View source for Buffalo AKG Art Museum

{{Short description|Art museum in New York, US}}
{{Infobox museum
| name            = Buffalo AKG Art Museum
| former_names    = Albright–Knox Art Gallery (1962–2022?)<br/>Albright Art Gallery (1905–1962)
| image           =
| caption         = Museum expansion, 2023
| mapframe        = yes
| mapframe-caption = Interactive fullscreen map
| mapframe-zoom   = 10
| mapframe-marker = museum
| mapframe-wikidata = yes
| established     = {{Start date|1905|05|31}}
| location        = 1285 Elmwood Avenue, [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]], [[New York (state)|New York]]
| type            = [[Art museum]]
| website         = {{URL|https://www.buffaloakg.org/}}
| coordinates     = {{coord|42.93245|-78.87563|type:landmark_region:US-NY|format=dms|display=it}}
| director        = [[Janne Sirén]]
| parking         = Underground
| architect       = [[Augustus St. Gaudens|Augustus Saint Gaudens]], [[Edward Brodhead Green]]<ref name=nrhp>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/NY/Erie/state.html|title=National Register of Historical Places - New York (NY), Erie County|date=2007-02-24|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service}}</ref>
| embedded        = {{Infobox historic site
| embed                = yes
| designation1         = NRHP
| designation1_date    = May 27, 1971
| designation1_number  = 71000538<ref name=nrhp/>
}}
}}
[[File:2024.10.10 AKGCampusExteriorDronePhotos-1001.jpg|thumb|Aerial view of the Buffalo AKG Art Museum]]
The '''Buffalo AKG Art Museum''', formerly known as the '''Albright–Knox Art Gallery''', is an [[art museum]] in [[Buffalo, New York]], United States, in [[Delaware Park-Front Park System|Delaware Park]]. The museum was expanded beginning in 2021, and re-opened in June 2023.<ref name="AKG-About-Building">{{cite web |title=Building the Buffalo AKG Art Museum |url=https://buffaloakg.org/about/building-buffalo-akg-art-museum |website=Buffalo AKG Art Museum |access-date=2023-06-16}}</ref>
The museum is a major showplace for [[modern art]] and [[contemporary art]]. It is directly opposite [[Buffalo State University]] and the [[Burchfield Penney Art Center]].
It is named after three major donors, [[John J. Albright]],<ref name="Albright"/> [[Seymour H. Knox II]], and [[Jeffrey Gundlach]].<ref name="Pogrebin"/>
[[File:2024.08.02 FirstFridayPhotos-1005.jpg|thumb|An interior gallery of the Wilmers Building]]
==History==
The parent organization of the Buffalo AKG Art Museum is the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, founded in 1862, one of the oldest public arts institutions in the United States.<ref name="AKG-Hist">{{Cite web|url=https://www.albrightknox.org/about/our-history|title=Our History {{!}} Albright-Knox|website=www.albrightknox.org|access-date=2019-01-28}}</ref> On January 15, 1900, Buffalo entrepreneur and philanthropist [[John J. Albright]], a wealthy [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]] industrialist, donated funds to the Academy to begin construction of an art gallery.<ref name="Albright">{{Cite web|url=https://www.albrightknox.org/person/john-j-albright|title=John J. Albright {{!}} Albright-Knox|website=www.albrightknox.org|access-date=2019-01-28}}</ref> The building was designed by prominent local architect [[Edward Brodhead Green]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.albrightknox.org/person/edward-b-green|title=Edward B. Green {{!}} Albright-Knox|website=www.albrightknox.org|access-date=2019-01-28}}</ref> It was originally intended to be used as the Fine Arts Pavilion for the [[Pan-American Exposition]] in 1901, but delays in its construction caused it to remain uncompleted until 1905.<ref name="AKG-Hist"/> When it finally opened its doors on May 31, 1905, it was named the Albright Art Gallery.<ref name="AKG-Hist"/>
Clifton Hall, the third building on the museum's campus, was constructed in 1920 as the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences. In 1927, the dilapidated building was renovated until 1929, when it was reopened as the Albright Art School. The sponsor was Charles Clifton, which is why the building was named Clifton Hall.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://buffaloakg.org/timelines/campus-history-timeline |title=Campus History Timeline |website=Buffalo AKG-Museum |access-date=2023-07-21}}</ref>
In 1962, a new addition was made to the gallery through the contributions of [[Seymour H. Knox II|Seymour H. Knox, Jr.]] and his family, and many other donors. At this time, the museum was renamed the Albright–Knox Art Gallery. The new building was designed by [[Skidmore, Owings and Merrill]] architect [[Gordon Bunshaft]], who is noted for the [[Lever House]] in New York City. The Buffalo AKG Art Museum is listed in the [[National Register of Historic Places]].
