At the top of Art Hill in Forest Park stands the building that outlasted a World’s Fair: the Saint Louis Art Museum, founded in 1879 and housed since 1904 in the Palace of Fine Arts — the only permanent building built for the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition. Inside, more than 34,000 works span 5,000 years, from ancient Egyptian sculpture to one of the world’s largest public collections of Max Beckmann paintings.
The museum’s glories include Monet’s ‘Water Lilies,’ George Caleb Bingham’s river scenes of the Missouri frontier, and a leading collection of German Expressionism — and general admission is free, thanks to the Zoo-Museum District’s support, with ticketed exhibitions changing through the year. The modern East Building, designed by David Chipperfield, doubled its gallery space in 2013.
Start in Sculpture Hall, then let the centuries pull you outward.
SLAM is at 1 Fine Arts Drive in Forest Park. Hours at slam.org.
