During your visit to this Denver, Colorado attraction, discover a diversity of artworks from across time and around the world as you explore the permanent collection and special art exhibits in the North and Hamilton Buildings of the Denver Art Museum. The Museum also offers dining and shopping in Palettes Restaurant and the Museum Shop.
Denver Art Museum Collection
The Denver Art Museum boasts one of largest and most comprehensive collections of world art between Chicago and the West Coast. Its collections number over 70,000 works of art and are divided among African, American Indian, Asian, European and American, modern and contemporary, pre-Columbian, photography, Spanish Colonial and western American collections.
African Art
The Denver Art Museum’s African Art collection interprets the stories of Africa from different perspectives. Artworks on view in the African Art gallery represent the diversity of creativity in Africa, a continent containing thousands of art-producing societies.
American Indian Art
Experience the artistic vision of generations of American Indian artists from across North America. From ancient puebloan pottery to 19th century Arapaho beaded garments and contemporary glass work, the American Indian Art collection showcases the rich diversity of art forms, histories and artistic styles of American Indian artists and communities.
Asian Art
Originating in 1915 with the generous donation of Chinese and Japanese art objects from a single collector, the Asian Art collection has grown over the years and now includes works from the entire Asian continent. The collection spans a period from the fourth millennium B.C.to the present and illustrates the wide-ranging achievements of Asian artists and artisans.
European and American Art
European art preceding 1900 and American Art preceding 1945 makes up the European and American Art collection. Together, European and American paintings, prints and sculpture number over 3,000.
Modern and Contemporary Art
The Museum’s Modern and Contemporary Art collection boasts more than a century of artistic innovation. Numbering more than 12,500 works of art created since 1900, the Modern and Contemporary Art collection includes works by artists such as Pablo Picasso, Marcel Duchamp, Henri Matisse and Georgia O’Keeffe. Additionally, the collection features 33 paintings, drawings and collages by abstract-expressionist Robert Motherwell.
Pre-Columbian Art
The art museum’s collection of pre-Columbian art is comprised of more than 3,000 works, representing almost every major culture in Mesoamerica, Central America and South America. View pre-Columbian masterworks in ceramic, stone, gold, jade and textiles.
Photography
The Photography collection reflects both the achievements of the medium’s outstanding practitioners and the change in the environmental attitude of 19th century Americans. At the core of the Photography collection are 19th century photographs of the American West. Additionally, the collection features European and American modernist photography.
Spanish Colonial Art
The Denver Art Museum boasts the most comprehensive collection of Spanish Colonial art in the United States. Numbering over 3,000 objects, the collection includes paintings, sculpture, furniture, silver and decorative arts.
Western American Art
The Western American Art collection recognizes and promotes the significance of the West in the larger picture of American cultural development. Highlights within the collection include paintings such as Alfred Jacob Miller’s Building the West, William Jacob Hay’s Herd of Buffalo and Wind River Country by Albert Bierstadt. Bronzes such as The Cheyenne by Frederic Remington are also featured in the Western American Art collection.
Dining at the Denver Art Museum
Enjoy a snack or lunch at Palettes Restaurant, located in the Museum’s North Building. From chorizo goats cheese empanadas to charbroiled sirloin burgers, Palettes offers contemporary American cuisine made with a global palette of fresh, flavorful and dynamic ingredients.
Denver Art Museum Gift Shop
Be sure to stop by the Museum Shop to browse gifts and keepsakes. Apparel and accessories, books and calendars, CDs and DVDs and home décor unique to the Denver Art Museum’s permanent collection and special art exhibits are available to purchase.
- The Denver Art Museum is ADA compliant. Complimentary wheelchairs are available on a first-come, first-served basis at the welcome center in both the North and Hamilton Buildings.
- Do not forget your camera. Photography is permitted for personal, noncommercial use in the Museum’s permanent collection galleries.
- Additional dining options, including Mad Greens Inspired Eats and Mad Beans and Wine Café, are located on Martin Plaza, directly across from the Museum’s main entrance.