The Dahesh Museum of Art first opened to the public in 1995 on Fifth Avenue with a unique mission—to provide the public with a fresh look at European academic art of the 19th and early 20th centuries, and to assess the impact of the academic tradition—training, style, subject matter, and ideals—on the world of art. This tradition had until then been relegated to the margins of art history, and consequently, the public had almost no access to museum exhibitions that explored the achievements of these artists and their legacies.
During the eight years that the Museum was located on Fifth Avenue (1995-2002), it organized and presented 23 exhibitions (each with its own publication) within a mere 1,800 square feet of space. Its ambitious vision and programming garnered respect from colleagues and visitors alike, and the dialogue it helped foster has inspired new scholarship and interest in academic art. The Museum soon traveled its shows throughout the United States and attracted an enthusiastic following here and abroad.
In September 2003, the Museum re-opened at 580 Madison Avenue with the exhibition, French Artists in Rome: Ingres to Degas, 1803-1873, which was named one of the 10 best exhibitions of the year by New York Times chief art critic, Michael Kimmelman. Innovative exhibitions were presented in the academic training process and influence of academic art in areas as various as opera and the history of American illustration. The warmest response to our exhibitions and publications has come from contemporary artists, tourists, scholars of 19th-century and turn-of-the-century culture, and younger people intrigued by artworks they do not normally see in university lecture halls or other museum galleries.
Over its brief history, the Dahesh has proven itself as an innovative presenter and has partnered with large, prestigious museums such as the École des Beaux-Arts, Musée d'Orsay, and Musée du Louvre, Paris; Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam; The Hermitage, St. Petersburg; as well as distinguished smaller institutions like the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, California; Princeton University Art Museum, NJ; La Scala Opera House, Milan; Musée Goupil, Bordeaux; and the French Academy in Rome.
In September 2007, the Dahesh Museum closed its doors at 580 Madison. The Museum will continue to organize traveling exhibitions: In Fall 2008, Napoleon on the Nile will be on view at the Frye Art Museum in Seattle and A Distant Muse will open at the Tacoma Art Museum, also in Washington state. There will also be works on loan to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, as well as the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli in Italy and the Musée Fabre in France.
The Museum's Collection
The Dahesh Museum of Art's permanent collection originated with Dr. Dahesh (1909–1984), the pen name of Salim Moussa Achi, an influential Lebanese writer, philosopher, and connoisseur, in whose honor the Museum is named. Envisioning a premier art museum, he collected paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, photographs, and books by academically trained artists of the 19th and 20th centuries. Friends brought Dr. Dahesh's collection from Beirut to America in 1976 and founded the museum in 1987. For the next few years, the collection was researched and conserved, a location was secured, and exhibitions were prepared, all before opening to the public in 1995.
The original collection is continually enhanced with purchases and generous donations. Artworks by 19th-century masters such as Alma-Tadema, Barye, the Bonheur family, Bouguereau, Cabanel, Delaroche, Doré, Fabre, Gérôme, Lecomte du Nouÿ, Leighton, Merson, Navez, Picou, Troyon, and Vernet are featured among these recent acquisitions. Although artists represented in the collection are predominantly French and British, the Museum actively collects artworks produced or exhibited in academies throughout the world.