The museum first began discussing a possible expansion in 2001. In 2012, the board commissioned the architectural firm [[Snøhetta]] to produce a master plan for future growth.<ref name="theartnewspaper.com">Julia Halperin (October 22, 2014), [http://theartnewspaper.com/articles/Buffalos-jewelbox-art-museum-to-grow/36033 Buffalo's jewel-box art museum to grow] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141023233304/http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/Buffalos-jewelbox-art-museum-to-grow/36033 |date=2014-10-23 }} ''[[The Buffalo News]]''.</ref> In 2014, the board voted to initiate a museum expansion and, in June 2016, the museum announced its selection of [[Office for Metropolitan Architecture|OMA]] partner Shohei Shigematsu as the architect for the project.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.archdaily.com/789016/oma-selected-for-buffalos-albright-knox-art-gallery-expansion|title=OMA Selected for Buffalo's Albright-Knox Art Gallery Expansion|date=2016-06-07|website=ArchDaily|language=en-US|access-date=2020-03-15}}</ref> It is the first art museum designed by this association of architects in the United States.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://buffaloakg.org/building-buffalo-akg-art-museum/project-partners/omashohei-shigematsu |title=OMA/Shohei Shigematsu |website=buffaloakg.org |access-date=2023-07-22}}</ref> [[DoubleLine Capital|Doubleline]] CEO and Buffalo native [[Jeffrey Gundlach]] pledged $42.5 million to the project, while businesses, foundations, government groups, and individuals promised matching funds toward a $125 million goal.<ref name="Pogrebin"/> Another 20 million came from [[New York (state)|New York State]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Sheets |first=Hilarie M. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/21/arts/design/buffalo-museum-renamed-albright-knox.html |title=New York Times Buffalo Museum to Reopen in May |website=[[The New York Times]] |date=2022-11-21 |access-date=2023-07-23}}</ref> In recognition of Gundlach's donation, a newly constructed building was named the Jeffrey E. Gundlach Building.<ref name="Katie">{{cite web |last=White |first=Katie |url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/buffalo-akg-art-museum-2323983 |title=Buffalo AKG Art Museum Has Cut the Ribbon on a Major Overhaul—Guided by Major Input From Its Community |website=art.net.com |date=2023-06-23 |access-date=2023-07-21}}</ref> The museum would be renamed the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, representing the names of the museum's historical donors, on the completion of the renovations and its reopening in spring 2023.
The Seymour H. Knox Building, until its renovation, had an open courtyard that was not accessible to museum visitors. As part of the redesign of the terrain, a new artwork was created by artists [[Ólafur Elíasson]] and [[Studio Other Spaces|Sebastian Behmann]], ''Common Sky,'' which now encloses this courtyard: "At once architectural and sculptural, ''Common Sky'' presents a canopy of glass and mirrors rendered in alternating triangular segments that allow the light to pour into the space below. Visitors can look up and see themselves reflected in the mirrors too, creating a synergistic and kaleidoscopic pushing and pulling of reflections and space. ''Common Sky''’s form tapers into the courtyard itself, with a cyclone-shaped column that leads to a complex system of drains below. This asymmetrical element nods both to the location of a lone [[Crataegus monogyna|hawthorn tree]] planted in the original courtyard in the 1960s, while simultaneously serving as a drainage system of rain and snow that Buffalo is famed for."<ref name="Katie"/> The resulting {{convert|6,000|sqft}} community gathering space was given the name "Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Town Square" in honor of the $11 million donation of [[Ralph Wilson|Ralph C. Wilson, Jr.]] and the Wilson Foundation for the renovation.<ref>{{cite web |author=queenseyes |url=https://www.buffalorising.com/2023/04/ralph-c-wilson-jr-town-square-buffalo-akg-art-museum |title=Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Town Square @ Buffalo AKG Art Museum |website=buffalorising.com |date=2023-04-10 |access-date=2023-07-22}}</ref>
