Founded officially in December 1862, The Buffalo Fine Arts Academy is among the country's oldest public arts institutions, sharing that distinction with the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.; the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia; the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford; and the Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven, among others. At the turn of that century, John J. Albright set this institution on its course by donating funds for a new building. With Edward B. Green as its architect, the Greek revival structure that became the permanent home for the Albright Art Gallery was dedicated on May 31, 1905. ;xNLx;;xNLx;During the middle years of the century, Seymour H. Knox, Jr., became the Gallery's most influential supporter, not only making possible the building of a new addition designed by Gordon Bunshaft, but also amassing a brilliant collection of artworks. The group of nearly seven hundred works collected during this time still represents the most intense period of growth for the Gallery's Collection, a result of Mr. Knox's daring spirit, discerning judgment, and the unique partnership and vision he shared with Director Gordon M. Smith. The new wing that was dedicated in 1962, one hundred years after the founding of the Academy, stands as a testament to Mr. Knox and his vision; his generosity was reflected in the institution’s adoption of a new name, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery. ;xNLx;;xNLx;The Gallery's 150-year tradition of collecting, conserving, and exhibiting the art of its time has given rise to one of the world’s most extraordinary art collections, including such renowned works as Pablo Picasso's La Toilette, 1906, acquired in 1926; Joan Miró’s Carnival of Harlequin, 1924–25, acquired in 1940; Willem de Kooning’s Gotham News, 1955, acquired in 1955; and Arshile Gorky’s The Liver Is the Cock’s Comb, 1944, acquired in 1956. ;xNLx;;xNLx;The Gallery has continued to add cutting-edge contemporary art to its Collection, adding major works in recent years by such artists as Matthew Barney, Mark Bradford, Tara Donovan, Teresita Fernandez, Liam Gillick, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Mona Hatoum, Jim Lambie, Catherine Opie, Jorge Pardo, Jennifer Steinkamp, and Philip Taaffe. Under the guidance of past Gallery Director Louis Grachos, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, in conjunction with the Carnegie Museum of Art, became the first museum to jointly acquire a major, large-scale contemporary work—Rachel Whiteread’s Untitled (Domestic), 2002. ;xNLx;;xNLx;Visiting the Gallery today promises unexpected surprises. Constantly changing installations and special exhibitions pair contemporary art with the masterworks of modernism, always inviting a reexamination of the old with the new in innovative and exciting ways. ;xNLx;;xNLx;;xNLx;This timeline was complied by Holly E. Hughes, Curator for the AKAG Collection.
Wadsworth Atheneum, the oldest public art museum in the United States, opens in Hartford, Connecticut.
The first public art exhibition in Buffalo, New York, is held at the American Hotel on Main Street.
The Buffalo Fine Arts Academy (BFAA) is founded. Former President Millard Fillmore is the first to sign the certificate of incorporation.
The BFAA hosts its first exhibition in a rented space in the Arcade Building block on Main and Clinton Streets.
Albert Bierstadt donates the first work of art to the BFAA—"The Marina Piccola, Capri", 1859—and is named the first Honorary Member of its Board of Directors.
Following a major fire in the American Hotel, adjacent to the Arcade Building, the BFAA moves to the Young Men’s Association building at Main and Eagle Streets.
A. (Anson) Conger Goodyear is born to Charles W. and Ella Conger Goodyear
The BFAA moves to more spacious quarters in the Austin Building on Franklin Avenue and West Eagle Street.
The BFAA moves again, to an even larger space in the Buffalo Library building at Lafayette Square.
The BFAA opens an art school. Later, in 1891, it merges with the Students' Art Club to form the Art Students' League.
The Print Department of the BFAA is established through generous gifts from Frederick H. James and Willis O. Chapin.
John J. Albright is elected President of the BFAA Board.
The BFAA's exhibition spaces receive electricity.
Seymour H. Knox, Jr., is born in Buffalo, New York, to Seymour H. Knox, Sr., and Grace Millard Knox.
During a memorable meeting of the BFAA Board, John J. Albright offers to fund the construction of a permanent building. The Board commissions the architect Edward B. Green to design the building, and groundbreaking occurs after the spring thaw. The marble used for the building comes from the same Baltimore quarry that supplied marble for the Washington Monument.
The Pan-American Exposition opens in Buffalo, New York. The BFAA's building is not ready in time, though construction has begun.
Charles M. Kurtz is appointed the first Director of the BFAA.
The dedication ceremony for the BFAA's new building, named the Albright Art Gallery in honor of John J. Albright, takes place. Harvard University President Charles William Eliot gives a ceremonial address on "Beauty and Democracy." Attendees view the exhibition "Inaugural Loan Collection of Paintings", featuring 237 works by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Thomas Gainsborough, Rembrandt van Rijn, James McNeill Whistler, and many others.
