FINE ART TOURIST PHILBROOK MUSEUM OF ART (PMOA)

***Philbrook museum and gardens- museum photograph***

A brief history of the pmoa

From 1927 to 1938 the Villa Philbrook, as it was known, was the family residence of Waite and Genevieve Phillips. The Italian Renaissance style villa as originally built consisted of 72 rooms set on 23 acres of gardens. Phillips donated the mansion to the city of Tulsa for use as an art museum in 1938.

The PMOA opened to the public in 1939. A 70,000 square foot wing was added in 1990 along with a redesign of the garden space ( the new wing also houses a very fine cafe). The museum houses 16,000 works in its permanent collection with a focus on Native American, American and European art.

Historical footnote: Phillips was a member of the Phillips family which founded Phillips Petroleum in 1917. Today the company trades as Phillips 66 and is one of the largest petroleum refiners in the world with revenues of approximately $107b.

***Childe hassam, american, bridge over the stour, 1897, oil on canvas***

Native american and american artists

***Harry fonseca, maidu, Coyote chiefs, from coyotes wild and wooly west show, 1987, acrylic and glitter on canvas***

***Joan hill, muscogee (creek)/cheroke, war and rumors of war, c.1971, acrylic on canvas***

***Brenda kennedy grummer, citizen band potawatomi, one sunday at shawnee, 1979, oil on panel***

***Fritz scholder, luiseno, indians #19, 1967 and the end of the trail, 1970, oil on canvas***

***helen hardin, kha’p’oo owinge (santa clara pueblo), vision of a ghost dance, c.1975-1977, oil on board***

***Left:*** *Helen hardin, kha”p”oo owinge, prayer for bountiful blessings, 1980, oil on board right: maynard dixon, american, the circle of shimaikuli, 1923, oil on canvas*

***left: barbara latham, american, gathering aspens for san geronimo day, n.d. right: alexandre hogue, american, studio corner—taos, 1927, both oil on canvas***

***Tony abeyta, dine’ (navajo), firestorm, 2021, oil on canvas***

***Joseph henry sharp, american, chief weasel bear, 1906, oil on canvas***

***WALTER RICHARD (DICK) WEST, SR., SOUTHERN CHEYENNE, THE WEDDING OF ART AND SCIENCE, 1949, OIL ON CANVAS***

European art

***Pablo picasso, spanish, les pommes, 1947, oil on canvas***

***Wassily kandinsky,russian, kallmunz, the town hall square, 1903, Oil on board***

***vittore carpaccio, left: st. peter martyr of verona, right: st. john the baptist, 1505, oil on panel***

We enjoyed our visit to the PMOA, and especially appreciated the focus the museum brings to Native American artists. The museum showcases the evolving manner and styles in which Native Americans have been portrayed over the last 150 years – both fascinating and enlightening.

In addition to the finely curated collection, the museum itself is a wonderful piece of architecture. The extravagance and oppulence of a 72 room villa for a family of four is hard to fathom (at least for OTR), but makes for an inspired setting for the art work and artifacts. And of course, the gardens extending down the slope behind the villa are spectacular.

We absolutely recommend an afternoon at the PMOA when you visit Tulsa!

Be seeing you.

P.S. We also recommend having lunch when visiting the PMOA – KITCHEN 27 is excellent.