The Chrysler Museum of Art Unveils New Joan P. Brock Galleries

--Former 19th Century American and European Galleries Will Now Feature Over 120 Works of Art Presented in a Dramatic New Light--

This season, visitors will rediscover the distinguished beauties of the Chrysler’s early 19th-century collection inside the all new Joan P. Brock Galleries. These six newly renovated spaces, which include the neoclassical portraits of Napoleonic France to panoramic American landscapes by painters of New York’s Hudson River School, will be open for public viewing on Friday, March 21, 2008 at 10 a.m.

This year-long project, made possible by Joan P. and Macon Brock and The Henry Luce Foundation, took intense planning and an extraordinary amount of teamwork from the Chrysler’s staff. It involved a multiplicity of interrelated projects designed to enhance visitors’ understanding of 19th century art including a fresh coat of vibrant color on the walls of each gallery, fully-detailed labels, an upgraded climate control system, popular pieces, and recently restored items from the Museum’s storage.

Each gallery is organized in chronological order but is also grouped thematically including neoclassicism, American art from the Civil War, Romanticism and Barbizon paintings, and post-Civil War American Art. The new galleries will feature over 120 works of art including American masterworks by John Singleton Copley, Thomas Cole, George Caleb Bingham, and Albert Bierstadt as well as French masterpieces by Eugène Delacroix and Jean-François Millet.

Visit the Chrysler this spring and discover why the Museum’s permanent collection, ranking among the finest in the nation, still remains one of its greatest and most enduring strengths.

Guests also have the option to explore the Joan P. Brock Galleries electronically through new audio tours now available at the Museum’s information desk.

For general information, please call (757) 664-6200. For media information, please contact the Public Relations Department at (757) 333-6295 or publicrelations@chrysler.org.

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