Clifton Hall houses, among other things, the museum's archives,<ref>{{cite web |last=Randall |first=Mike |url=https://www.wkbw.com/news/local-news/as-buffalo-akg-art-museum-prepares-for-the-future-she-is-the-caretaker-of-their-past |title=As Buffalo AKG Art Museum prepares for the future, she is the caretaker of their past |website=wkbw.com |date=2023-06-12 |access-date=2023-07-21}}</ref> offices for the staff as well as the "F. Paul Norton and Frederic P. Norton Family Prints And Drawings Study Center", and working spaces for the Public Art Initiative.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://buffaloakg.org/about/our-history |title=Buffalo AKG-Museum: Our Collection |website=buffaloakg.org |access-date=2023-07-21}}</ref>
The Seymour H. Knox Building now includes rooms where visitors can participate in art workshops themselves, the so-called Creative Commons, which represents the first cooperation of the [[The Lego Group|Lego Foundation]] with a museum.<ref name="Katie"/><ref>{{cite web |last=Dixon |first=Delaina |url=https://www.ebony.com/new-communal-space-buffalo-akg-art-museum |title=How New Communal Space at the Buffalo AKG Art Museum Hopes To Help Eradicate The City's Racial Divide |website=ebony.com |date=2023-07-21 |access-date=2023-07-22}}</ref> Likewise, it houses the Cornelia restaurant, which features an almost {{convert|30|ft|m|adj=mid|-high}} glass mosaic by artist [[Firelei Báez]].<ref name="Katie"/>
The Jeffrey E. Gundlach Building, a circular glass building, opened in August of 2023 and added more than {{convert|50,000|sqft}} to the museum's exhibition and five studio classrooms.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jeffrey E. Gundlach Building at Buffalo AKG Art Museum opens |url=https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/buffalo/news/2023/08/03/jeffrey-e--gundlach-building-at-buffalo-akg-art-museum-opens |access-date=2023-11-27 |website=spectrumlocalnews.com |language=en}}</ref> The first floor of the building houses the Nordic Gallery, dedicated to contemporary [[Scandinavia|Scandinavian]] art.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Blackley Glynn |first=Michelle |date=June 23, 2023 |title='The people's art': Newly shaped AKG opens in Buffalo |url=https://www.wnypapers.com/news/article/featured/2023/06/23/156100/the-peoples-art-newly-shaped-akg-opens-in-buffalo |access-date=2023-11-27 |website=Niagara Frontier Publications}}</ref> The third floor of the building showcases the museum's new acquisitions.<ref name="Katie"/>
The museum is part of the Monuments Men and Women Museum Network, launched in 2021 by the [[Monuments Men Foundation for the Preservation of Art]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-06-17|title=A New Museum Network Is Focusing On the Monuments Men's Long-Overlooked Postwar Cultural Contributions|url=https://news.artnet.com/buyers-guide/monuments-men-women-network-1981321|access-date=2021-07-07|website=Artnet News|language=en-US}}</ref>
In November 2023, a unionization campaign was launched by museum employees across the visitor experience, facilities, and food services departments, with employees filing a petition for the election with the [[National Labor Relations Board]] in January 2024. 71 employees are set to vote on January 25, 2024  on whether to join AKG Workers United. This vote follows AKG Workers United filing unfair labor practice charges against the museum, accusing its leadership of "heightening surveillance of employees and re-enforcing workplace rules in direct response to unionization efforts." Museum officials have denied these allegations and have stated: "Regardless of the decision, we are committed to continuing to work collaboratively to support all of our Buffalo AKG team.”<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/buffalo-akg-art-museum-employees-set-unionization-vote-1234692833/|author=Tessa Solomon|date=January 12, 2024|title=Buffalo AKG Art Museum Employees Set to Vote on Unionizing|work=ART News}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://buffalonews.com/news/local/buffalo-akg-workers-unionizing-jeffrey-gundlach/article_a733237c-b08f-11ee-ad62-6769fe955c64.html|author=Matt Glynn|date=January 12, 2024|title=Buffalo AKG Art Museum workers set to vote on unionizing|work=Buffalo News}}</ref>
