Pittsburgh: The Carnegie Museums

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The Carnegie Museums of Pittsburg officially consist of four museums. Together on Forbes Avenue in the Oakland Neighborhood are two museums in one: the Carnegie Museum of Art and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. (The Carnegie Science Center and the Andy Wharhol Museum are elsewhere in he city.)

Steel industrialist Andrew Carnegie founded the Carnegie Institute in 1895. The Art Museum was first. Carnegie wanted to bring then-Modern Art to Pittsburgh as well as to assemble copies of famous architecture show to Pittsburghers who did not have the means to travel to see them. It was the first US art museum to emphasize contemporary art. The Natural History museum began when Carnegie funded paleontological expeditions in Wyoming. In 1899, an expedition discovered a complete Diplodocus skeleton. "Dippy" remains a featured attraction and the museum's mascot. Today, the dinosaur collection is one of the museum's prominent exhibits. Many of the fossils on exhibit were the first of their type to be discovered. This really is the original dinosaur exhibit.

On our visit, we saw the Hall of Minerals and Gems, Dinosaur Hall and Hall of Arctic Life in the Natural History wing and the Hall of Architecture and decorative arts rooms in the Art wing. I use the term "wing", but, in fact, the Natural History and Art exhibit rooms are intermixed. An interesting live exhibit was the visible paleontology conservation laboratory enabling visitors to see museum curators at work. The Hall of architecture features models or life-size reproductions of European architectural gems. Carnegie was bringing Europe and its treasures to the people.

The Carnegie Museum of Art emphasizes decorative arts, though paintings, sculpture and stained glass are also to be found.

There is gallery space for several special exhibits. On our visit, there was an exhibit of the work of National Geographic photographers and another of the Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads sculpture group by Chinese artist Ai Wewei.

The Café Carnegie offers soups, sandwiches and salads and we had lunch here.

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Photos

Carnegie Museums
Carnegie Museum of Natural History - Carnegie Museum of Art. 4400 Forbes Avenue.
Carnegie Institute and Library. National Register of Historic Places 79002158.
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Dippy
"Dippy". Diplodocus carnegii. Dinosaur from the Jurassic era. Discovered in Wyoming in 1899. Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
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Coelophysis Bauri
Coelophysis Bauri. Early raptor of the Late Triassic Period.
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Apatosaurus Louisae
Apatosaurus Louisae. Sauropod from the Late Jurassic period. Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
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Tyrannosaurus Rex
Tyrannosaurus rex. Theropod of the Cretaceous period. Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
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Sinornithosaurus
Sinornithosaurus (model). Feathered Theropod dinosaur from the Cretaceous period. Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
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Columbia Mammoth
Columbia Mammoth (Cenozoic Era). Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
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PaleoLab
Museum visitors may view the American Mastodon under restoration in the PaleoLab. Andrew Carnegie purchased the mastodon skeleton in 1898. Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
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Garden Necklace
The Garden Necklace. Gold with Aquamarine and Diamond. Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
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Hemimorphite
Hemimorphite after Calcite (Missouri). Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
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Wulfenite and Mimetite
Wulfenite and Mimetite (Mexico). Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
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Rhodochrosite
Rhodochrosite (Colorado). Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
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Shabti Figures
Egyptian Shabti figures. The figures were placed in tombs and intended to serve the deceased in the afterlife. Walton Hall of Ancient Egypt at Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
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Tlingit Totem Pole
The Hunt. Tlingit Totem Pole, by Tommy Joseph, 2013. Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
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Votive Column of the Naxians
Cast of Votive Column of the Naxians (The Colossal Naxian Sphinx) Original at Delphi. Greek, Ionic, 570-560 B.C. Carnegie Museum of Art.
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Model of the Parthenon
Model of the Parthenon. Hall of Architecture, Carnegie Museum of Art.
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Porch of the Maidens
Cast of Porch of the Maidens, or Caryatides. South end of the Erechtheum, Acropolis, Athens. Greek: 5th century B.C. Carnegie Museum of Art.
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Book Jacket
Book Jacket. Collage by Alison Knowles (2006). Carnegie Museum of Art.
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Stereo Cabinet
Walnut Stereo Cabinet (1977), by Orin Raphael. Carnegie Museum of Art.
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Fall-front Desk
Oak Fall-front Desk, French, ca. 1780. Made by Nicholas Petit. Carnegie Museum of Art.
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Monkey Eating a Pear
Monkey Eating a Pear. Meissen Porcelain, ca. 1730, by Johann Gottlieb Kirchner. Carnegie Museum of Art.
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