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About
the TIMKEN MUSEUM OF ART
The TIMKEN MUSEUM OF
ART has its roots in the
serendipitous San Diego relationship between two
sisters, the Misses Anne R. and Amy Putnam, members
of the Timken family of the Timken roller bearing
fortune, and a local attorney, Walter Ames.
The affluent Putnam sisters arrived in San Diego
in the early 1900s from Vermont, accompanied by
their elderly parents and preceded by a millionaire
uncle, Henry Putnam, who retired here in 1898.
The two sisters, who never married, were to
spend decades acquiring Old Masters. Initial
paintings were donated to San Diego's Fine Arts
Gallery. Later, the sisters' acquisitions remained
in their possession and were loaned to prestigious
institutions around the country.
Attorney Walter Ames appears on the scene in
1950, first helping the Putnam sisters establish
the nonprofit Putnam Foundation, and later securing
the financial support of the Timken family to build
the TIMKEN ART GALLERY (now the TIMKEN MUSEUM OF
ART).
In 1965 the Putnam's extensive art collection
came back home, was hung in its permanent quarters
on the Prado in Balboa Park, and the TIMKEN officially opened on October
1 of that year. Today, the TIMKEN collection is comprised of
over 100 works of art, predominantly paintings
augmented by small holdings in sculpture and
decorate art objects.
The works are primarily in three distinct
collections: European Masters, Russian Icons and
American Artists. Each collection boasts unique and
priceless representations of the specific genre. In
the European Masters collection, Rembrandt's Saint
Bartholomew is the only painting by that Dutch
artist on display at any museum in San Diego.
Open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to
4:30 p.m. and Sunday from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. the
TIMKEN MUSEUM OF ART is the only fine arts gallery
in the area that does not charge an entrance fee.
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