Detroit Institute of Arts was reason for visiting the city

The Thinker, Auguste Rodin, 1880; this is one of the 28 full-size castings of the Thinker and was placed outside the museum entrance when it was completed in 1927

Self-Portrait, Vincent Van Gogh, 1887; this work was purchased in 1922 and was the first painting by Van Gogh to enter an American public collection

The Detroit Industry Murals, Diego Rivera, 1932; commissioned by Edsel Ford and now a National Historic Landmark, these frescoes are considered the finest modern monumental artwork devoted to industry

Melancholy Woman, Pablo Picasso, 1902; this portrait (during Picasso's blue period) of a young woman sitting in a Paris prison is an expression of human misery

Red Ware Bowl with Painted Mountain Goats, 5500-4700 BC, Iran; the museum is part of the city's Cultural Center Historic District listed in the National Register of Historic Places

Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata, El Greco, 1586; the armor collection of William Randolph Hearst lines the main museum entry way to the grand court

Teapot, Paul Revere II, 1790; despite his reputation as an outstanding silversmith, Revere is best known for his midnight ride to alert the colonial militia in April 1775 to the approach of British forces before the battles of Lexington and Concord

Something You Can Feel, Mickalene Thomas, 2008; this artist paints strong Black women who are in tune with their own audacity and beauty in such unique ways

Girl and Laurel, Winslow Homer, 1879; the extensive American paintings collection is ranked third among museums in the United States

Center Table, Isaac Vose and Son, 1818; I was very impressed with the quality and selection of works on display at the museum (and admission was free!)

Benjamin Franklin, Jean-Antoine Houdon, 1778; the sculptor met Franklin in Paris with Ben persuading him to come to America where he created busts of George Washington

Self-Portrait with Monkey, Frida Kahlo, 1938; as part of the settlement of Detroit's bankruptcy, museum ownership was transferred back to Detroit Institute of Arts, in December 2014, returning the museum to its pre-1919 status as an independent non-profit

Reticulated Tea and Coffee Service in the Chinese Style, Sevres Porcelain, 1842; this exceptionally rare service was originally owned by Louis, duc de Nemours, son of the king of France

Dona Amalia Bonells de Costa, Francisco Goya, 1805; x-rays of the painting show that she was originally painted standing, wearing a brightly colored dress (but her father died and she went into mourning)

Cupboard, Kaspar Klein, 1677; an early inspiration for IKEA, Klein's masterpiece required that it be built in pieces that could be taken apart and then reassembled (probably with no instructions)

The Nut Gatherers, Adolphe-William Bouguereau, 1882; this stunning work is, by some accounts, the most popular painting in the collection

Gamin, Augusta Savage, 1930; the style of this sculptor, associated with the Harlem Renaissance, can be described as realistic, expressive, and sensitive

View of Le Crotoy from Upstream, Georges Seurat, 1889; at Robert Hudson Tannahill's death (Hudson's Department Store) in 1970, he bequeathed a large European art collection (works by Cézanne, van Gogh, Gauguin, Degas, Seurat, Matisse and Picasso)

Ewer with Ginseng Leaves, 1100-1200, Korea; the DIA collection is regarded as among the top six museums in the United States with an encyclopedic collection which spans the globe from ancient Egyptian and European works to contemporary art

The Transparent Simulacrum of the Feigned Image, Salvador Dali, 1938; the Detroit Institute of Art (DIA) had its genesis in an 1881 tour of Europe made by local newspaper magnate James E. Scripps

Ewer with the Medici-Habsburg Coat of Arms, 1575; Europeans strove to recreate China's translucent white porcelain with this piece, created in the Medici workshop in Florence, being one of their first

The Wedding Dance, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1566; this joyous painting celebrates Flemish traditions during a time when the country was ruled by the Spanish Habsburgs

Rounded Flower Bed, Claude Monet, 1876; In 1949, the museum was among the first to return a work that had been looted by the Nazis, when it returned Monet's The Seine at Asnières to its rightful owner

The Window, Henri Matisse, 1916; this work was purchased in 1922 and was the first painting by Matisse to enter an American public collection