Blanton Museum of Art. The Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin is one of the largest university art museums in the U.S. with 189,340 square feet devoted to temporary exhibitions, permanent collection galleries, storage, administrative offices, classrooms, a print study room, an auditorium, shop, and cafe. The Blanton's permanent collection consists of almost 18,000 works, with significant holdings of modern and contemporary art, Latin American art, Old Master paintings, and prints and drawings from Europe, the United States, and Latin America. The museum was founded in 1963 as the University Art Museum on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin. The University Art Museum was initially housed in the Art Department of the University of Texas and was founded through the proceeds from the sale of land donated by Archer M. Huntington. This land was donated with the stipulation that it be used to support an art museum at the University. In 1964, Donald Goodall became the museum's first director. By 1972, a portion of the museum's collection was housed at the Harry Ransom Humanities Center, while the print study room and temporary exhibition galleries remained at the Art Department. In 1979, Eric S. McCready became the museum's second director, and the museum was renamed the Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery shortly thereafter. In 1993, Jessie Otto Hite became the museum's third director. In 1994, Mari Michener, wife of novelist James Michener, gifted $5 million for the construction of a new museum complex, which would be the first dedicated space for the museum's permanent collection since its founding. The campaign to build a new building began in 1997 with a $12 million gift from the Houston Endowment, Inc. in honor of its then-chairman, Jack S. Blanton. The museum was renamed the Blanton Museum of Art, with construction on the new building commencing in 2003. Although the museum was built as designed by Kallmann McKinnell & Wood Architects, they were not the first architectural firm hired for the project. The notable Swiss-based architectural firm Herzog & de Meuron had originally been commissioned for the project, but resigned the commission in 1999 due to differences in their design and the wishes of the Board of Regents regarding the university's Campus Master Plan. Lawrence Speck, disappointed in the series of events that led to Herzog & de Meuron's resignation, resigned as dean of the School of Architecture, although he remains a faculty member. The new gallery building, named the Mari and James A. Michener Gallery Building, opened to the public with a 24-hour marathon celebration in 2006. A second education and administration building, totaling 56,000 square feet, opened in 2008. In 2009, Ned Rifkin was named to replace the retiring Jessie Otto Hite as director. In 2011, Simone Wicha was named director. The Blanton's permanent collection of almost 18,000 works is recognized for its European paintings, prints and drawings, and modern and contemporary American and Latin American art. The collection of European paintings, sculpture, and decorative arts before 1900 includes the Suida-Manning Collection of over 275 works, with paintings by Parmigianino, Paolo Veronese, Tiepolo, Rubens, Claude Lorrain, and Simon Vouet, along with many other European artists from the 15th through 18th centuries. The collection also includes works by lesser-known, but still historically significant, painters such as Daniele Crespi and Luca Cambiaso. While the Suida-Manning Collection predominantly showcases Italian and French artists, eighteenth-century English painting is represented by a group of portraits bequeathed by Jack G. Taylor, including George Romney's Lady Hamilton. The Blanton owns a collection of Greek, Etruscan, and Roman vases, the earliest of which date to the sixth century BCE. Many came from the Castle Ashby Collection formed by the Spencer Compton, 2nd Marquess of Northampton, who funded numerous excavations at Vulci, an Etruscan town north of Rome, during the 1820s. The Blanton's modern and contemporary art holdings comprise more than 4,000 objects. Novelist James Michener, and his wife, Mari Michener, began giving their collection of 20th-century American paintings to the Blanton in the 1960s. The gift spanned into the early 1990s and eventually totaled more than 300 works. The Micheners also gave acquisition funds to the museum, supporting the purchase of approximately 75 additional paintings. The museum's collection includes 20th-century artists such as Thomas Hart Benton, Alice Neel, and Brice Marden.