The Kreeger Museum

Highly recommended, should be mentioned in the same breath as the Phillips Collection though slightly quieter and afterward.
Surprisingly, and absolutely, good for an obscure and idiosyncratic museum. In fact the collection is broad enough, and of such popular artists/​genre that the museum isn’t very idiosyncratic inside. The paintings tend to be more colorful than works by the same artists visible in more prominent museums. The sculpture yard (more of a yard than a garden) is quite nice, and intensely peaceful after the hubbub of the National Gallery’s oversubscribed sculpture garden/​outdoor café. The building is quite nice: it feels like an older building attempting to be timeless; which it pulls off due to its alienness of feeling like both an odd house and a very nice gallery space.

Went to the Kreeger Museum on Saturday for yoga in the sculpture garden and then stayed to tour the museum. First off, the yoga in the sculpture garden was great and incredibly relaxing next to the reflecting pool. It is exciting to see so many venues offering free yoga around DC and I hope the Kreeger Museum will continue to do this. Even if you’re not a yogi though a trip to the Kreeger Museum is a must! This is an architectural and artistic gem away from all the ‘touristy’ DC area. We decided to take the noon tour and we so incredibly fortunate to have the Head of Education, Antonia, as our guide. At some point most tours can get pretty dry but Antonia had me captivated the entire time. Beyond her vast knowledge of the museum/​house and artwork, she was very engaging and personable. The collection itself was stunning and learning the stories beyond each piece made it that much more meaningful. The Kreeger Museum reminded me a lot of Peggy Guggenheim’s house in Venice, Italy; it was intimate, inviting and a true treat for any fan of modern art. I will definitely be visiting again and hope to attend on of the concerts in the Grand Hall.

Although its location is somewhat oddly placed in comparison to other museums in D.C. and away from the city, it is a beautiful property and a great place to observe rare, stunning original works from artists such as Monet, Picasso, and Van Gogh. It is worth the price of admission ($ 10 I believe) and the sculpture gardens that are underway will definitely be a sight to see!

The Kreeger museum used to be the family residence its modern architecture was probably ahead of its time. The museum housed a nice collection of Impressionism paintings — Renoir, Monet, and sculpture — Rodin, post-​impressionism Cezanne, Pissaro, and Picasso, Miro and Kandinsky. We walked around the different rooms and to the outside space as well. The building looked like it needed to be refreshed. There was a room in the front with some portraits of the owners and some photos. Mr Kreeger was the CEO of GEICO at one point. Fun day at the museum.

The Kreeger Museum is a great place to take children to expose them to art on a small scale, however, be sure to take them on a Friday or Saturday when you do not have to take a tour. I took my grandson, age 6, on a tour on election day. The tour guide tolerated my grandson who is very well behaved and very smart. The lady at the ticket desk was delightful and gave my grandson a book with pictures of little clippings from various paintings. The child is supposed to find the paintings that contain the pictures in the book. My grandson loved looking for those paintings. The tour is really too long for a child, in fact, even the older children present were bored. My grandson wanted to linger in the main hall but everyone must move with the tour guide as there is not enough staff to monitor the various rooms during the week. During the tour, some of the adults wandered over to talk to my grandson who was eager to tell them all about Van Gogh’s ear. The grounds and sculptures are wonderful for children.

A hidden gem in DC and a must see for people who enjoy small collections. This private museum, while difficult to get to without a car, is well worth the visit. Be sure to get a tour, as the docents are very knowledgeable about the art, the architecture and the history of the building. Our docent tour guide Irene was wonderful. The 90 minute tour went by too quickly. Well definitely come back the next time we are in DC

This museum would be worth the visit, if for no reason, because of the building itself, a masterpiece house by Philip Johnson, built in travertine with an incredible swimming pool (now turned into a fountain). The collection includes masterpieces by many major Impressionist and modern artists and a few excellent pieces of Asian art. I was less interested in the temporary exhibition and some of the outdoor sculptures. Also, a bit more explanatory text about the art might be a welcome enhancement.

The Kreeger is a gem among the DC museums! Away from the busy Mall you will find a beautifully designed building by Philip Johnson, an exquisite collection of paintings and … the stunning Sculpture Garden, located in acres around the museum, features work by Jean Arp, John L, Dreyfuss, Carol Brown Goldberg, Rainer Lagemann, Jacques Lipchitz, Dalya Luttwak, Aristide Maillol, Henry Moore, Isamu Noguchi, George Rickey, Lucien Wercollier and notable Washington, DC artists Kendall Buster, Ledelle Moe, Wendy Ross, John Ruppert and Foon Sham.
If you enjoy sculpture this is a must!

4.25
With all the free museums, it is hard to be convinced that paying for one is worthwhile. But this place is worth the 10 dollars and the trek. In fact, I would recommend making a day of it and including Kemble Battery Park and/​or Glover Archbold Park and make a slight detour hare as I did.
Any way, because it is tucked away, you do not really get the hoards of people that you normally would get around DCs major museums downtown. You have some Monets (not as big of a fan), Van Gogh and Picassos mixed in with some more modern art and sculptures, which I really liked. Plus, the reflecting pool in early May is peaceful and serene. If you are lucky enough to have it to yourself, enjoy it! The current exhibit in the basement, K@20 is really interesting and it was a highlight of 14 modern Washington artists.
The folks who work here were nice. My only gripe is the place is quite small for ten dollars. I would imagine the average person would spend 45 – 90 minutes. I took my time and sat a few times and finished in about 75. Otherwise, this is a gem, go out and see it!

