Philadelphia Museum of Art - Information : Press Room : Press Releases : 1997

April 2nd, 1997

Renovated Rodin Museum Includes New Museum Store

One of many new features found in the refurbished Rodin Museum (22nd Street and Benjamin Franklin Parkway) is a 225 square-foot Museum Store and Visitor Center. Missy Maxwell, of Susan Maxman Architects, has created an orientation and retail space for the Rodin Museum that complements the architecture of the Beaux-Arts landmark. Ms. Maxwell is also responsible for the recent renovation of the Rodin Museum as well as the design of the Rodin and Michelangelo and The Hands of Rodin exhibitions.

Completed in 1929, the Rodin Museum was commissioned by Jules Mastbaum as a home for the collection of works by Rodin that he had collected and presented to the city of Philadelphia--the Museum houses the largest public collection of works by Rodin outside of Paris. The Rodin Museum and its gardens were designed by Paul Cret and Jacques Gréber.

Beside presenting merchandise inspired by the Rodin Museum's impressive holdings, the new Store and Visitor Center will offer opportunities to view informative videos about Rodin's life and work and rent the new Inform audio-tour for the Museum.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art Stores will also feature items inspired by the Rodin and Michelangelo and The Hands of Rodin exhibitions, which will be on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art from March 27 through June 22, 1997. The main Museum Store and the Special Exhibition Store will include video monitors, CD-ROM demonstration kiosks, and merchandise including the exhibition catalogue, posters, stationery, mouse pads, computer fonts, an audio CD, mugs, totebags--even pasta in the shape of Rodin's Thinker!

The Philadelphia Museum of Art is among the largest museums in the United States, with a collection of more than 227,000 works of art and more than 200 galleries presenting painting, sculpture, works on paper, photography, decorative arts, textiles, and architectural settings from Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the United States. Its facilities include its landmark Main Building on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, the Perelman Building, located nearby on Pennsylvania Avenue, the Rodin Museum on the 2200 block of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, and two 18th-century houses in Fairmount Park, Mount Pleasant and Cedar Grove. The Museum offers a wide variety of activities for public audiences, including special exhibitions, programs for children and families, lectures, concerts and films.

For additional information, contact the Marketing and Communications Department of the Philadelphia Museum of Art at (215) 684-7860. The Philadelphia Museum of Art is located on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway at 26th Street. For general information, call (215) 763-8100, or visit the Museum's website at www.philamuseum.org.