Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art history

Returning once more to the United States, he was made the Gallery's Curator of Oriental Art in 1935.

By 1941, Sickman's purchases of Chinese art had given the Nelson Gallery one of the best Asian collections in the United States.

Paul Gardner served as a Monuments Man in Europe, returning to the Nelson in December 1945.

The recipient of a bachelor's degree in art history from Oberlin College and a master's in architecture from Yale, he had worked at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. before coming to the Nelson Gallery in 1959 as Curator of Painting and Sculpture.

The exhibition of 385 pieces was a result of the détente between the United States and Communist China that Richard Nixon's 1972 trip to that country had begun.

Ted Coe requested a sabbatical from his duties as Director in March 1982 and resigned at the end of June, having worked at the Nelson for 23 years, including 4½ years as Director.

The museum, which was locally referred to as the Nelson Art Gallery or simply the Nelson Gallery, was actually two museums until 1983 when it was formally named the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

The latter was expanded in 1996 and renamed the Kansas City Sculpture Park.

Architect Steven Holl won an international competition in 1999 for the design of the addition.

The proportion of African Americans steadily grew, reaching nearly one-third of Kansas City’s residents by 2000.

Architect Steven Holl won an international competition in 1999 for the design of the addition. It opened in fall of 2005.

The addition cost approximately $95 million and opened June 9, 2007.

In 2013, the combination of Steven Holl Architects and BNIM was selected to build a $100 million addition to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts that will be modeled somewhat on the Bloch Addition.