This remarkable collection of art is housed in a gorgeous Renaissance-style villa that stands as a testament to the vast oil wealth that Oklahoma once enjoyed.
The Philbrook Museum of Art is not only home to an extensive collection of art from the North American continent and beyond it is also a striking masterpiece of architecture. Spend a few hours here and make sure you have enough time to explore the gorgeous exterior of the museum as well as the varied and fascinating galleries within. Snap photos of the building’s ornate exterior and stroll amid the manicured lawns and colorful flowerbeds of the beautifully landscaped grounds.
Look up at the elegant arches and Mediterranean-style red-tiled roof of the Philbrook Museum of Art. You may imagine you have been transported to Italy. In reality, this decadent 72-room mansion was designed in 1926 by a U.S. architect, Edward Buehler Delk. He was commissioned by the wealthy couple Waite and Genevieve Philips. Like so many of Oklahoma’s richest families at the time, they had made their fortune through oil.
Consider how fabulously wealthy the Philips family really was. This is best illustrated by the fact that, just 11 years after putting immense sums of money into the construction of this remarkable building, they happily gifted it to the city of Tulsa.
Visit today to see how rooms that were once the lavish living and sleeping quarters of the family now provide gallery spaces for a huge collection of modern and contemporary art and significant Native American works. The museum’s permanent collections feature pieces drawn from Africa, Europe and North America, as well as antiquities from Ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome.
Drive to the Philbrook Museum of Art from downtown Tulsa in about 10 minutes. Check the opening times in advance, as the museum is usually closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Make sure you visit on a day with good weather, so you can fully enjoy the immaculately maintained gardens. Like the house itself, the grounds were carefully laid out in the Italian style. Wander beneath elegant iron arches, alongside sparkling ponds and over ornamental bridges.
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