Frommer's Review
Founded in 1893, this seven-story museum has two distinct buildings. The main 1972 building, designed by Gio Ponti, is wrapped by a thin 28-sided wall faced with 1 million sparkling tiles. The second, a jagged, avant-garde addition, designed by renowned architect Daniel Libeskind, opened in fall 2006, doubling the size of the museum and giving Denver a unique architectural highlight in the process.
The museum's collection of Western and regional works is its cornerstone. Included are Frederic Remington's bronze The Cheyenne, Charles Russell's painting In the Enemy's Country, plus 19th-century photography, historical pieces, and works by Georgia O'Keeffe. In 2001, Dorothy and William Harmsen, longtime Colorado residents and founders of the Jolly Rancher Candy Company, donated their prestigious Western art collection to the museum. Assembled over 40 years, the collection immediately made the museum's inventory of Western art one of the most impressive in the nation. The American Indian collection is also excellent, consisting of more than 18,000 pieces from 150 tribes of North America, and spanning nearly 2,000 years. The collection is growing through the acquisition of historic pieces as well as the commissioning of works by contemporary artists. Other collections include architecture and design; graphics; Asian, African, Oceanic, European, and American painting and sculpture; and modern, contemporary, pre-Columbian, Spanish Colonial, and textile art.
Overview tours are available Tuesday through Sunday at 1:30pm, as well as at 11am on Saturday; an in-depth tour of a different area of the museum is offered each Wednesday and Friday at noon and 1pm; and a variety of child-oriented and family programs are scheduled regularly. There are gift shops in both buildings. Allow 2 to 3 hours.
Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without
notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before
planning your trip.