==Exhibitions==
In 1910, the museum hosted the International Exhibition of Pictorial Photography (November 3–December 1, 1910), curated by [[Alfred Stieglitz]]. It was the first ever show organized by an American museum that aimed to elevate photography's stature to that of a fine art.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://buffaloakg.org/art/exhibitions/international-exhibition-pictorial-photography | title=International Exhibition of Pictorial Photography &#124; Buffalo AKG Art Museum }}</ref>
In 1978, the museum's exhibition on the work of [[Richard Diebenkorn]] was chosen to represent the United States at the 28th [[Venice Biennale]]. In 1988, the museum again won the competition to organize the exhibition representing the United States in Venice; the museum's curator Michael G. Auping proposed media artist [[Jenny Holzer]].<ref>Michael Brenson (July 27, 1988), [https://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/27/arts/media-artist-named-to-represent-us-at-90-venice-biennale.html Media Artist Named To Represent U.S. At '90 Venice Biennale] ''[[The New York Times]]''.</ref>
==Collection==
[[File:2024.08.02 FirstFridayPhotos-1011.jpg|thumb|An interior gallery of the Wilmers Building]]
The Buffalo AKG Art Museum has long operated not by collecting artists' work in depth, but by trying to acquire key works.<ref name="nytimes.com">Randy Kennedy (March 14, 2007), [https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/14/arts/design/14albr.html Buffalo's Pain: Giving Up Old Art to Gain New] ''The New York Times''.</ref>  The gallery's collection includes works spanning [[Impressionism|Impressionistic]] and [[Impressionism|Post-Impressionistic]] styles by artists of the nineteenth century such as [[Paul Gauguin]], [[Edgar Degas]], [[Berthe Morisot]], [[Claude Monet]], and [[Vincent van Gogh]].
Revolutionary styles from the early twentieth century such as [[abstract art|abstraction]], [[cubism]], [[surrealism]], and [[Constructivism (art)|constructivism]] are represented in works by artists like [[Pablo Picasso]], [[Georges Braque]], [[Jean Metzinger]], [[Albert Gleizes]], [[Henri Matisse]], [[André Derain]], [[Joan Miró]], [[Piet Mondrian]], [[Giacomo Balla]], [[Sonia Delaunay]], [[Georgia O'Keeffe]], [[Amedeo Modigliani]], and [[Alexander Rodchenko]]. [[Frida Kahlo]] is represented by ''[[Self-Portrait with Monkey]]''.
Because of Seymour H. Knox and Gordon M. Smith, a former director, the Albright-Knox was one of the first museums to collect Abstract Expressionism in depth.<ref>Michael Brenson (October 18, 1987), [https://www.nytimes.com/1987/10/18/arts/art-view-when-america-put-its-stamp-on-world-painting.html When America Put Its Stamp On World Painting] ''The New York Times''.</ref> That movement is widely represented in the collection with works by artists including [[Arshile Gorky]], [[Jackson Pollock]], [[Joan Mitchell]], [[Franz Kline]], [[Robert Motherwell]], [[Adolph Gottlieb]], and [[Helen Frankenthaler]]. The museum owns the second-largest collection of paintings by [[Clyfford Still]]: 33 abstract works that span the most critical developments of his career from 1937 to 1963. They include 31 paintings donated to the museum in 1964 by Still and two paintings acquired in 1957 and 1959 as gifts of Seymour H. Knox, Jr.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://buffaloakg.org/art/collection/major-gifts-collection/clyfford-still-collection | title=Clyfford Still Collection &#124; Buffalo AKG Art Museum }}</ref>
Additionally, the gallery is rich in further examples of [[Contemporary art|post-war]] American and [[European art]].<ref>"History of Albright-Knox Art Gallery", [http://www.albrightknox.org/GenInfo/history.html Albrightknox.org] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081218221217/http://www.albrightknox.org/GenInfo/history.html |date=2008-12-18 }}, 23 September 2008</ref> Works of [[pop art]], [[minimalism]], and art of the 1970s through the end of the twentieth century can be found represented by artists such as [[Lee Bontecou]], [[Chryssa]], [[Alberto Giacometti]], [[Eva Hesse]], [[Robert Rauschenberg]], [[Jasper Johns]], [[Howardena Pindell]], [[Edward Clark (artist)|Ed Clark]], [[Kiki Smith]], [[Félix González-Torres]], and [[Andy Warhol]].
