spanning a wide variety of genres, mediums and time periods. Discover an assortment of treasured French Impressionist works as well as sizable collections of East Asian art, modernist American paintings and both traditional and contemporary Native American art.
Trace the museum’s origins back to the first half of the 20th century when Oscar Jacobson served as the director of the University of Oklahoma’s then nascent School of Art. Because Jacobson believed that seeing art first-hand would help in the development of students, he began collecting art for the university. In 1971, the collection was finally given a home when the Jones family, whose son, a student at the University of Oklahoma who had died in his senior year, donated money for the construction of a museum building on the campus.
Explore the museum’s galleries, which include both temporary exhibits and rotating works from the permanent collection. Previous exhibitions have focused on photographic portraits, depictions of war and an exploration of how Native American cultures in Oklahoma were depicted in the 19th century, both before the creation, during and after the dissolution of Oklahoma’s Indian Territory.
Don’t miss the museum’s Lester Wing. Built in 2005, this 34,000-square-foot (3,000-square-metre) space exhibits work from the prized Weitzenhoffer Collection. Gifted to the museum in 2000, the French Impressionist collection includes works by Degas, Gauguin, Monet, Pissarro, Renoir, Van Gogh and Toulouse-Lautrec, among others. It is widely considered to be one of the most important collections of art to ever have been gifted to a public American university.
Find the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art within the University of Oklahoma’s Norman campus, about a 30-minute drive from downtown Oklahoma City. The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday, with reduced hours on Sundays. Entry is free. Free parking is available pick up a visitor permit at the front desk from Monday through Friday and display it on your car dash.
