Outdoor Sculptures

The sculptures on the grounds surrounding the Brooks Museum's building are part of the museum's permanent collection.

Some of these works were commissioned by the museum, including Aquacade, the bronze fountain in the Holly Court, as well as the three marble sculptures of the seasons by Wheeler Williams standing in front of the niches of the original 1916 building.

Other works were gifted to the museum, including the lions that flank the west staircase. The lions originally ornamented the Hill Mansion (1898) on Union Avenue in Midtown and were given to the museum in 1979 after the house was demolished. George Rickey’s Two Lines Oblique No. 7 (ca.1968), a superb example of kinetic art outside the original 1916 entrance, was a gift of Art Today, a contemporary art support group. The bronze birdbath, by Edith Barretto Parsons, was donated to the museum in 1922 and was one of the first objects to enter into the collection. Among the most recent additions to the Brooks’ collection is the massive Memphis Portal by William Paley.

Albert Paley
American, b. 1944
Memphis Portal, 2005
Forged Steel
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art purchase; funds provided by Pitt and Barbara Hyde 2006.9. 1a-b
© Paley Studios, Ltd.

Albert Paley
American, b. 1944
Memphis Portal II, 2005
Forged Steel
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art purchase;
funds provided by Pitt and Barbara Hyde
2006.9.2
© Paley Studios, Ltd.

George Rickey
American, 1907 - 2002
Two Lines Oblique No. 7, ca. 1968
Stainless Steel
Gift of Art Today
73.7
© Estate of George Rickey/ VAGA , New York, NY

Frances Mallory Morgan
American, 1905 - 1987
Aquacade, 1949
Bronze
Memphis Park Commission purchase
49.54
© Estate of the artist

Edith Barretto Parsons
American, 1878 - 1956
Bronze Babe, 1921
Bronze
Gift of the Civic Department of the 19th Century Club in memory of Mrs. Robert Galloway, founder of the Memphis Park System
22.17
© Estate of the artist

James Buchman
American, b. 1948
Foil, 1982
Granite and steel
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art purchase
Funds provided by friends in memory of Annie Rose and Leslie Buchman, the artist's parents.
2004.10
© The artist

Italian
Two African Male Lions, ca. 1900
Limestone
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art;
Gift of Terry Bramlett
79.1.1,2

Wheeler Williams
American, 1897-1972
Spring, Summer, Fall, 1961
Carrara marble
Gift of the Little Garden Club
62.14.1-3
© Estate of the artist