Milwaukee Art Museum
The Milwaukee Art Museum had its origin in two institutions, the Layton Art Gallery , which was established in 1888, and the Milwaukee Art Institute, founded in the early 1900s. These two institutions joined forces in 1957 to form the private, nonprofit Milwaukee Art Center (now the Milwaukee Art Museum), and moved to its current lakefront location.
1880s – A City Ready for Artistic Growth
Milwaukee in the 1880s was a thriving port city, mostly German-speaking, with an industrial base that included wheat traders, meat packers, tanneries, shipyards, brick yards and breweries. The stream of new immigrants arriving daily were mainly northern Europeans—Irish, German, Scandinavian, Polish, Czech and Italian. They brought with them their culture—languages, traditions and renowned craftsmanship.
Panoramas & Milwaukee Art Association
These craftspeople included a large group of talented German artists who specialized in panorama painting. These large-scale panoramas were a hugely popular entertainment at the time – a precursor to going to the movies. They were displayed in the round, surrounding the viewer typically with a Biblical or historical scene.
The whole experience included narration and music. Civil War battles were especially popular, and veterans of those battles commented on the amazing accuracy of the works. After their run in Milwaukee , the giant canvases were rolled up and sent on tour to other cities. These panorama artists, along with several Milwaukee businessmen, formed the Milwaukee Art Association, which organized its first large public exhibition in 1888.
