Nelson Atkins Museum of Art. One of the country’s premier art institutions. Its rich collections
bring together masterpieces from every culture and period of the world, spanning over 5,000
years. The Museum opened its doors in 1933 as a gift to the community from William Rockhill
Nelson (1841-1915), founder of The Kansas City Star. Contributions from the estate of Mary
McAfee Atkins (1836-1911) helped complete the building. The Nelson-Atkins has prestigious
collections of European art, including from Italy. Works include a 16th centry iron coat of arms
from the Salviati family of Florence Italy entitled Escutcheon (Double-Headed Eagle) in
Kirkwood Hall.
Liberty Memorial Museum. At this World War I memorial, there is a huge mural entitled
"Pantheon de la Guerre" (1914), which hangs in sections in the memorial's east and west
buildings. It once stretched longer than a football field; 45 feet high and 402 feet long, totaling
18,000 square feet. The painting was one of the world's largest paintings and was the work of
123 French artists during World War I. The previous owner was unable to display the entire
work and so donated the central part to the Kansas City Liberty Memorial Association at a
dedication in 1959, which included President Truman. Recently a French art gallery auctioned
sketches of soldiers and others, complete with names and some bios, depicted in the mural,
many of which are unknown to the museum. Unfortunately, the asking price was $250,000 for
the 155 drawings. The museum bid on the ones it wanted and got all except one. It
purchased: a French officer known to us only as Capt. Cardot (his face in the mural had
previously been unidentified); Maximin Armanet, a French infantry soldier captured by the
Germans (his picture in the mural also had been unidentified); French Marshal Ferdinand Foch
(who was one of the five allied commanders to attend the 1921 site dedication for the Liberty
Memorial); King Albert of Belgium; French President Raymond Poincaré; and Italian Gen.
Armando Diaz (who also attended the 1921 dedication).
Lawrence
Spencer Museum of Art. Kansas may be the last place you'd expect to meet Claude Monet or
Dante Gabriel Rossetti, but canvases by both are hanging in the Spencer Museum of Art (1301
Mississippi Street; 785-864-4710; free) on the university campus. Head to the stately building,
where you'll also see Buddhist statues, Italian Renaissance paintings and modern works by
Larry Rivers, Robert Motherwell and others.
