The Detroit Institute of Arts has one of the largest and virtually meaning art collections in the United States. With more than than 65,000 artworks that date from the primeval civilizations to the present, the museum offers visitors an encounter with human creativity from all over the world. Visit the DIA today to immerse yourself in more than 100 galleries, or get inspired at domicile with the thousands of artworks digitized in our online drove.

Kongo, Knife Case and Lid, 16th/18th Century, Ivory. Detroit Institute of Arts.

Africa, Oceania & Ethnic Americas

Observe the captivating arts of African cultures southward of the Sahara Desert and Egypt, likewise equally the artistic expressions of the indigenous populations of North, Central and S America.

African Art

Did you know that the DIA's African art collection ranks among the finest in the world?

Explore the cultural diversity and rich history of Africa'south people through works made from ancient stone, clay, wood, and metal, every bit well as commonsensical objects, musical instruments, ceremonial costumes and contemporary paintings. This drove, established in the 1890s, has grown significantly, particularly over the last four decades. It now includes nearly 2,700 pieces from approximately one hundred African cultures. Although its master emphasis is on the arts of regions south of the Sahara Desert, the section has recently expanded to include North African and gimmicky African works.

Join the Friends of African and African American Fine art today to meet other art lovers and learn more virtually the African art collection.

Indigenous American Art

Feel the ancient arts of the United States, Canada, Mexico, Costa rica, Republic of peru and other Central and South American countries in the DIA's Native American galleries. With approximately 3,871 objects, this collection showcases terracotta, wood and stone figures, masks, ceramic and wooden utensils, metalwork, textiles and costumes covering about 3,000 years.

Egyptian Art

Investigate mummies, coffins, tomb wall fragments, manuscripts and objects from daily life in ancient Egypt. This rich and diverse collection of objects spans approximately iii,000 years of Egyptian civilization.

Oceanic Art

This small collection includes creative works from the peoples of Commonwealth of australia and the Pacific Islands, including Hawaii and Easter Isle, spanning approximately 150 years. The DIA is currently not actively collecting Oceanic Art and at that place is no gallery dedicated to it.

"Cotopaxi," Frederic Edwin Church, 1862, American. Detroit Institute of Arts.

American Art

Consider a painting of exploding fireworks that changed the course of mod art or a grand view of a volcanic eruption in Ecuador showing the natural globe thrown into chaos. Look for a heroic story of escape from a shark attack in Havana Harbor, gritty scenes of the modern metropolis, or imagined vignettes from myth, fable and literature. Compare images of doting parents in a quiet dwelling to scenes of adventure on the frontier. Stand up amongst furniture that survived the American Revolution, opulent silverish from the Aureate Age, and ceramics crafted by Detroit artists who transformed useful things into inspiring objects. Explore painted visions of the unique beauty of the American landscape and the well-baked abstractions of modernistic artists inventing new ways of understanding old things.

Surround yourself in a earth-famous mural that captures the power of Detroit workers and industry during the Not bad Depression. Stride into historic architectural spaces furnished to advise daily life in the colonial by.

These are just a few examples of what awaits you in the DIA's collection of American Fine art. This collection includes roughly v,000 paintings, sculptures and decorative fine art objects made by N, Central, and S American artists between 1660 and 1950. These various objects provide a more thorough understanding of how artists and designers shaped the culture and history of the Americas.

The DIA's important celebrated works by African American artists is role of the Full general Motors Middle for African American Art drove.

Join the Associates of the American Wing today to meet other fine art lovers and acquire more about the behind the scenes of the DIA'southward stunning American collection.

Sakyamuni Emerging from the Mountains, late 13th/early 14th Century

The Arts of Asia and the Islamic World

Discover a multitude of artworks fabricated throughout Asia, the Ancient Middle East, and the Islamic World. The collection dates from ancient times to the present and includes carved stone, cast bronze, painted pottery, molded glass, exquisite textiles, religious sculptures and fine paintings.

Arts of the Aboriginal Eye Eastward

Writing. Coins. Pottery. Wheels. All common features of life in the 21st century.

Just they didn't ever exist. They were created over the form of nearly 9,000 years by the people of the Ancient Middle Eastward, where early civilizations were born.

Yous'll observe these inventions and more in the DIA's drove, which features carved rock reliefs, metalwork, ceramics, drinking glass, coins and clay writing tablets. These objects chart the rise of writing, of trade and commercial transactions, of religions, of cities and of empires in the great early on civilizations of the Middle East.

