City: Fort Worth, TX

Category: Tours & Attractions

Telephone: (817) 332-8451

Address: 3333 Camp Bowie Blvd.

Description: Widely known as a leading art museum in America, the Kimbell is also among the most richly endowed of all privately held museums. It evolved from the private collection of a wealthy local entrepreneur in the fields of agriculture, real estate, and petroleum named Kay Kimbell. He and wife Velma Kimbell established the Kimbell Art Foundation in the 1930s. Upon his death in 1964, the considerable art collection was passed to the foundation with instructions to give Fort Worth one of the finest art museums in the nation. The master architect Louis I. Kahn created the modern building, opened in 1972, and an addition planned for 2012 or 2013 will be designed by Renzo Piano to complement the original. In roughly 350 words, there are European masterpieces such as those by Fra Angelico, Caravaggio, Cézanne, Matisse, and others, along with important works from Egypt, Greece, Asia, and Africa. There is admission charged for special exhibitions, and blockbuster exhibits are not unusual. Make time to have lunch at the lovely Buffet Restaurant inside the museum, serving Friday dinner, too.