At her death in 2016 pop artist [[Marisol Escobar|Marisol]] left her estate to the museum including hundreds of works of art, making it the largest collection of her work in the world.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/25/arts/design/marisol-estate-is-given-to-the-albright-knox-art-gallery.html | title=Marisol Estate is Given to the Albright-Knox Art Gallery | work=The New York Times | date=25 April 2017 | last1=Bowley | first1=Graham }}</ref>
Their contemporary collection includes pieces by artists such as [[Cory Arcangel]], [[Tony Conrad]], [[Mark Bradford]], [[Nick_Cave_(artist)|Nick Cave]], [[Simone Leigh]], [[Georg Baselitz]], [[John Connell (artist)|John Connell]], and [[Per Kirkeby]]. The museum bought [[Anselm Kiefer]]'s large-scale ''Die Milchstrasse (The Milkyway)'' (1985–1987) in 1988 to celebrate its 125th anniversary.<ref>Colin Dabkowski (August 24, 2013), [http://www.buffalonews.com/life-arts/albright-knox-buys-mammoth-painting-by-german-artist-anselm-kiefer-20130824 Albright-Knox buys mammoth painting by German artist Anselm Kiefer] ''[[The Buffalo News]]''.</ref>
Before its 2019-2023 expansion, the Buffalo AKG Art Museum exhibition space could accommodate only 200 works — just 3% of its 6,740-piece collection.<ref name="theartnewspaper.com"/>
==Selected collection highlights==
===Paintings===
{{gallery <!--landscape-->
|width=180 <!--max-->
|height=150 <!--max-->
|mode=packed <!--use 100%-->
|File:Eakins, Music 1904.jpg|[[Thomas Eakins]], ''Music'', 1904
|File:Paul Gauguin- Manao tupapau (The Spirit of the Dead Keep Watch).JPG|[[Paul Gauguin]], ''[[Spirit of the Dead Watching]]'', 1892
|File:Albert Gleizes, 1913, L'Homme au hamac, oil on canvas, 130 x 155.5 cm. Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York.jpg|[[Albert Gleizes]], ''[[Man in a Hammock|L'Homme au Hamac (Man in a Hammock)]]'', 1913
|File:William Hogarth - The Lady's last stake, c.1759.jpg|[[William Hogarth]], ''[[The Lady's Last Stake]]'', 1759
|File:Winslow Homer - Croquet Players.jpg|[[Winslow Homer]], ''Croquet Players'', 1865
|File:Jean Metzinger, 1912, Danseuse au café, Dancer in a café, oil on canvas, 146.1 x 114.3 cm, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York.jpg|[[Jean Metzinger]], ''Danseuse au café'' (''[[Dancer in a café]]''), 1912
|File:Pierre-Auguste Renoir 056.jpg|[[Pierre-Auguste Renoir]], ''Small Nude in Blue'', 1879
|File:Joshua Reynolds - Cupid as Link Boy.jpg|[[Joshua Reynolds]] ''Cupid as Link Boy'', c. 1771-1777
|File:Henri Rousseau - Bouquet of Flowers with an Ivy Branch.jpg|[[Henri Rousseau]], ''Bouquet of Flowers with an Ivy Branch,'' 1909
|File:Alfred Sisley - Rue de village à Marlotte, 1866.jpg|[[Alfred Sisley]], ''Village Street in Marlotte'', 1866
|File:Vincent van Gogh - La Maison de la Crau.jpg|[[Vincent van Gogh]], ''La Maison de la Crau'' (''The Old Mill''), 1888
}}
{{gallery <!--portrait-->
|width=150 <!--max-->
|height=180 <!--max-->
|mode=packed <!--use 100%-->
|File:Honoré Daumier - Laundress on the Quai d'Anjou - WGA05958.jpg|[[Honoré Daumier]], ''Laundress on the Quai d'Anjou'', c. 1860
|File:Jacques-Louis David - Portrait of Jacques-François Desmaisons - WGA06048.jpg|[[Jacques-Louis David]], ''Portrait of Jacques-François Desmaisons,'' 1782
|File:Delaunay Soleil Tor Aeroplane 1913.jpg|[[Robert Delaunay]], ''Soleil, Tour, Aéroplane'' (''Sun, Tower, Airplane''), 1913
|File:Thomas Gainsborough - Portrait of Miss Evans.jpg|[[Thomas Gainsborough]], ''Portrait of Miss Evans,'' c. 1786-1790
|File:Gauguin Il Cristo giallo.jpg|[[Paul Gauguin]], ''[[The Yellow Christ]]'', 1889
}}
The Buffalo AKG Art Museum has more than 6,500 works in its collection, below is a list highlighting a few other notable works:<ref name="Collection Highlights">{{cite web | url=http://www.albrightknox.org/collection/collection-highlights/ | title=Collection Highlights | publisher=Albright-Knox Art Gallery | access-date=April 6, 2012}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin:1px; border:1px solid #ccc;"