A true hidden gem. And I mean hidden. We google mapped this lovely little art museum, and the gps led us astray a good couple blocks down the wrong road. Once we realized we were in the middle of nowhere and figured our way there, the next obstacle was parking. There is not much parking. But, someone inside was able to help us find a random spot in the driveway where we could camp the car.
Thankfully, it was worth the hassle. This place used to be Kreeger’s home, and I can’t imagine living in a palace like this — the grounds are as beautiful as the art itself. The patio and reflecting pool out back were an especially big hit — so gorgeous. And great photo op! My girlfriend started wondering aloud if they allow marriages back there hmmmmmmm.
The art itself is pretty great, too, especially the lovely and surprisingly large Monet collection. They have tours running almost constantly, and they’re fine with you walking up half way and joining in. The place is pretty small, so you could probably get the full experience in about an hour. For a quick afternoon jaunt, it’s perfect.

Cyndy’s Bottom Line: Intimate art collection interesting history of the house and the philanthropist behind the collection.

A total hidden gem in Georgetown– if you’re looking for a fun new place to check out as a local tourist, this is definitely it! The architecture is beautiful and there’s some really lovely places to sit outside (a day in the Fall or Spring would be ideal, but we went in the middle of summer and it was still lovely). Be sure to look up tour times and check them out.

I love this museum. A little hard to get to, and you have to pay, but it’s worth it! The modern and African art in the basement were my favorite. The sculptures outside are cool too, and we saw deer in their backyard!

The house itself and the collection deserve at least 4 stars, but I wasn’t a huge fan of the tour. I should note that I generally don’t like guided tours — I’d rather look around on my own and stop to read about the things I’m interested in. And this tour was particularly long-​winded. It’s sort of a good thing we took the tour, though, because doing so was the really the only way to learn about the artwork. There were plaques next to the pieces saying who the artist was, but didn’t include any extra information about technique, etc. I wish they would provide a pamphlet or other reading material for visitors who would rather not go on an hour-​long guided tour. The tour guide was very knowledgeable, and obviously passionate about the subject matter, but could have kept the tour a bit shorter by not including her own personal opinions about the art. I would go back to the gallery again, but would explore on my own, rather than taking the tour.

A visit to the Kreeger is like going to your really rich friend’s amazing house to look at his incredible personal art collection. The only other place where I’ve been able to get as close to a Monet was the Musée Marmottan in Paris. At the Kreeger, there’s a wonderful little room where you can just sit and stare at them forever. Or walk right up to them.
But you’ll find more than Monets. There are several Picasso pieces, and a collection of African masks and some giant, beautiful modern art pieces. The building itself is gorgeous, and the grounds have several large sculptures.
I’ve lived in DC on and off for more than a decade, but only recently visited the Kreeger, partially because it is not really accessible by public transportation. Because of this, the museum is rarely busy or crowded. It is a nice little escape from the hordes in the Smithsonians and the National Gallery. I feel like it’s a well-​kept secret.
The Kreeger is small, so you don’t need a lot of time to see the entire collection. You could do it in an hour. But it’s much nicer to take some time out of your day to just let everything soak in and appreciate it. There’s no need to rush.

Finally came to the Kreeger thanks to a Living Social deal. I have to agree with Jennifer N.‘s assessment. This is an interesting place to check out once, I but cannot picture myself returning. The number of pieces displayed is not large, and many of them are underwhelming. And this type of modern 1960s building depresses me for some reason. However, the Kreeger (just like the Hillwood) is definitely worth a visit just to see how the 1% used to live.

I absolutely love museums, and I’m particularly a fan of small museums (the Gardner, the Frick, and so on). I found the Kreeger, though, a bit underwhelming. It certainly does have a lot of paintings by the Masters (Van Gogh, Monet, Picasso, Miro, to name just a few) but many are not the greatest works of the Masters (the one exception was an exceptional room of Miros– some of the very best I’ve seen outside of the Miro museum in Barcelona). And if you’ve seen some of the Greatest Hits by the Masters (most of which are on view at DC’s other museums), these paintings might not totally excite you. The «sculpture garden» is tiny (for some reason, I was expecting a more exciting outdoor experience).
And while everyone working at the Kreeger was super friendly, we did have a docent yell at us after my friend’s 5 year old daughter asked me — in a not very loud voice — «where is the bathroom?» The docent said «Excuse me! Quiet!» which I found a bit odd since it’s a museum not a library (this was particularly odd since the friendly woman working the front desk told me how much the Kreeger folk liked having children come in).
All of this to say, the Kreeger is certainly a novelty– a museum on Foxhall Road!- but it only captured my interest for about an hour, and unlike most of DC museums, there’s not enough here that I would return.

This is a fantastic museum. It’s. It overwhelming and the art and the sculpture garden is great. The collection is recognizable and diverse. You see the masters. Go when it’s warm out so you can spend sometime outside. This is a great place to kill an hour. The art and the mansion are wonderful. I wonder what it would have been like to live here like the Kreegers did. The staff are knowledgable and very kind. Well worth the trip. No café or anything but a great place. I wouldn’t bring kids here though as its a look-​and see museum. No interactive exhibits, just collections.

Well-​worth the trip to the far corner of NW. There is an excellent docent tour lead by Ted Leib — see if you can join his group. The Impressionism collection is most impressive, the modern and African collections not so much. It’s a perfect museum you can digest in an hour and a half.
There is a wonderful black-​tie undraiser held in October called the ‘Fête Française.’ His Excellency, The Ambassador of France attends. French jazz music is played. The evening concludes with a dessert buffet and cordial bar under the stars on the Sculpture Terrace out back. And I live on the other coast why???

The Geico man brought out a magnificent collection of art. Besides the Picasso that captured my eyes are the masks in the back of the lower level. There were like tribal masks and such. Me being me, I tried looking at it from the back side wondering how people can just wear a wooden mask. There’s also a small collection of sculptures to keep the imagination running.