Top Museums & Famous Works of Art in Baltimore

These are the top museums and the most famous, internationally renowned works of art in Baltimore!

Baltimore Museum of Art

Home to over 97,000 artworks, the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) is famous for its incredible collection of 19th-century, modern, and contemporary art. The Washington Post named it one of the 20 best art museums in the country in 2024. Founded in 1914, the BMA has long focused on acquiring contemporary art while maintaining and deepening its historic collection. One of the museum’s highlights is the extraordinary Cone Collection of over 1,200 works by Henri Matisse—the largest public collection in the world, donated by Baltimore’s Cone sisters. The museum also features works by Picasso, Warhol, Monet, and Rothko, among others. In addition to paintings, the BMA has an impressive array of African, Asian, and Native American art and an outdoor sculpture garden. Admission to the BMA is always free.

Fun Fact: In 2022, the BMA held a first-of-its-kind exhibition titled Guarding the Art, curated by 17 of its security staff. They were mentored by museum leadership and collaborated with staff across the museum for a year to select and reinterpret artworks and develop every facet of the exhibition. The groundbreaking initiative, intended to foster diversity, inclusion, and accessibility in the museum, challenged traditional museum hierarchies and notions about who can and should talk about art.

Can’t-Miss Works of Art @ The BMA

Anthony Van Dyck, “Rinaldo and Armida,” 1629

Henri Matisse, “Large Reclining Nude,” 1935; “The Blue Nude” (‘Souvenir de Biskra’),” 1907

Paul Gauguin, “Vahine No Te Vi” (Woman with Mango), 1892

Paul Cezanne, “Mont Sainte-Victoire Seen from the Bibemus Quarry,” circa 1897

Auguste Rodin, “The Thinker,” 1904-1917

The Walters Art Museum

The Walters Art Museum is a world-class institution in Baltimore, renowned for its diverse collection of 36,000 art objects spanning over 7,000 years of history. It was established in 1934, when the Walters family gifted their private collection to the City of Baltimore, “for the benefit of the public.” As part of its mission to create a place where people of every background can be moved by art, admission is free. The museum’s diverse collection includes everything from 19th-century Renaissance paintings to Ethiopian icons, illuminated Qur’ans, and ancient Roman sarcophagi, all displayed in beautifully restored historic buildings. The museum has the third-oldest conservation lab in the country and is world-renowned for its conservation treatment and technical research of objects, paintings, and works of art on paper.

Local Tip: The museum hosts free sketching sessions once a month where you spend an evening learning how to draw the world-class art around you. A classical musician plays in the background!

the walter's art museum top museums baltimore

Photo Credit: The Walter's Art Museum; the museum's historic buildings are works of art themselves

Can’t-Miss Works of Art @ The Walter’s Art Museum

Anonymous (Byzantine), “Rubens Vase,” circa 400

Anonymous (Italian), “The Ideal City,” circa 1480-1484

Hugo van der Goes, “Donor with St. John the Baptist,” circa 1475

Raphael, “Madonna of the Candelabra,” circa 1513

El Greco, ”Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata,” circa 1585-1590

Paolo Veronese, “Portrait of Countess Livia da Porto Thiene and Her Daughter Porzia,” circa 1552

American Visionary Art Museum

Unlike traditional art museums, the American Visionary Art Museum (AVAM), which opened in 1995, celebrates self-taught artists and outsider art, making it one of the most unique museums in the country. It’s filled with vibrant, whimsical, and thought-provoking works that break conventional artistic rules and are displayed in interactive and unexpected ways. The outside of the museum is covered in mirrored mosaics, and there’s a quirky sculpture plaza outside. Must-see pieces are Vollis Simpson’s “Whirligig” (1995) and Wayne Kusy’s “Lusitania” (1994). The museum has a really funky, fun gift shop!

Local Tip: Every summer, the museum hosts Flicks from the Hill, a free outdoor film series. Moviegoers watch movies under the stars against the museum’s building from Federal Hill Park!