Rarely seen paintings on exhibit at Higgins Armory

The Higgins Armory Museum is the only museum devoted to collecting arms and armor in the United States. These collections are justifiably renowned, but other parts of our holdings are less well known. This Museum was opened by John Woodman Higgins in 1931. John Woodman Higgins was generally interested in steel-making, an industry in which he had made his fortune. Anything to do with steel drew his attention, as the Museum's innovative steel and glass building attests. But Higgins' interest as a collector extended beyond arms and armor and metalwork to include works of art in a variety of media, ranging in date from Pre-History through Classical Antiquity, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, Modern Art, and Applied and Industrial Art.

The Higgins Armory Museum is a case study for American turn-of-the-century philanthropy. Higgins, having made his fortune in Worcester, returned some of that wealth back to the community by creating this Museum, which closely reflects his personal taste. These paintings decorated his private home at 80 Williams Street in Worcester. His main interest in collecting paintings was to illustrate different styles of Armor, but in pursuing this goal, he acquired paintings of considerable interest and appeal.

In this first of a multi-part series of exhibitions, the rarely seen study collections of the Museum will be revealed. The Museum owns over 6,000 objects which include axes from the stone age, Renaissance decorative objects, furniture, prints, manuscripts, paintings, and of course the better known arms and armor. By revealing these little known areas of our collection, we invite visitors to share in the excitement of discovery - and to give a truer indication of the size and importance of our holdings.

The Higgins Armory Museum, located at 100 Barber Avenue in Worcester, Mass., is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10am to 4pm and Sunday, 12 to 4pm. The Museum is closed on Mondays and holidays. All WPI students are admitted free with their ID card, courtesy of the undergraduate social fee. Ample free parking is available.

The Higgins Armory Museum is the only institution in the Western Hemisphere solely dedicated to arms and armor. Programs and operations are supported in part by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency, and the Institute of Museum Services, a federal agency.