|-  style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; background:#ccc;"
!Name
!Artist
!Year
!Notes
|-  style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; background:#f8f8ff;"
| ''Hotel Lobby'' || [[Max Beckmann]] || 1950 ||
|-  style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; background:#f8f8ff;"
| ''Music and Literature'' || [[William Michael Harnett]] || 1878 ||
|-  style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; background:#f8f8ff;"
| ''La Maison de la Crau (The Old Mill)'' || [[Vincent van Gogh]] || 1888 ||
|-  style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; background:#f8f8ff;"
| ''La Jeune bonne (The Servant Girl)'' || [[Amedeo Modigliani]] || 1918 ||
|-  style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; background:#f8f8ff;"
| ''Self-Portrait with Monkey'' || [[Frida Kahlo]] || 1938 ||
|-  style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; background:#f8f8ff;"
| ''Nude Figure'' || [[Pablo Picasso]] || 1909-1910 ||
|-  style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; background:#f8f8ff;"
| ''La Toilette'' || [[Pablo Picasso]] || 1906 ||
|-  style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; background:#f8f8ff;"
| ''Chemin de haulage à Argenteuil (Tow path at Argenteuil)'' || [[Claude Monet]] || 1875 ||
|-  style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; background:#f8f8ff;"
| ''Convergence'' || [[Jackson Pollock]] || 1952 ||
|-  style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; background:#f8f8ff;"
| ''Icarus'' || [[Richard Hunt (sculptor)|Richard Hunt]] || 1956 ||
|-  style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; background:#f8f8ff;"
| ''Orange and Yellow'' || [[Mark Rothko]] || 1956 ||
|-  style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; background:#f8f8ff;"
| ''Winter Light'' || [[Norman Carton]] || 1956 ||
|-  style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; background:#f8f8ff;"
| ''Cow'' || [[Andy Warhol]] || 1976 ||
|}
===Sculptures===
The gallery contains a variety of sculptures on the exterior grounds. Some of the most notable, from the past and the present, include:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin:1px; border:1px solid #ccc;"
|-  style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; background:#ccc;"
!Name
!Artist
!Year
!Image
|-  style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; background:#f8f8ff;"
| ''Alphabet Series'' || [[Fletcher Benton]] || N/A ||
|-  style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; background:#f8f8ff;"
| ''Big Red'' || [[James Rosati]] || 1971 ||
|-  style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; background:#f8f8ff;"
| ''Bond'' || [[Alexander Liberman]] || 1969 ||
|-  style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; background:#f8f8ff;"
| ''Stainless Steel, Aluminum, Monochrome I, Built to Live Anywhere, at Home Here'' || [[Nancy Rubins]] || 2011 ||
|-  style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; background:#f8f8ff;"
| ''Cigarette'' || [[Tony Smith (sculptor)|Tony Smith]] || 1961 ||
|-  style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; background:#f8f8ff;"
| ''Diamond I of III'' || [[Antoni Milkowski]] || 1967 ||
|-  style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; background:#f8f8ff;"
| ''Directional I'' || [[Lyman Kipp]] || 1962 ||
|-  style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; background:#f8f8ff;"
| ''Karma'' || [[Do-Ho Suh]] || 2010 ||
|-  style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; background:#f8f8ff;"
| ''E.C. Column'' || [[Kenneth Snelson]] || 1969–81 ||
|-  style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; background:#f8f8ff;"
| ''Flat Rate II'' || [[Lyman Kipp]] || 1969 ||
|-  style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; background:#f8f8ff;"
| ''Four Chances'' || [[Kenneth Snelson]] || 1982 ||
|-  style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; background:#f8f8ff;"
| ''Into the Blue'' || [[Shayne Dark]] || 2005 ||
