The Timken Museum of Art in Balboa Park is an unusual display of artwork from the collection of two sisters, Anne R. and Amy Putnam. The Putnam sisters, who came to San Diego in the early 1900s from Vermont, spent decades acquiring European old master paintings. Initially, these paintings were loaned to prestigious museums around the country, such as such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City; the National Gallery in Washington, DC; and Harvard University's Fogg Art Museum.
When the non-profit Putnam Foundation was established in 1951, the sisters' collection became known as the Putnam Foundation Collection. In 1965, the Timken Museum of Art was built and the paintings were brought home to hang in their permanent quarters.
The collection's emphasis is in three distinct areas: European old master paintings, 18th and 19th-century American art, and Russian icons. The paintings span almost 600 years of Western art, ranging from early Italian altarpieces to mid-nineteenth century French landscape painting. One of its most famous pieces is San Diego's only painting by the great Dutch artist Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn, Saint Bartholomew.
Attraction Information
- Hours:
- Tuesday–Saturday: 10am–4:30pm
- Sunday: 1:30pm-4:30pm
- Closed Mondays
- Closed the month of September and major holidays
- Admission:
- Free
- Contact:
- Address: 1500 El Prado, Balboa Park, San Diego, CA
- Phone: 619-239-5548
- Website: www.timkenmuseum.org
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