The BFAA’s new building, named the Albright Art Gallery in honor of John J. Albright, is dedicated and opened to the public on May 31, 1905. Attendees view the Inaugural Loan Collection of Paintings, featuring 237 works by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Thomas Gainsborough, Rembrandt van Rijn, James McNeill Whistler, and many others.

In 1927, BFAA Board Member Colonel Charles Clifton donated funds to renovate the abandoned Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences building on Elmwood Avenue for the Albright Art School. The remodeled building was named Clifton Hall in his honor and opened for art classes in 1929.

Seymour H. Knox, Jr., and his mother, Grace Millard Knox, provided the funds to establish an art library for museum staff, the Albright Art School, and the public.

John J. Albright commissioned Augustus Saint-Gaudens to create the Eight Caryatid Figures on the 1905 Building. Although they were part of the building’s original architectural design, and were completed by Saint-Gaudens between 1906 and 1907, they were not permanently installed until after funds were secured for their purchase in 1933.

During his 46 years on the BFAA’s Board, Green saw firsthand the need for expansion. He drafted plans calling for two large galleries built on the north and south porticos, and a large addition, the Elmwood Avenue portico, which included an auditorium, two more exhibition galleries, a library, and offices for staff. The addition would have doubled the square footage of the 1905 Building. It is unclear why this plan did not move forward.

Due to increased demands from schools and the public, the Education Department moved from a single room in the South Wing of the 1905 Building to new quarters on the ground floor, which could be accessed by a separate entrance from Elmwood Avenue.

This second new wing was added to offer yet more classroom space for the Albright Art School.

Early in 1958, Buffalo native Gordon Bunshaft, of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill of New York, was asked to draw up new designs for a separate addition to the Albright Art Gallery.

Plans for the new addition also called for much-needed renovations to the interior and exterior of the 1905 Building.

On Friday, January 19, 1962, the museum’s Gordon Bunshaft–designed addition was dedicated by New York State Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller and the museum was renamed the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in honor of its patron Seymour H. Knox, Jr., and his family. The Members’ Opening of the addition took place on January 20 and the museum officially opened to the public on January 21, 1962.

This long-awaited renovation addressed the museum’s need for more exhibition and storage space, and provided visitors with a resource center that included an expanded art reference library (renamed the G. Robert Strauss, Jr. Memorial Library), slide and videotape libraries, and a study center. The building reopened to the public on May 22, 1992.

In January 1998, the museum received $2 million in federal funding for the repair and rehabilitation of its buildings, including the replacement of the air-handling systems in the 1905 and 1962 Buildings. After completion, the museum was equipped with state-of-the-art heating, air-conditioning, and humidity controls that met strict federal guidelines and complied with recognized museum standards for conservation.

After an extensive review of proposals from dozens of world-class architects, the Albright-Knox selected the award-winning architectural firm OMA to expand and refurbish the museum’s historic campus. The project will be OMA’s first art museum in the United States. Shohei Shigematsu, Partner at OMA North America, will partner with the museum and consult with the community to develop a vision for a renewed and revitalized Albright-Knox.

Learn More about the AK360 Campus Development and Expansion Project