Qualla: Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art

Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art: Introduction

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Americasroof at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0. The museum opened with a scandal. In 1994, the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art debuted with a rare series of 28 watercolors by Georgia O'Keeffe, the "Canyon Suite," dating from 1916 to 1918 and never before shown publicly as a group. Five years later, experts challenged their authenticity. The paper used for some of them could not have been obtained in the United States during the years when O'Keeffe was teaching art at West Texas State Normal College in Canyon. The National Gallery of Art excluded the "Canyon Suite" from O'Keeffe's catalogue raisonne, and the Gerald Peters Gallery refunded the $5 million the Kemper had paid. It was the kind of opening act that might have defined a lesser institution. Instead, the Kemper built something genuine.

Image: Americasroof at English Wikipedia | CC BY-SA 3.0

Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art: Concrete That Flows Like Water

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Michael C. Berch, CC BY-SA 2.5. Latvian-American architect Gunnar Birkerts designed the Kemper's 23,200-square-foot building of concrete, steel, and glass, constructed between 1992 and 1994 at a cost of $6.6 million. The San Francisco Chronicle noted that Birkerts "used concrete, glass and steel in ways that se...

Image: Michael C. Berch | CC BY-SA 2.5

Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art: From Pollock to the Present

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Architect Gunnar Birkerts., Public domain. The Kemper's permanent collection of more than 1,400 works spans from the 1913 Armory Show, the exhibition that introduced modern art to America, through to present-day artists. The roster reads like a survey course in postwar American art: Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Rob...

Image: Architect Gunnar Birkerts. | Public domain

Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art: The History of Art on the Walls of a Cafe

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Booradley0212, CC BY-SA 4.0. The Kemper's most unexpected artistic experience may be lunch. Cafe Sebastienne, located in the heart of the museum, combines contemporary cuisine with an immersive art installation. The dining area is surrounded by 110 paintings collectively known as "The History of Art" by Fred...

Image: Booradley0212 | CC BY-SA 4.0