{"id":241504,"date":"2026-01-19T22:38:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T22:38:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/241504\/"},"modified":"2026-01-19T22:38:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T22:38:12","slug":"the-new-princeton-university-art-museum-presents-an-amazing-collection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/241504\/","title":{"rendered":"The New Princeton University Art Museum Presents an Amazing Collection"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t14<\/p>\n

Princeton University has a long history of collecting art; it is one of the oldest collecting institutes in North America.\u00a0Starting with one room in Nassau Hall, the current museum was rebuilt and reopened in the fall of 2025. It is open Monday-Wednesday 10:00 a.m \u2013 5:00 p.m., Thursday \u2013 Friday, 10 a.m. \u2013 8:00 p.m., Saturday 10:00 a.m. \u2013 5: p.m., and Sunday 12:00 \u2013 4:00 p.m.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

After visiting the new museum briefly last fall, I went back last week, hitting (figuratively) as much as I could.\u00a0\u00a0The new museum\u2019s exterior is not flashy in any sense of the word, but as they say\u2026\u201dIt\u2019s what\u2019s on the inside that matters.\u201d Whether you are into art of the Ancient Americas, European art, African art, Asian art, Mediterranean art, or Modern art, the Princeton Art Museum has you covered.\u00a0\u00a0I will try to present a variety of what I saw today, and I highly encourage you to visit!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"A Twilight Labryinth by Josiah McElheny. All photos by Kim Robinson<\/p>\n

With 146,000 square feet, three stories, nine pavilions, 32 galleries, an education center, a restaurant, and more, the museum\u2019s exterior esthetics don\u2019t matter in the least.\u00a0\u00a0As soon as we entered, I was drawn to \u201cA Twilight Labryrinth (Alchemy)\u201d by Josiah McElheny \u2013 a display of handblown glass vessels, inside a lighted, mirrored space.\u00a0\u00a0The colors danced as you looked from different angles, and I stayed at that exhibit for a time, wondering if I could create something similar at home, but I highly doubt it.<\/p>\n

The very first piece of art given to Princeton University (originally chartered as the College of New Jersey), was a full-length portrait of NJ Colonial Governor Jonathan Belcher, described in the gift as \u201cmy own Picture at full length in a gilt Frame\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This was joined shortly thereafter by a portrait of England\u2019s King George II.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As there are so many displays, I try here to give you a mere smattering of what the museum has to offer.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

An Epa helmet mask, made before 1920.\u00a0\u00a0Carved from one block of wood, it is attributed to Bamgbose. Epa masks honor ancestral values and are worn during festivals.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

James Steward has served as director of the Art Museum since 2009. He leads a staff of 185 and is responsible for a collection of approximately 117,000 works of art. During his tenure, he has overseen major expansion projects as well as the museum\u2019s extensive collections and educational initiatives. Steward also serves as a professor in the Department of Art and Archaeology. Prior to his current role, he served as director of the Michigan Museum of Art.<\/p>\n

Ancient Roman mosaic pavement unearthed during Princeton\u2019s archaeological expeditions to Antioch in the 1930\u2019s, and you can \u201cwalk\u201d on them without fear; the mosaics are well-protected.<\/p>\n

\u201cLeonardo da Vinci\u2019s Greatest Hits, 1982\u201d, by Jean-Michel Basquiat.\u00a0\u00a0As the story goes, while Basquiat was recovering in the hospital from an accident, his mother gave him a copy of Gray\u2019s Anatomy, and he became fascinated with how the body worked.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I was drawn to this piece, \u201cconducere\u201d, above, by Alison Saar.\u00a0\u00a0According to the card, the bottle tree, the blue lips, and a key ring, are drawn from hoodoo, an African American folk magic tradition rooted in West African spiritual practices.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

I also enjoyed Toshiko Takaezu\u2019s \u201cDialogues in Clay\u201d exhibit.\u00a0\u00a0A twentieth century artist, Takaezu developed what she called \u201cclosed forms\u201d, bowls shaped into spheres or cylinders.<\/p>\n

But there are so many cool things to see, let\u2019s keep going.<\/p>\n

Looking for something a little earlier?\u00a0\u00a0How about \u201cMadonna and Child with Saint Anne\u201d, circa 1340-1345.\u00a0\u00a0There is no flash photography, but you can certainly get up close and personal with the vast majority of items on display, and cell phone pics (sans flash) are fine.<\/p>\n

Rodan? Yes, they have that too.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

No, you\u2019re not drunk.\u00a0\u00a0Somehow, I took a crooked picture of Rodin\u2019s \u201cThe Age of Bronze\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s just say I was making \u201cnew art\u201d here.\u00a0\u00a0This piece shocked critics, by presenting not a king or general, but an ordinary, unnamed person.<\/p>\n

Now, how about something from 1419-1420?\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThe Penitent Saint Jerome\u201d, by Joos van Cleve.\u00a0\u00a0I have to wonder if his penitence has to do with that skull he\u2019s playing with.<\/p>\n

Arguably, the most moving piece I saw was titled \u201cTo Be Sold\u201d by Titus Kaphar.\u00a0\u00a0This piece relates to a headline from 1766, announcing the sale of six African slaves at Princeton University\u2019s Maclean House.\u00a0\u00a0Kaphar\u2019s work includes nails, and strips of the advertisement, along the contours of a bust of Samuel Finley, president of the University from 1761 to 1766.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

And from Princeton\u2019s website, \u201cThe Museum and what is now the Department of Art and Archeology \u2013 the second oldest in the nation \u2013 formally came into being in 1882, founded on a philosophy that positioned Princeton at the cutting edge of scholarship in an era when the history of art was a new academic discipline, largely confined to the more advanced universities of Europe.\u00a0\u00a0Prime gave impetus to the establishment of a museum with the promise of his collection of pottery and porcelain upon the completion of a fireproof building to house it.\u00a0\u00a0From the beginning, the Museum was meant to serve a dual purpose: to provide exposure to original works of art and to teach the history of art through a collection of the world\u2019s art.\u00a0\u00a0From the beginning, too, the Museum was to be a public good: The non-collegiate public was invited to view the collections, so long as they applied to the janitor of East Pyne for the key.\u201d<\/p>\n

From ancient art to modern art, and everything in between, please visit the museum.\u00a0\u00a0In fact, spend the day.\u00a0\u00a0You will be amazed! And it is free!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

If you are not very familiar with downtown Princeton and the University, the map below may be helpful.\u00a0\u00a0We parked at the Stadium Parking garage, which is free, about one mile from the Museum.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"14 Princeton University has a long history of collecting art; it is one of the oldest collecting institutes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":241505,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[442,498,499,500,501,156,129712,111,139,69,65464,141990,141991],"class_list":{"0":"post-241504","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-artsdesign","12":"tag-design","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-mercer-county","15":"tag-new-zealand","16":"tag-newzealand","17":"tag-nz","18":"tag-princeton","19":"tag-princeton-art-museum","20":"tag-publish"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241504"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241504\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/241505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}