THE YEAR IN
REVIEWTHE WALTERS ART MUSEUM ANNUAL REPORT 2004 .), sycamore .), wood, sycamore painted, EA 27332, acquired in 1896. © of Trustees The British Museum, photo courtesy AFA C . B , probably from Thebes, Third Intermediate Period (ca. 950–900 Funerary Stela Funerary of Deniuenkhonsu Dear Friends: grant, to fund in perpetuity four new mid-level curatorial After a protracted period of retrenchment in the wake positions. of 9/11, the general economic downturn of the last few Of even longer-term significance for the Walters and years, and associated cuts in public funding for the arts, its visitors will be the eventual impact of an exhaustive the Walters reemerged in FY2004 with ambitious plans planning process undertaken in fy2004 by the entire for the near- and long-term enhancement of the museum. museum, under the leadership of the Trustee Strategic Staff completed design plans as the Centennial Planning Committee. Its three main themes point bold- Committee of the Board raised the needed funds for a ly toward the future:
$3,000,000 renovation and reinstallation of our Charles To Expand the Walters Collections—focusing on Street (“Palazzo”) Building, which houses our renowned African American art, Asian art, and the arts of the holdings of Renaissance and Baroque art. Its reopening ancient Americas. in October 2005 will mark the 100th anniversary of the To Explore the Expansion of Our Touring Exhibition building’s design by the famous beaux-arts architect Program—to reach new audiences beyond Maryland, both William Adams Delano. nationally and internationally. More than four dozen works unknown to most of our visitors will be placed on view for the first time—includ- To Plan for a Future Building Expansion—to solve ing a grand panel, dated 1506, by the Farrarese master chronic space problems related to temporary exhibitions Michele Coltellini, and art storage, and to provide new facilities for enhanced thanks to curatorial educational and community programs. “discoveries” in the As these ambitious plans are realized over the next five rich storerooms hous- years, and beyond, the Walters Art Museum will come ing the reserve collec- that much closer to realizing, “for the benefit of the pub- tions of William T. and lic,” the enormous potential of Henry Henry Walters and to Walters’ 1931 bequest of 22,000 works the skill of our conservators in restoring their original of art spanning 55 centuries to the beauty. The revelation of seeing again our great Old City of Baltimore. Masters—now with these new additions—will surprise Finally, the exhibition highlight of and delight even those who think they know us well, as FY2004 was Eternal Egypt, the largest will our Chamber of Art and Wonders in the south gal- such project ever undertaken at the Walters. Certainly, we leries off the Sculpture Court. Evoking the collecting zeal were pleased to welcome more than 80,000 visitors to the and philosophy of 17th-century collectors, it will offer a show, but what made us especially proud was that, of dazzling array of the wonders of nature (including a 10- these, more than 14,000 were school children, and, foot alligator!) and the wonders of humankind, from all among the adults, nearly a quarter were African the known lands of the earth, assembled to demonstrate American. In this exhibition I believe we truly fulfilled the beauty and wisdom of divine creation and the inge- our mission: to bring art and people together, to create a nuity of man. place where people of every background can be touched This reinstallation of our Renaissance and Baroque art by art, and to strengthen and sustain our community. will be informed by the same contextual approach that was so successfully applied in our ancient, medieval, and Yours sincerely, 19th-century galleries as part of the 2001 renovation and reinstallation of our Centre Street Building. Happily, major additional funds were at the same time raised to bolster the museum’s operating endowment, and, in Gary Vikan Director response to a generous Mellon Foundation challenge
2 • the walters art museum | annual report 2004 TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Year in Review