In its early years, the Milwaukee Art Museum (and its predecessors) depended on donations of artwork from wealthy patrons, amassing not only a large collection of 19th-century pieces from German-speaking Europe (no surprise), but also a good selection of Modern art from the 20th century. In recent decades MAM has mounted challenging exhibitions with sound scholarship and superb art—pulling from traveling exhibitions, borrowing from other museums and drawing from its own permanent collection. Check out the current exhibit of late work by Andy Warhol.

Milwaukee Art Museum
700 N. Art Museum Drive
414-224-3200 

http://www.mam.org/

Runners-up: Milwaukee Public Museum, Harley-Davidson Museum