here was great. There was a great variety of Degas, Renoir, and many by my personal favorite, Manet.
There were also some interesting American furniture pieces, and a beautiful airy atrium.
The staff was helpful, friendly, and accommodating.
Go here on a free afternoon, you won't regret it.
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We went to see the louver exhibit after Thanksgiving and they had the museum open until 2am.... with all the exhibits open...cocktails.. music... dancing.. make your own beads...Dior makeovers.. cookies and milk with storytelling.. this event was fun! I will definitely look forward to making one of these events again.. not sure how often they do this though...coming from a city that had not so much of an art scene i was definitely impressed by the high... and now that I'm a card holding member I look forward to going again...
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The High Museum is a great place to visit. They do have a permanent collection, which is interesting, but they also have been getting a lot of really interesting special exhibits. It is definitely worth keeping an eye out for the special exhibits. If you can find time to go on a non-peak day, it is very pleasant to wander through this museum. I highly recommend weekday mornings. The special exhibits do tend to get very crowded, and I am sure there are plenty of people not observing proper museum etiquette, but I have honestly seen much worse at other museums in other cities around the world (it's not like the High attracts an especially "bad" crowd or anything). And, it really is a beautiful building.
The current Louvre Atlanta exhibit (the second one) is very interesting. It focuses on the Louvre's antiquities collections including Roman, Greek, Asian and Egyptian art. A helpful audio guide is included with your museum entrance. I like this second installment much better than the first.
I recently attended Friday Jazz at the High for the first time. It was pretty fun and I was amazed at how many people were there. We had drinks, which were good and strong, and also food, which was a pleasant surprise - a nice cheese and fruit plate, cheese tortellini and mashed potatoes (we were in the mood for carbs but they did have other things) . The food was not exactly cheap but it was good. I would go again to Friday Jazz.
While I agree that the High Museum does not have a permanent collection that is as impressive as many museums in other larger cities, I do really like the High Museum. They certainly are improving all the time and are making a tremendous effort to do so. I feel a little compelled to defend the High in its comparisons to the Getty Center in LA. I happen to also love the Getty and have been there more times that I can count. While I know that both museums were designed by Richard Meier, it is a bit unfair to compare the High to the Getty. The Getty is perched on a hilltop in Malibu overlooking the Pacific Ocean and it has the largest endowment of any museum in the world - it's tough to keep up with that!
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It's too bad that I couldn't enjoy this museum because I really wanted to.
My experience at the museum was ok but not great because they had so many people checking out Leibovitz that they were all crowed around the exhibits blocking my view. I like to stand back and take it all in, but when I stood back, it left a lot of room for everyone else to crowd in front of me in the way of my view. I'm not sure why they don't have a limit on the number of people that they let in at one time. I understand that they want to make money and attract patrons, but it was something like a weekend trip to Costco. I have waited in lines outside of museums before - it's ok to do.
Anywayssssss.....I ventured away from the crowds because I could feel the temperature of my blood rising and I didn't want to see myself get rude. People had like a zero museum etiquette level, i.e. (shouting) "MARGE, COME OVER HERE AND LOOK AT THIS ONE. OMG!! ISN'T THAT ONE GOOD?" or their kids running around my ankles pissing me off. (Who brings toddlers to a museum anyway?!?!) It was like a museum of monkey patrons and I was trying my hardest to be tolerant, but I could not. You have to wonder how a museum like that gets funding from the wealthy. They must have upper-class day when the donors come out with their manners and all others are screened at the door. Hummm. So as I was saying, I wandered down to the other collections which were good and/or boring depending on the collection, but none great like Leibovitz would have been without the masses of simian lookie-loos.
I'll give it another try next time I'm in town and update you.
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I have been visiting this museum since I was a kid. Ahhhh the grand ol' days of Spectacles down on the lower level! How I miss that exhibit!
The High has really become quite a fine museum over the years. While the Louvre exhibit is somewhat small, the fact that they were able to borrow any pieces from the Louvre at all is impressive.
The permanent collection is nothing to sneeze at either. Please, don't sneeze on the paintings. There are some really fabulous pieces in here. My all time favorite is Robert Henri's Lady in Black Velvet. I also adore The Funeral of Atala.
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This museam is one of the best in the world. I have been to so many muesuems around the world and am not bashful to speak so highly of the High here in Atlanta.
