hallway, visitors pass the armor collection of William Randolph Hearst. Through the entry way is a grand marble court lined along the upper and lower levels with Diego Rivera’s Detroit Industry Murals, commissioned by Edsel Ford. The French-American architect Paul Philippe Cret designed the building. The museum is part of the city’s Cultural Center Historic District listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
The Institute is among the largest art museums in the United States and contains over 100 galleries. The museum houses the 1150-seat Detroit Film Theatre, also used to showcase famous collections. Officials at the DIA have ranked the American paintings collection third among museums in the United States. Works by American artists began to be collected immediately following the museum’s founding in 1883.
The collections of the Detroit Institute of Arts