Museum  July 9, 2024  Megan D Robinson

10 Must-Sees At Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art

Created:
Author: abby
Courtesy of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art

Aerial view of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas

Skillfully designed by world-renowned architect Moshe Safdie, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art highlights the beauty of its art and surroundings, nestled in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains in Bentonville, Arkansas. 

Founded by Walmart heiress, philanthropist, and arts patron Alice Walton, Crystal Bridges has become one of the top art museums in the United States, offering amazing views, a sculpture park with nature trails, and an art collection spanning five centuries— ranging from portraits and landscapes to abstraction and immersive installations.

With so much to see, we’ve narrowed it down for you. Here are the top 10 pieces viewers can’t miss at Crystal Bridges. 

1 of 10
Norman Rockwell, WikiArt, Fair Use
Rosie the Riveter, 1943
1. Norman Rockwell, "Rosie The Riveter"

While the Early American Art Gallery is filled with figurative works by celebrated portrait artists and gorgeous landscapes by Hudson River School luminaries, the hands-down crowd favorite is Norman Rockwell’s (1894–1978) Rosie The Riveter (1943). 

Famous for his cover illustrations for The Saturday Evening Post, painter and illustrator Rockwell’s version of the 1940’s pop culture symbol of patriotic courage, Rosie the Riveter has a mythic heroic quality.

Posed like a prophet in a Michelangelo fresco, Rockwell’s Rosie— a muscular, young, white woman in denim overalls— sits with a rivet gun in her lap. Flexing while eating a ham sandwich, her boot rests on a copy of Hitler’s manifesto, Mein Kampf.

About the Author

Megan D Robinson

Megan D Robinson writes for Art & Object and the Iowa Source.