Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, Florida

Highlights from this small but exceedingly well-curated museum on the Gulf Coast of Florida, which boasts a world-class encyclopedic art and photography collection. The Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, Florida, is a hidden gem, housing a well-respected and comprehensive art collection with more than 18,000 objects—a place where visitors can see a Monet, Vigee Le Brun, and a Tibetan Buddha from the fourteenth century all in one place. Founded by Margaret Acheson Stuart (1896–1980), the museum reflects her vision of providing outstanding examples of world art in an inviting, elegant setting. More than 200 works of art from all areas of the permanent collection are highlighted here, including examples by Morisot, Rodin, O’Keeffe, Kehinde Wiley, and Edward Steichen, as well as ancient Greek and Roman, Asian, African, Mesoamerican, and self-taught art, and decorative arts, including Tiffany glass. A special section is devoted to the photography collection, which is one of the largest and most respected in the Southeast. An introduction about the museum is accompanied by newly researched texts about each featured work, written by members of the museum’s curatorial staff and guest authors.