The Francis Lehman Loeb Art Center

Stellar collection! This museum is on the small side but nearly every painting is excellent. It is just inside of the main gate of the campus, it was a little confusing finding it and some additional signage would be helpful. You enter through the glass vestibule, not the big door near it, if you enter through the big door you will end up in a labyrinth of offices, but Ghiberti’s doors located in a stairwell there, so maybe getting lost was alright! The sculpture garden has an awesome collection of conifers even if it is a little light on the sculpture, the trees were worth it! I can’t wait to go back.

This is an exemplary model of what a small college double blessed with an early leader (Matthew Vassar) who appreciated the role fine art should play in a college education and subsequent alums with deep pockets and critical eyes can assemble. Now housed in purpose built galleries designed by Cesar Pelli which opened in 1993 and feature rotating displays of Eastern and Western arts from ancient times as well as a survey of European sculpture and paintings from medieval times onward and American works from all periods, all largely drawn from the college’s own significant holdings (although in recent years notably supplemented with loans from the Metropolitan Museum of Art). Their collection of mid-​twentieth century works is particularly strong, thanks in part to gifts from the likes of Blanchette Hooker Rookefeller (class of 1931) and Katherine Sanford Deutsch (class of 1940) whose donations included major canvases by Bacon and Pollock respectively. Thus, in about ten galleries a meaningful overview of art history is provided. Another couple of galleries are used for special exhibitions and one usually displays works requested by professors for class use. The building is accessible; the welcome desk (admission is free) has a small number of publications for sale, including a well done handbook to the collection which some other larger college art collections would do well to emulate.

Good little museum on Vassar campus with some interesting paintings. A Munch from when he thought he was a French impressionist, some Picasso, Marsden Hartley, Dutch minor masters, Byzantine icon, Franz Kline and a nice sculpture Garden.

I wonder how many of you are reading this and saying to yourself, «I didn’t realize Vassar College had an art gallery.» Well, they do, and it’s a gem! It has a surprisingly impressive collection of art works, and best of all, it’s free! It opened in 1864, and Vassar became the first college or university in the U.S. to have an art museum as part of its original plan. The majority of the works in the gallery are gifts from alumni or patrons.
The Center is well organized and has a little bit of everything in it. I particularly like the large collection of paintings from the Hudson River School, very prominent in the area, of course.
I’m not sure whether the casual follower would recognize any of the works in the museum, as they appear to be (to me anyway), not-​so-​well-​known works by many famous artists. But you would definitely recognize the artists, such as: Degas, Cole, Leger, Picasso, Matisse, O’Keefe, Miro, Pollock, De Kooning, Munch, Cezanne, Hopper, and Parrish.
I would say plan for 60 – 90 minutes viewing the museum, modified by how crowded it might be, the size of your own group, and your own speed through galleries.
Rest rooms are in adjacent Taylor Hall. Food and drink are not available. There is a small gift shop at the entrance, where a variety of cards and prints may be purchased, typically in the range of $ 2-​$ 10.
I recommend visiting when classes are not in session. That allows you to park easily in the spaces reserved for the galleries, and there are fewer people going through the gallery.