The fact that our curator is so respected and was able to make a deal with the Louve in Paris to borrow famous art works from their permanent exhibits to be rotated and featured at The High through an entire year is unheard of. I visited the Louve last year, and would come upon empty frames with notices saying that they were on tour in Atlanta. I was flambergasted by this news but so proud that Atlanta is taking a stance in becoming more than just a corporate headquarters.
My suggestion is to become a member of the High and recieve such benifits as unlimited addmission to the museum, discounts in the gift store and film series, and free admission to Friday Night Jazz, along wtih many more.
So fill your life with art, and visit the High.
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I guess I feel bad about this review that I am about to write, before I write it. Because I know what I want to say and it isn't a praising review.
The High is a beautiful building. Every time I drive by it I have to steal a glimpse and admire its stunning modern design.
But I have to say I am not impressed with the permanent collection, just like many others here, and the only reason I go here is for the exhibits, that have been pretty amazing over the last ten years I've lived in Atlanta.
What makes me sad, is I feel like Atlanta is a pretty big city, worthy of a huge museum and this is not huge. There is more space dedicated to aesthetics than to feasible areas to show art.
Maybe my disappointment stems from living in big cities like Chicago and New York that have huge museums that can take up your day, not just a few hours. I will always go here to see their great exhibits, but I pine for a huge museum to get lost in. Maybe one day...
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This museum is worth a visit. I know it's not at the level of Chicago or LA or San Francisco museums but it still has some cool elements.
Go for the contempo art wing designed by Renzo Piano. He made it feel big and airy by filling the ceiling with hundreds of skylights, letting in just enough sunlight to fill the art with warm, natural light. I liked that there were lots of recent works made in the 2000s, especially the Bertil Valliens.
The temporary exhibition on Southern folk art last year (or was it '05)? blew me away with great pieces by Howard Finster. I love art exhibitions that connect to the region because they give you a sense of the culture of the place you're in.
The rest of the High falls flat. The permanent collection sucks as permanent collections do.
Four stars to bump the average.
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This is the best location to check out famous art in Atlanta. I used to go all the time as an art student at the Atlanta College of Art, and it's always comforting to go back and visit the paintings that I remember from that period in my life. Since the remodeling, the museum is even bigger and better. There's a nice collection modern art, and there are always seasonal rotating exhibits.
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A must-see if you are in Atlanta if just to walk around the outside of the museum. The architecture is astonishing and shows obvious homage to the Guggenhiem in NY. Housed an incredible ash-can art collection on my visit. I spent too much time rolling on the ground from my brother's outrageous interpretations of various characters in paintings and how they would interact in our society--guess you had to be there.
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Sadly, this museum just doesn't do it for me. I am a museumophile and love love love museums about anything, and as Atlanta's "big art museum", this one just won't do. The permanent collections are not exciting compared to the likes of New York, Chicago, and even the San Francisco museum. The only things of excitement are the special exhibits they have going on.
The Chuck Close exhibit was the high point this summer, and The Louvre to Atlanta exhibits are a little bit more talk than substance, as it was much smaller than I expected. I haven't seen the second set yet, only the first.
As a resident of Atlanta I just don't send tourists from other big cities here, and this is just an area in which Atlanta is definitely lacking.
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I spent an afternoon alone at the High Museum. I took the guided tour w/about 15 senior citizens. It was an experience.
I worked at the Getty Museum for 7 years. The High is no Getty even though they were both designed by Richard Meir and look almost identical.
I was able to see the Louvre Atlanta exhibition which was interesting. All in all it isn't a great museum. I too would expect more from such a large city.
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I'm not a fan of Richard Meier's design for the first building, it's just a personal preference. I'm sure thousands of people love that style of building. The addition by Renzo Piano is much better, but due to its location and need to fit in with the rest of the white buildings you don't really notice it until you're in front of it.
Definitely give Jazz at the High a try. One Friday each month they stay open late with live jazz in the atrium and martini bars and food. It's $15 for your ticket to the museum for these nights, and the bar is a cash bar. It's another Atlanta date staple if you're looking for some place classy for a night out.
As far as the exhibits....the permanent collection isn't anything impressive. The current loan program with the Louvre sounded exciting, but was underwhelming when I went to see it. Most of the first round of loan items from the Louvre are sketches or studies of the paintings that are on the walls in Paris. Don't get me wrong, there are some truly amazing pieces in this loaned collection, but they are few and far between. Hopefully when the next batch of loaned art from Paris arrives it will be better.
