The Bass
Former public library turned Art Deco museum of contemporary art, faced in rough coral limestone.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to The Bass in Miami Beach follows John and Johanna Bass, a couple who fled Vienna and donated more than five hundred works of art to the city in 1963 on one condition: the museum had to stay open forever. It traces the doubts Miami Beach residents raised about the collection's authenticity, and the outside investigation the Art Dealers Association was asked to conduct in 1969. Look up at the carved friezes of galleons and pelicans on the old library facade as you listen.
This audio guide was created using AI.
Similar places
Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami
Free contemporary art museum in a magnet-shaped building, born from a bitter city lawsuit.
Lowe Art Museum
University art museum spanning five thousand years of world art, from Renaissance masters to contemporary glass.
Rubell Museum
Contemporary art museum spanning six former industrial warehouses turned into forty galleries.
Deering Estate
Mediterranean Revival stone mansion built fireproof to guard a millionaire's art collection, on a wild coastal estate.
Vizcaya Museum & Gardens
Bay-front Italianate villa staged with European antiques to fake centuries of family history.
Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum
Glass-and-steel university museum with a floating suspended staircase and thousands of works spanning cultures and centuries.