Founded in 1958, the museum was originally known as the Fort Lauderdale Art Center. Since 2008, the museum has been part of Nova Southwestern University.
At first, its core holdings centered upon traditional African, Native American and Oceanic art. Now, its collection grown to over 6,200 works and is diverse. Its holdings include paintings by contemporary and modern artists (e.g., Louise Nevelson, Robert Rauschenberg, Julian Schnabel, Frank Stella, Andy Warhol), ceramics by Pablo Picasso, Cuban and Latin American art and the most extensive holding in the U.S. of works by post-World War II, avant-garde CoBrA artists from Copenhagen, Brussels and Amsterdam.
In addition, it has the largest collection of works by 19th-20th century American artist William Glackens. It includes some 500 paintings and drawings including his earliest known work and his last completed painting. This collection came about as a result of gifts from the artist's son, Ira Glackens, and the Sansom Foundation. (See separate review).
The NSU Art Museum is housed in a modernist building designed by Edward Larrabee Barnes. It opened in 1986 but was enlarged in 2001 by the addition of the Glacken Wing. The 25,000 square feet of exhibition space includes open space for the presentation of large installations as well as more intimate space for smaller works. In addition, the museum has an auditorium, a cafe and and a shop.
For information on visiting, see the NSU Art Museum's website.
"Pierre-Auguste Renoir and ​William J. Glackens"