Saint Louis University Museum of Art | Saint Louis University

Saint Louis University Museum of Art: Collections

Lobby (1st Floor)

Image featuring Urban Francis, Judith Shea, 2004. (Placed on extended loan by Gary C. Werths.) In background are Andy Warhol's Flowers (gift of Adam and Judith Aronson, Sunday B. Morning edition, 1970).

Exhibition Gallery (1st Floor)

The first floor of the Saint Louis University Museum of Art is a 6,500 square foot gallery space utilized for temporary exhibitions for both the Saint Louis University Museum of Art as well as for the Samuel Cupples House. Upcoming exhibitions include:

Keen Vision: The Gary C. Werths Collection(Spring/Summer 2006)

Legacy: Abraham Lincoln in the Presidential Years (Fall 2006)

Modern and Contemporary Art (2nd Floor)

The second floor of the Saint Louis University Museum of Art features fine art drawn from Saint Louis University's permanent collection. The floor is divided into a series of galleries permitting a variety of artists and styles to be shown. Artists represented include: Serge Poliakoff, Richard Serra, Ernest Trova, and Arnoldo Pomodoro.

The collection is especially indebted to the generosity of Charles H. Yalem, Adam and Judith Aronson, and to Samuel and Audrey Levin. A recent benefation by the honorable Thomas Eagleton illustrate contemporary mixed media work by Icelandic artist Erro and American artist Theodore Harris. Works on paper like these are supplemented in the second floor galleries by Joan Miro, Salvador Dali, Sam Francis, and Jim Dine.

Cartier Gallery (2nd Floor)

Marion Rumsey Cartier collection reflects the history of the Cartier family, the renowned jewelers of Paris and New York. The collection features family memorabilita and fine art donated to the university by Mrs. Cartier whose family originally hailed from St. Louis. Her personal interest in Saint Louis University began with her support for the university's swim team.

Collection of the Western Jesuit Missions (3rd Floor)

At the invitation of Bishop Louis DuBourg, nineteenth century Jesuits arrived in St. Louis in 1823 hoping to work among the Indian people in the St. Louis area. They soon discovered that effective ministry would require the sending of men into the American west while the bishop discovered that the Jesuits could administer a college he had founded in 1818. Saint Louis University was taken over by the Society of Jesus in 1832 and missionaries like Father Peter De Smet, S.J. were sent from St. Louis, following the paths already blazed by St. Louis fur traders and frontiersmen.

The original Indian mission of St. Regis established in Florissant, Missouri, was made over into a Jesuit community dedicated to the training of young Jesuits. For more than 150 years, St. Stanislaus was an academic community and a community of prayer. It was also the "motherhouse" for the Missouri province, a sprawling complex of buildings, farms and orchards. Over time, it became a repository for art, missionary artifacts, books, and basic necessities. When the complex was finally shuttered in 1973, the original stone building on the property was dedicated as a museum. In 2001, the collection housed in the "rock building" was transferred to the Saint Louis University Museum of Art.

Today, the Collection of the Western Jesuit Missions fills the entire third floor of the museum. The artifacts illustrate not just Jesuit and Catholic life but also the frontier experience of the Jesuit missionaries. Art and artifacts reflect a universe of experience, and illustrate art over the centuries and the artifacts of continents and creeds.

John and Ann MacLennan Collection of Asian Decorative Arts (4th Floor)

The fourth floor galleries of the Saint Louis University Museum of Art honor the passionate interest in the cultural legacy of Asia sustained by John and Ann MacLennan for more than sixty years. Hundreds of jade and ivory artifacts illustrate the artistic traditions particularly of Japan and China.

Jade dragon boats and impressive shrines of ivory are shown along with the most extensive collection of Japanese netsuke found in the Middle West. The MacLennan's collection is supplemented by artifacts received from other university benefactors. Mrs. Paul Fletcher's gift of Japanese wood block prints includes famous images of Mount Fugi by Katsushika Hokusai. On display as well are 14th century Thai sawankhalok ware figures given by Morton D. May. These figures illustrate an early type of ceramic glazing in the celadon color made most famous in the ceramic art of Korea.

Elements of Treasured Jade, the exhibit which featured the jade collection of Ronal S. Poe, have been placed on extended loan. This impressive collection also features ancient bronze and beautiful ceramics altogether reflecting a continuous historic and artistic tradition of more than 3,500 years.