Description
The Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art is a small museum on Lighthouse Hill, a quiet residential hill on Staten Island, built to look like a rustic Himalayan monastery. It holds one of the largest collections of Himalayan art in the United States.
Inside is the art of Tibet and the Himalayas gathered by its founder, who also designed the buildings. Outside, the terraced gardens surround a pond with fish and lotus, part of the museum's charm as much as the collection.
Jacques Marchais was a woman: an actress from Cincinnati, born in 1887, who began collecting after moving to Staten Island around 1920. She opened the museum in 1947 without ever having set foot in Tibet or the Himalayas. When the Dalai Lama visited in 1991, he praised its authenticity.
Inside is the art of Tibet and the Himalayas gathered by its founder, who also designed the buildings. Outside, the terraced gardens surround a pond with fish and lotus, part of the museum's charm as much as the collection.
Jacques Marchais was a woman: an actress from Cincinnati, born in 1887, who began collecting after moving to Staten Island around 1920. She opened the museum in 1947 without ever having set foot in Tibet or the Himalayas. When the Dalai Lama visited in 1991, he praised its authenticity.