Roy Lichtenstein Standing Explosion (Red), 1966
Porcelain enamel on steel, 38 x 25 x 30 in.
© Christie's Images Ltd. 2010

The opening of any major new American museum is news, especially when the museum has been designed by world-renowned architect, Moshe Safdie. But the opening of that museum in the heart of the Arkansas Ozarks sends reverberations through the art world.

Located in the heart of the nation, far from the urban art meccas of New York and Los Angeles, Crystal Bridges was founded by Alice Walton, daughter of Sam Walton of Walmart fame. The museum (Fig. 1) is situated at the bottom of a steep wooded ravine on a 120-acre park that was part of the Walton family’s original estate. Alice, who grew up roaming these woods, wanted a museum that worked in harmony with the surrounding forest, integrating the experience of art and nature for its visitors. A natural stream fed by Crystal Spring, which gives the museum its name, flows through the site and is spanned by two copper-roofed bridges housing galleries and the museum restaurant. The stream is dammed by weirs, producing two large ponds around which seven additional buildings are nestled.

Walton’s love of art began with the watercolors she and her young siblings produced while on family camping trips. She has been a serious collector of American art all of her adult life. While her family’s fortune allowed Walton the privilege of visiting major museums around the world, she recognized the absence of such museums in her own “backyard” of Northwest Arkansas. Convinced of the power of great works of art to educate and enlighten, Walton decided to make it her personal mission to remedy the lack. From the outset, Crystal Bridges was intended as a populist venture, centered around making great American art available to everyone, particularly Walton’s home community.

George Wesley Bellows Excavation at Night, 1908
Oil on canvas, 34 x 44 inches
Hall of the Mountain King, ca. 1908–1909
Oil on canvas, 30 x 30 inches
Photography by Amon Carter Museum of American Art
William Merritt Chase
Worthington Whittredge, ca. 1890
Oil on canvas, 64½ x 53¼ inches
Arshile Gorky
Composition (Still Life), 1936–1937
Oil on canvas, 34 x 26 inches
Photography by Robert LaPrelle
Thomas Hart Benton Ploughing It Under, 1934, reworked 1964
Oil on canvas, 20¼ x 24¼ inches
Fig. 1: Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. Moshe Safdie, architect.
John Singleton Copley Mrs. Theodore Atkinson Jr. (Frances Deering Wentworth), 1765
Oil on canvas, 51 x 40 inches
Fig. 2: Charles Willson Peale (1741–1827) George Washington, ca. 1780–1782
Oil on canvas, 50 x 40 inches
Photography by Amon Carter Museum of American Art
Fig. 3: Norman Rockwell (1894–1978) Rosie the Riveter, 1943
Oil on canvas, 52 x 40 inches
Fig. 4: Asher Brown Durand (1796–1886) Kindred Spirits, 1849
Oil on canvas, 44 x 36 inches
Photography by The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Fig. 5: John Henry Twachtman (1853–1902) September Sunshine, ca. 1891–1893
Oil on canvas, 25 x 30 inches
Fig. 6: Walton Ford (b. 1960) The Island, 2009
Watercolor, gouache, pencil, and ink on paper
Panel 1: 95½ x 36; Panel 2: 95½ x 60; Panel 3: 95½ x 36 inches © 2009 Walton Ford.
Photography by Christopher Burke Studio
Fig. 7: Andy Warhol (1928–1987) Dolly Parton, 1985
Synthetic polymer and silkscreen ink on canvas, 42 x 42 inches
Photography by Robert LaPrelle.
Fig. 8: John Singer Sargent (1856–1925)
Robert Louis Stevenson and His Wife, 1885
Oil on canvas, 20¼ x 24¼ inches
Fig. 9: Roxy Paine (b. 1966) Yield, 2011 Stainless steel, 47½ x 45 ft.

The museum’s permanent collection includes many works from Walton’s personal collection. But the growth of the collection over the past several years has been guided by a team of professional curators with a goal of acquiring the finest examples of American art available. The breadth and scope is remarkable, especially considering the fact that the lion’s share has been amassed in less than eight years.

More than four hundred works will be on view when the museum opens (Fig. 2), spanning the full history of American art, from the Colonial period through today. The works are arranged roughly chronologically—with a focus on thematic groupings and stylistic similarities— to tell the story of America’s history as seen by its artists (Fig. 3). The focus is not on historical events, however; the premiere exhibition of the permanent collection, Celebrating the American Spirit, is about the development of the American artistic character rather than specific moments in history. As visitors move through the galleries, they will experience the evolution of American art through time.