Founded in 1916 through the generosity of Bessie Vance Brooks, who bequeathed her estate for a public art museum in memory of her husband, the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art in front of you is the oldest and largest art museum in Tennessee. The Neoclassical building sits on the edge of Overton Park and houses a collection spanning five thousand years and every major tradition in Western art — from ancient Egyptian artifacts to Italian Renaissance paintings to American modernism. What makes the Brooks remarkable for a city of Memphis's size is the depth of the collection: works by Rodin, Monet, Renoir, and Rubens hang alongside significant holdings in African and pre-Columbian art.
The museum has long served as a cultural anchor for the city, offering free admission days and extensive community outreach programs. It also sits at the intersection of Memphis's two great cultural identities: the music and civil rights history of Downtown and the quieter, residential character of Midtown. In a city where so much of the conversation is about sound, the Brooks insists that the visual also matters.