The first exhibition held at the 1905 Albright Building, "Inaugural Loan Collection of Paintings", featured 237 works by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Thomas Gainsborough, Rembrandt van Rijn, James McNeill Whistler, and many others.
Albright Art Gallery Director Charles M. Kurtz founds "Academy Notes", a monthly journal that quickly becomes one of the leading museum publications of its time. Later, in 1933, the publication is renamed Gallery "Notes".
Albright Art Gallery hosts the first installment of "Selected Paintings by American Artists", an annual exhibition mounted through 1933.
The Albright Art Gallery mounts "Exhibition of Contemporary German Paintings", the first exhibition of contemporary German painting in the United States.
Martha Kellogg Jackson is born in Buffalo, New York, to Howard Kellogg and Cyrena Case.
Albright Art Gallery Director Charles M. Kurtz, one of the first art museum directors to recognize photography as a form of fine art, begins working with Alfred Stieglitz to lay the groundwork for an international exhibition featuring works by the Photo-Secession group.
After the sudden death of Albright Art Gallery Director Charles M. Kurtz on March 21, 1909, his former assistant Cornelia Bentley Sage Quinton assumes the directorship, becoming the first female director of an American art museum.
Albright Art Gallery Director Cornelia Bentley Sage Quinton carries out Charles M. Kurtz's plans for a photography exhibition. Organized and curated by Alfred Stieglitz, the "International Exhibition of Pictorial Photography" is the first presentation of photography in a museum and the last exhibition of the Photo-Secession group. The Gallery acquired twelve works from the exhibition.
The Friends of the Albright Art Gallery Fund is established, with annual $5 member contributions going toward the purchase of artwork. The first work purchased with these funds is Charles Webster Hawthorne's "The Family", 1911.
The internationally renowned French stage and film actress Sarah Bernhardt performs at the opening of an exhibition of works loaned to the Albright Art Gallery by the Luxembourg Museum.
"An Exhibition of Contemporary American Sculpture", a major presentation of more than eight hundred sculptural works, opens at the Albright Art Gallery. It is later called "the greatest exhibition of its kind ever presented up to that time."
Irving Forman is born in Chicago, Illinois, to William Forman and Mamie Balas.
Albright Art Gallery acquires George Wesley Bellows's "Elinor, Jean, and Anna", 1920. A. Conger Goodyear proclaims that it is one of the artist's best paintings.
Giuseppe Panza di Biumo is born in Milan, Italy.
Albright Art Gallery Director Cornelia Bentley Sage Quinton leaves to become Director of the California Palace of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco, California.
A. Conger Goodyear is instrumental in bringing an exhibition of works by the sculptor Ivan Meštrović to the Albright Art Gallery.
Seymour H. Knox, Jr., joins the BFAA Board.
Following the departure of Cornelia Bentley Sage Quinton, William M. Hekking assumes directorship of the Albright Art Gallery.
"Exhibition of Sculpture and Drawings" by Aristide Maillol opens at the Albright Art Gallery. It is the first of three exhibitions focusings on Maillol's work organized by A. Conger Goodyear between 1925 and 1959.
A. Conger Goodyear gifts Emile Antoine Bourdelle's "L'Hymne interieur (Woman at Prayer)", 1923, to the Albright Art Gallery.
A. Conger Goodyear establishes the Fellows for Life Fund at the Albright Art Gallery. One of the first works purchased with its funds is Pablo Picasso's "La Toilette", 1906.
Albright Art Gallery hosts its second monographic sculpture exhibition, featuring works by Emile Antoine Bourdelle. The American sculptor and gallery proprietor Anna Glenny Dunbar is appointed Honorary Curator for the exhibition.
Natalie Forman (née Berg) is born in Chicago, Illinois, to Louis Berg and Bess (Riabuchin) Rabuchin.
A. Conger Goodyear organizes the "Exhibition of Modern European Sculpture".
Albright Art Gallery hosts the "International Exhibition of Modern Art", organized by the Société Anonyme, and acquires Constantin Brancusi's "Mademoiselle Pogany II", 1920, from the exhibition.
The Museum of Modern Art is founded in New York. A. Conger Goodyear becomes the first president of its Board of Directors and hires Alfred H. Barr, Jr., as the Museum's first director.
Whitney Museum of American Art is founded in New York.
Gordon B. Washburn assumes the Albright Art Gallery directorship.
The Albright Art Gallery exhibits "Modern Architecture: An International Exhibition", organized by Henry Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson for the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Traveling extensively, the exhibition and accompanying catalogue are widely credited with defining the International Style in architecture.
Caryatid figures designed by the sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens are installed on the east façade of the Albright Art Galery's 1905 building.
Albright Art Gallery hosts its first "Annual Exhibition by Artists of Western New York". These surveys of regional (and later, international) contemporary work continue today under the name "Beyond/In Western New York".
Seymour H. Knox, Jr., is elected President of the BFAA Board.
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