Arts of the Islamic World

The Arts of the Islamic World collection dates from 600 CE to the present. But perhaps you're wondering what is meant by Islamic World. From where, geographically, exercise these objects come?

The reply might surprise you. The objects come from an expansive area of Islamic influence, which—beginning about 1400 years agone—stretched from the Center East to Due south and Southeast Asia, too as to Southern Europe and North Africa. The richness of the ceramics, metalwork, rugs and carpets, woven silks and busy textiles reflect the influences of the diverse languages, existing religions, and social structures of the peoples who resided in these areas.

Arts of Asia

The DIA'south collection of Asian Art offers a glimpse into the cultures of Communist china, Japan, Korea and South and Southeast Asia. The collection spans more than four,000 years and includes the globe'due south most intricately bandage bronze ritual vessels and first porcelain dishes and besides as rare religious sculptures.

Arts of China

Chinese scholars used ink to paint on silk and paper to capture the spirit of their subjects rather than creating a realistic likeness. This artistic technique is part of the vast diverseness and long history of Chinese Art. You lot'll observe examples of this and more than in the DIA's drove, which also includes ancient ritual statuary vessels, burial pottery, the world's offset porcelain dishes, inlaid lacquerware, scroll paintings and religious sculptures.

Arts of Korea

In the Korean Art collection, y'all'll find objects every bit quondam as three thou years and equally recent as the terminal decade. Some were used in daily life, others used by scholars or for devotion and worship. Together, these objects demonstrate both Korea's uniqueness and the influences of its fine art forms, writing systems and technologies in the art of East Asia.

Arts of Japan

What practice cherry-red blossoms, the fall moon, wintry pines and scenes from the earth's outset novel accept in common? They are all examples of images traditionally found in the arts of Japan art. Discover these and many more in the DIA's collection of Japanese Art, which likewise includes fine tea ware, luxurious costumes and exquisite lacquerware.

Arts of South and Southeast Asia

Find the artistic expressions of Southward and Southeast Asia through boggling objects inspired by Buddhist, Hindu and Jain religions. The collection features objects such equally palm-leaf-manuscripts, small temple and altar statues and  life-size sculptures.

Join the Friends of Asian Arts and Cultures today to meet other art lovers and learn more about the behind the scenes of the DIA'due south Asian Arts and Cultures collection.

Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith and Her Maidservant with the Head of Holofernes, c. 1623/1625, Oil on canvas. Detroit Institute of Arts.

European Fine art

The DIA's collection of European art is one of the largest and most distinguished in the United States. With a wide range of paintings, sculpture and decorative arts from across Europe, the collection includes works spanning the ages from aboriginal Greece and Rome to 1950.

European Paintings

Imagine yourself taking office in a lively wedding dance or gazing upon a cheerless cemetery. Picture a scene where a woman commits an deed of heroism to salve her people. These images are only a few of those y'all will find in the European Paintings collection, recognized as 1 of the finest in the United states of america. Information technology includes work by well-known painters of religious imagery, portraits, landscapes and scenes from everyday life. The drove features nearly 1,000 paintings that date from the 1100s until 1950.

Join the European Paintings Council today to run into other fine art lovers and learn more than about the behind the scenes of the DIA's stunning European Paintings drove.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Sometimes sculpture represents devotional figures. Information technology tin can too take the likeness of real people or tell stories of myths and legends.

Decorative arts are objects that are ornamental but also functional —ranging from hitting suits of armor and elegantly upholstered furniture to gleaming silvery serving dishes and delicate porcelain teacups.

Discover these and more in the museum'southward collection of European sculpture and decorative arts. The drove spans the years from the 400s to the 1800s and is considered among the best in the world. It includes nigh 7,000 artworks and reflects the technical accomplishments achieved by some of Europe's most achieved artists and artisans.

Join the Visiting Committee for European Sculpture and Decorative Arts today to see other art lovers and learn more about the behind the scenes of the DIA's stunning European sculpture and decorative arts collection.

Modernistic Fine art

Mod artists were known for their radical use of color, form and subject affair and their experimentation with nontraditional materials and techniques. Every bit risk takers who bankrupt with the by and challenged the art of previous generations, they also offering viewers new and unexpected ways of seeing, interpreting and experiencing the contemporary world.

This collection of more than i,000 paintings, sculptures and decorative objects showcases the innovative ideas and new forms of expression of some of the most important European artists and designers from 1850 to 1950.

Join the Friends of Mod and Gimmicky Fine art today to meet other fine art lovers and acquire more about the backside the scenes of the DIA's Modern and Gimmicky collections.

