Though the Wall Street Journal considers The Chrysler Museum of Art "one of the 20 top museums in the country," its origins were humble.  Its roots go back to the years after the Civil War when two Norfolk teachers founded the Leache-Wood Female Seminary.

Irene Leache and Anne Cogswell Wood traveled to Europe each summer,  returning with paintings and sculpture.  Most travelers end up with their mementos stored in the attic, but in 1901 seminary alumni took steps to find a permanent home for their teachers' collection.  This led to the establishment of the Norfolk Society of Arts in 1917.  Through the group's efforts, the city was persuaded to build a museum that opened in 1933 and was enlarged in 1967 and 1976.

The Museum's beginning

In 1971 Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., son of the founder of Chrysler Corporation, donated a large portion of his extensive and significant art collection to the Norfolk Museum thrusting it upon the world stage.  Mr. Chrysler, who began collecting art when he was quite young, purchased a Renoir landscape when he was 13.  His collection spans the continents and the centuries from classical antiquities to modern art.  A major $10 million expansion of The Chrysler Museum of Art, begun in 1985, doubled the museum's space and allowed many works heretofore in storage to be exhibited.

Don't miss these treasures

Art is subjective and visitors have their personal favorites, but certain pieces in the museum’s collection merit mentioning.  Gauguin's The Loss of Innocence has been singled out for attention by John Russell of The New York Times who also said the museum's Bust of the Savior by Bernini was "one of the greatest single works of art in the country."  Bernini was considered by his contemporaries to be Michelangelo's successor.  This bust has an interesting history.  It disappeared during the 18th century and wasn't identified as being Bernini's long-lost masterpiece until 1971.

Another museum masterpiece is the painting of Saint Philip  by Georges de La Tour.  It is one of only 30 works by this artist whose rediscovery in the 1930s has been called "the triumph of art history."  The museum has Renoir's 1882 The Daughters of Durand-Ruel, which critics call "one of the painter's most impressive" works.  Another crowd pleaser is itself a crowd scene, The Artists’ Wives by Tissot.

A house of glass

The Chrysler Museum of Art has amassed one of the world's finest glass collections.  The museum has nearly 7,000 pieces that provide a comprehensive survey of the history of glass.  One of the early pieces, an Ennion bowl, dates from the 1st century A.D.  But it is the Tiffany lamps and vases that leave visitors exclaiming.  These are but a part of the museum's 400-piece Tiffany collection.  There is also a comprehensive 2,500-piece collection of American Sandwich glass.  The Worcester porcelain display is also outstanding.

The Chrysler has a rapidly expanding photographic collection, a decorative arts department and three galleries devoted to exhibits on loan.  Visitors with an academic or general interest in art may want to use the 50,000-volume Jean Outland Chrysler Library.

The museum continues to be a seedbed of artistic creativity. Rather than putting many of the treasures in storage, the curators have created glass-enclosed “open storage” that contains an astounding array of beautiful objects.  Said one visitor, “It’s a place where you can go wander and spend time looking at something that pleases you that you have never seen before.”

The Chrysler Museum is closed Mondays, Tuesdays and major holidays.  Wednesdays open 10 A.M. to 9 P.M.  (admission by volunteer contribution of any amount). Open 10:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.  Thursday through Saturday, and Sunday 1:00 to 5:00 P.M. General admission, $7.  Students, senior citizens, teachers and military, $5.  Plenty of free parking.

Directions:  From I-95 in the Richmond area take I-64 east and exit at I-264.  Continue on I-264 to the final exit, Waterside Drive.  Stay on Waterside Drive as it turns into Boush Street.  Take a left at Brambleton, then an immediate right on Duke Street.  The museum is on your left 2 1/2 blocks down Duke Street in the picturesque Ghent district of Norfolk.