Editorial Review
Another victim of rising rents, the Dashesh Museum closed mid-September, 2007 while the collection seeks a new home. Our original review follows:
The Dahesh Museum of Art is the only museum in America dedicated to collecting and exhibiting 19th- and early 20th-century European academic art, which is the continuation of the great Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo traditions in the visual arts. The Museum is a leader in rediscovering the rich art and history of the French Academy, the British Royal Academy and other centers of artistic tradition throughout the Western world.
The basis of the Museum is an extensive art collection acquired by the writer and philosopher Dr. Dahesh (1909-1984), who lived in Beirut, Lebanon. Dr. Dahesh envisioned a museum of European academic art in Beirut but in 1975, when Lebanon's civil war put the collection at risk, it was brought to the United States. The Museum was chartered in 1987 and opened to the public in January 1995. In June 2000 the New York State Board of Regents approved the Dahesh Museum's petition to change its name to the Dahesh Museum of Art, more clearly identifying the Museum's artistic mission.