Aboriginal Western Antiquities

Practice you know how ancient Greek, Etruscan and Roman civilizations worshipped their gods and goddesses and honored the expressionless? Would you like to observe what daily life was like in ancient Greece and Italy? This DIA collection of more than than 2,500 objects offers a window into the classical earth by showcasing sculptures, architectural fragments, ceramic and glass vessels, jewelry, and utilitarian objects among other fascinating items covering approximately thirteen centuries.

Michelangelo, Scheme for the Decoration of the Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, c. 1508, Pen and brown ink and black chalk on cream laid paper. Detroit Institute of Arts.

Prints Drawings & Photographs

Explore more than five centuries of works on paper, from 16th-century preparatory drawings and sketches to contemporary photographs and artworks exploring diverse printmaking techniques, such every bit lithography, woodcut, engraving and etching. This collection contains approximately 35,000 prints, drawings, photographs, watercolors, posters and artists' books by some of the world'southward best known artists and representing a diversity of cultures, with particular accent on European and American works.

Join the Friends of Prints, Drawings and Photographs today to meet other art lovers and get behind the scenes in the DIA'south Prints, Drawings and Photographs drove.

Something You Can Feel,

Full general Motors Heart For African American Art

Did you know that the General Motors Eye for African American Art is ane of the starting time curatorial departments exclusively devoted to African American fine art at a major museum? Established in 2000, this section is committed to increasing sensation of the contributions of African Americans to the arts community and to highlighting American history, society and artistic expression from an African American perspective.

Discover artworks created by African American artists of local and national reputation, who experiment with the artistic styles and techniques of their time who explore identity, race, political and social consciousness, amidst other important issues. This drove holds close to 600 artworks from the mid-19th century to today and includes paintings, prints, drawings, sculptures and photographs.

Join the Friends of African and African American Art today to meet other art lovers and acquire more well-nigh the African American art collection and the work of the General Motors Heart for African American art.

Robert Moskowitz, Hard Ball III, 1993, oil on canvas. Detroit Institute of Arts.

Gimmicky Fine art

The DIA's Contemporary Art collection features artwork by local, national, and international artists. Through their work, these individuals both explore and question aspects of modern life.

The collection contains over 3,500 paintings, video and installation-based artwork, sculpture, and studio craft objects spanning from the 1950s to the present. Some were created using traditional methods and materials, while others creatively challenge convention. The collection'due south evolution is ongoing with the continual acquisition of work created by living artists.

Bring together the Friends of Modern and Gimmicky Art today to meet other art lovers and learn more virtually the behind the scenes of the DIA'south Mod and Contemporary collections.

Josephine F. Ford Sculpture Garden

In 2005, The Detroit Plant of Arts partnered with the College for Creative Studies to create the Josephine F. Ford Sculpture Garden, located on John R at Kirby Street. The works in the sculpture garden are from the DIA'southward collection, on loan to CCS.

A spectacular brandish of 20th-century sculpture, the two-acre site comprises 12 sculptures from the DIA'south permanent collection and was the urban center's first sculpture garden open to the public.

Walter E. Deaves, Diver, 1903, Wood paint and cloth. Detroit Institute of Arts.

Performing Arts

The Performing Arts Drove contains more than x,000 original film and theater photographs, posters, and ephemera from all over the earth. The materials date from the early 1900s to the nowadays.

Paul McPharlin Puppetry Collection

Puppets are used to tell stories and bring our imagination to life. This performing arts tradition is thousands of years one-time and is found in cultures from all over the world. The Paul McPharlin Puppetry Drove is ane of the most significant collections of theatrical puppets in the Us. The bulk of the collection is  American theatrical puppets fabricated between 1850 and 1950, but it also features:

  • stages and product sets
  • detailed records of American boob troupes
  • rare books that trace the aboriginal history of the puppet theater

Because many of the puppets in our collection are made of delicate materials that can be easily damaged, individual puppets cannot be on permanent display and are rotated every six months. But you tin can view examples hither on our website whatsoever time you want. Let a puppet spark your imagination.

Digitization of the American collection was fabricated possible by a grant from The Henry Luce Foundation. Digitization of the collection of prints, drawings, and photographs was fabricated possible in function by the Establish of Museum and Library Services. The DIA'south European Decorative Art storage project is funded in office by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Logo for the Henry Luce Foundation

Logo for the Institute of Museum and Library Services

Logo for the National Endowment for the Humanities