LSU Museum of Art

The Collection

The LSU Museum of Art holds one of the largest university-affiliated art collections in the South.

A portion of the Museum's over 5000-work collection is highlighted in galleries of American and British portraiture and decorative arts, pre-Civil War era silver, American Arts and Crafts and Newcomb College Pottery, Chinese Jade, and modern and contemporary paintings, sculptures, and photography.

Highlights from the Permanent Collection
Currently on Display

5th Floor Lobby

Once you exit the Shaw Center for the Arts elevators onto the 5th floor, you are greeted by a breathtaking view of the Mississippi River and the Baton Rouge Water Company's landmark Standpipe water tower. Located in the lobby of the 5th floor are artworks by former LSU professors, Michael Daugherty, Sidney Garrett, and Edward Pramuk.

McKay Gallery
Chinese Jade

The works on display in this gallery are a result of a decade-long pursuit of excellence in the craft of jade carving by Dr. James R. and Ann A. Peltier. In 2002, the Peltiers began giving the LSU Museum of Art works from their extensive collection of Chinese jade, adding a new and important dimension to the museum's collection.

Capital One Gallery
European to Early American

This gallery presents the connection between painting and decorative arts in Europe to the art of early America. Starting with portraiture, furniture and silver from the 1700s, this display also highlights the origins of the LSU Museum of Art's collection. The display includes visitor favorites, such as works by Benjamin West, Rembrandt Peale, Honore Daumier and Pierre Auguste Renoir, as well as intriguing items like the Museum's collection of 19th-century toothpick holders.

Peltier Gallery
American Arts and Crafts Movement

From the late 1880s through the 1940s, decorative arts, interior design and architecture were shaped by three distinct movements: the Arts and Crafts Movement, Art Nouveau and Art Deco. The LSU Museum of Art owns a rich collection of pottery, metalwork, glass and furniture by famed artists firmly rooted in the principles of these tradition. Highlights from this gallery include decorative pottery from Newcomb College, as well as Frederick Steuben glass, and glass and metalwork by Louis Comfort Tiffany.

Gallery H
Contemporary Gallery

This gallery includes a range of media by some of Louisiana's greatest artists from the 20th and 21st centuries. Currently on display are works by former and current LSU graduates and professors, with a focus on their use of symbolic imagery. This gallery also honors the late Michael Crespo.

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Gallery F
Idea Box: Education Space

The Idea Box is set amongst the permanent collection galleries. As a space devoted to educational and hands-on activities, this room is a learning center where children and adults can make connections between art and personal experience.

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The LSU Museum of Art is a dynamic venue. In addition to galleries devoted to the permanent collection, the Museum presents world-class touring and temporary exhibitions of regional, American and European painting, sculpture, decorative arts, works on paper, and photography.

Click HERE to read more about the Special Exhibitions currently on display.

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Adopt a Work of Art

Looking for a unique gift? Consider the LSU Museum of Art's new Adopt a Work of Art program, and give them the gift they'll never forget!

Years of exposure to sunlight, poor storage conditions, excessive handling, and other factors can cause the surfaces of artworks and objects to deteriorate. These conditions can be remedied! With appropriate funds, works of art can go to a professional conservation laboratory and be restored to their original condition.

You can help!

Adopt a Work of Art provides individuals and groups an opportunity to sponsor the conservation of a work of art in the LSU Museum of Art's permanent collection. The sponsor of a conservation treatment has the fascinating opportunity to follow the conservation progress through written reports, behind-the-scenes photos, and before-and-after photos. Whenever the Museum displays a conserved work of art, we will acknowledge the sponsor in the wall label as the donor of conservation.

Works of art in the LSU Museum of Art's collection in need of conservation:

Attributed to John Wesley Jarvis (American, 1781-1839)
Portrait of Eben Woodward, c. 1820-1830
Oil on canvas, 28 x 25 inches
Conservation needed: Remove varnish and old repainting, retouch, clean and revarnish
Cost of conservation: $1,750

Knute Heldner (Swedish American, 1875-1952)
Untitled Triptych: Forest and Sawmill, 1937
Oil on canvas, 30 x 51 1/2 inches, LSU MOA 67.3.1
Conservation needed: Canvas is loose and needs restretching. Losses in paint, cupping and active flaking. Needs cleaning.
Cost of conservation: $3,650

John Sloan (American, 1871-1951)
Our Gloucester View #2, c. 1915-1919
Oil on canvas, 24 x 20 inches, LSU MOA 81.23
Conservation needed: Some small losses in paint. Needs cleaning.
Cost of conservation: $1,450

Alberta Kinsey (American, 1875-1952)
Antique Shop, c. 1935
Oil on canvas, 20 x 30 inches, LSU MOA 2008.6.1
Conservation needed: Canvas is loose and needs restretching. Some losses in paint. Needs cleaning.
Cost of conservation: $2,200

Please consider making a difference to all those who visit the LSU Museum of Art by adopting a work of art.

For more information, please contact Fairleigh Jackson at 225-389-7212.