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I enjoyed the High. It was definitely on the small side - I looked at EVERYTHING and was done in less than 2 hours - but I feel like it was worth the price of admission.
The main thing I had against it was that I went during the week and the place was overrun with kids on fieldtrips. There were at least 3 different groups of kids.
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Everyone must visit this place at least once a year for one of their special exhibits. We went to see the Folk Art Exhibit in 2006 when they also had the Southern Soul Images gallery going. The latter of the two was very wonderful to me. The photographs of Sam Cooke were absolutely wonderful. He looked so serene in his open coffin funeral while thousands and thousands of young men and women were in tears around him.
Aside from the special exhibits that are there, the museum itself is worth a visit every now and then to see the wonderful world Art in all its beauty.
Don't be shy, visit the High.
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I first visited the High to see the Chuck Close exhibit (which is a pretty cool series of self-portraits). I had been putting it off because the idea of paying $15 rubbed me the wrong way, especially coming from New York, where admission to the Met is free (with a suggested donation). But I finally bit the bullet and the experience was worth the price of admission.
The museum's soaring modern architecture is an ideal home for the various rotating collections that make their way through town. Plus the deal that the High recently signed with the Louvre promises to keep high profile pieces in the ATL for a while to come.
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As far as I can tell, this is Atlanta's only art museum, which seems a little weak for metropolitan area of 4 million people, but the High Museum of Art proudly tries to do Atlanta justice.
It's a beautiful, light-filled building, with a performing arts center across the courtyard. They have a lot of gorgeous paintings by people I've never heard of and lesser works by great artists.
The modern collection isn't worth much, and I was unimpressed by their folk art, but the early American and European holdings are fabulous if you're not trying to check masterworks off your list. They've done a good job of mixing the decorative arts of a period in with the painting and scupture, so that you get a sense for the aesthetics of an era. There is a little wing of 18th-19th century British ceramics that has some stunningly modern pieces.
The show I went to see was a collection of portraits of the Native American delegates who went to Washington in the early 19th century to try and hash out tribal land treaties. The original paintings were destroyed in a fire in the 1860s, but fortunately they had just been copied by a different painter in order to turn them into color prints.
The paintings are gorgeous portraits of a unique clash of cultures. The delegates are wearing frock coats, but in colorful calicos with luscious ruffles and beaded pouches. Some of them have European haircuts, and others wear face paint. It gets across what a strange time that must have been, and of course, knowing the history, it's easy to read all sorts of defiance, bravery and grief into their faces.
The Quilts of Gee's Bend is about to open (runs through June 2006), which I highly recommend--I saw the original show at the Whitney a few years back.
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The High Museum impresses from the outside. As an art history major in college, I had hopes of being involved with the High and visiting frequently. Upon my first visit and every visit since then, my feelings changed. The modern wing designed by Renzo Piano looks great and I did enjoy the Chuck Close exhibit this summer, there is something lacking at the High though. I get the feeling that they put much more attention on the architecture and structure of the building than the collections within. There have been some phenomenal visiting shows, no doubt. The permanent collection leaves me wanting more. It seems like there should be more in every wing, like the collections are incomplete. I'm pleased that Atlanta has a museum, however, I hope for the High to grow as an institution and welcome more museums to town to educate and amaze the millions of new Atlantans on the way in our rapidly growing city. The High also features a upscale fine dining restaurant called 1280, which is beautiful and has been getting rave reviews thanks to Chef Shaun Doty, formerly of MidCity Cuisine. The High is part of the larger Woodruff Art Center complex where a great deal of Atlanta visual and performing art is hosted.
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This is a really quality museum in the middle of Midtown. It has some great exhibits from time to time while it's main collection is something spectacukar. Some great examples of American impressionism and realism while also some great international works as well. I also love their modern stuff as well, although the postmodern stuff is a tad out there, but that is merely personal preference. The Louvre exhibit is also really cool, albeit a lttle small. Some great classic paintings coupled with some unknown ones as well. When the doors from italty were there, that had to be one of the greatest exhibits that I'd ever seen. Doors of Paradise were indeed chamazing. The only problem is that some kids just get bored here, like my two brothers, who resorted to pretending to be x-men characters because their headphones looked like cyclops' visor. That was great as well. I also love the whole rotunda thing as you can walk up or down to see the main collection.
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