|-  style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; background:#f8f8ff;"
| ''Laura'' || [[Jaume Plensa]]|| 2012 ||
|-  style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; background:#f8f8ff;"
| ''Look and See'' || [[Jim Hodges (artist)|Jim Hodges]]|| 2005 ||
|-  style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; background:#f8f8ff;"
| ''Shark Girl'' || [[Casey Riordan Millard]] || 2014 ||
|-  style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; background:#f8f8ff;"
| ''Stacked Revision Structure'' || [[Liam Gillick]] || 2005 ||
|-  style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; background:#f8f8ff;"
| ''The Cry'' || [[Isamu Noguchi]]|| 1962 ||
|-  style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; background:#f8f8ff;"
| ''Turning the World Upside Down #4'' || [[Anish Kapoor]] || 1998 ||
|}
==Deaccessioning and the museum's mission==
[[File:Artemis Met Museum.jpg|thumb|upright|''[[Artemis and the Stag]]'', on display at the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]]]]
In 2007, the Albright–Knox Art Gallery sold a Roman-era bronze sculpture, ''[[Artemis and the Stag]]'', that was auctioned at [[Sotheby's|Sotheby's New York]] on June 7, 2007, and brought $28.6 million.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090418023856/http://buffalonews.typepad.com/inside_the_news/2007/06/artemis_fetches.html "Artemis" fetches a staggering sum" ''The Buffalo News'', 7 June 2007] Accessed 3 September 2008;</ref> This was the highest price ever paid at auction for an antiquity or a sculpture of any period, according to Sotheby's. It was purchased by the London dealer [[Giuseppe Eskenazi]] on behalf of a private European collector.<ref>[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1248/is_8_95/ai_n20511369 "Albright-Knox rakes it in", ''Art In America'', September 2007].</ref>
The event brought national attention to what until then had been a local question, the mission of the Albright-Knox. In February 2007, when the list of works to be [[Collection (museum)#Deaccessioning|deaccessioned]] was made public, Albright-Knox Director Louis Grachos defined the ancient sculpture as falling outside the institution's historical "core mission" of "acquiring and exhibiting art of the present." This definition made public critics wonder whether the position at the Gallery of "[[William Hogarth]]'s ''Lady's Last Stake'' or [[Sir Joshua Reynolds]]' ''Cupid as a Link Boy'' were secure. Works by [[Gustave Courbet]], [[Honoré Daumier]], [[Jacques-Louis David]], and [[Eugène Delacroix]] had been purchased by the museum in earlier decades.<ref>[http://www.artsjournal.com/culturegrrl/2007/02/mission_creep_albrightknox_bel.html Mission Creep: Albright-Knox Belatedly Releases Its Complete Deaccession List] Lee Rosenbaum, "Mission Creep: Albright-Knox Belatedly Releases Its Complete Deaccession List" ''Arts Journal'']</ref>
The decision to deaccession certain art works was made by a vote of the museum's board of directors, was voted on and ratified by the entire membership, and followed the guidelines of the [[American Alliance of Museums]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://artvoice.com/issues/v6n8/war_against_the_albright_knox |title=The War Against the Albright-Knox |access-date=March 2, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100201064312/http://artvoice.com/issues/v6n8/war_against_the_albright_knox |archive-date=February 1, 2010 }}</ref> The sale raised questions about how museums can remain vital when they are situated in economically declining regions and have limited means for raising funds for operations and acquisitions.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.artsjournal.com/man/2007/03/reexamining_deaccessioning_at.html |title=Re-examining deaccessioning at the Albright - Modern Art Notes |access-date=March 2, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081123012835/http://www.artsjournal.com/man/2007/03/reexamining_deaccessioning_at.html |archive-date=November 23, 2008 }}</ref>
==Hours==
The museum is open from 10 am to 8 pm, Thursday and Friday, and 10 am to 5 pm, Saturday through Monday. On the first Friday of each month, admission to the museum is Pay What You Wish sponsored by [[M&T Bank]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://buffaloakg.org/hours-admission |title=Hours & Admission |publisher=Buffalo AKG Art Museum |access-date=February 6, 2024}}</ref>
==Management==
[[File:Albright-Knox Art Gallery 2.jpg|thumb|View of Albright–Knox Art Gallery from Delaware Park]]
===Governance===
Since 2013, Janne Sirén has been director of the Albright–Knox Art Gallery. Sirén is believed to be the first director from the Nordic region to take the helm of a major American art museum.<ref>Carol Vogel (January 14, 2013), [http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/14/buffalos-albright-knox-gets-a-director-from-much-farther-north/ Buffalo's Albright-Knox Gets a Director from Much Farther North] ''The New York Times''.</ref>
Complete list of directors:
* Janne Gallen-Kallela-Sirén (2013–present)
* Louis Grachos (2002-2013)
* Douglas G. Schultz (1983-2002)
* Robert T. Buck, Jr. (1973-1983)
* Gordon M. Smith (1955–1973)
* Edgar C. Schenck (1949–1955)
* [[Andrew Ritchie (art historian)|Andrew C. Ritchie]] (1942–1949)
* Gordon B. Washburn (1931–1942)
* William M. Hekking (1925–1931)
* [[Cornelia Bentley Sage Quinton]] (1910–1924)
* [[Charles McMeen Kurtz]] (1905–1909)
===Funding===
As of 2007, the Albright–Knox Art Gallery's endowment stood at about $58 million, generating about $1.1 million a year for acquisitions.<ref name="nytimes.com"/> Since the proceeds from the sale of some 200 works of art in 2007 were added to the preexisting $22 million acquisitions endowment, the museum has been able to spend as much as almost $5 million on new art annually.<ref>Kevin West (November 2007), [http://www.wmagazine.com/culture/art-and-design/2007/11/contemporary_art/ In With The New - With contemporary art booming out of control, how can museums afford to play?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116131432/http://www.wmagazine.com/culture/art-and-design/2007/11/contemporary_art/ |date=2014-01-16 }} ''[[W (magazine)|W]]''.</ref> In 2013, the Albright–Knox Art Gallery received an $11 million bequest from the estate of longtime board member and Buffalo arts patron Peggy Pierce Elfvin, the largest single gift in the museum's history at that time.<ref>Colin Dabkowski (October 9, 2013), [http://www.buffalonews.com/gusto/art/buffalos-albright-knox-receives-11-million-bequest-from-ex-board-member-peggy-pierce-elfvin-20131009 Albright-Knox gets $11 million bequest from ex-board member, Peggy Pierce Elfvin] ''[[Buffalo News]]''.</ref> In 2016, Los Angeles financier Jeffrey Gundlach contributed $42.5 million, the largest donation from a single individual in the museum's history.<ref name="Pogrebin">{{cite news |last1=Pogrebin |first1=Robin |title=Buffalo Museum, Ready to Expand, Raises Money at Breakneck Pace |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/24/arts/design/buffalo-museum-ready-to-expand-raises-money-at-breakneck-pace.html |access-date=2023-06-16 |work=The New York Times |date=23 September 2016}}</ref>
{{wide image|Albright Art Gallery 1913.jpg|1000px|Albright Art Gallery in 1913}}
==See also==
*[[John J. Albright]]
*''[[Portrait of Seymour H. Knox]]''
*[[Seymour H. Knox II]]
==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}
==External links==
{{ccat}}
* {{officialwebsite}}
* [http://www.buffaloah.com/a/elmwd/1285/alb.html Buffalo Architecture and History: Albright-Knox Art Gallery], with photos and more detailed history
*[https://artsandculture.google.com/u/0/partner/albright-knox-art-gallery?hl=en Albright–Knox Art Gallery] within [[Google Arts & Culture]]
{{National Register of Historic Places in New York}}
{{Buffalo(NY)}}
{{Culture of Buffalo, New York}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Albright-Knox Art Gallery}}
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