The Kimbell presents a documentary film by the award-winning New York filmmaker Ultan Guilfoyle, based on the new book of the same name. Narrated by the book's author, Tim Madigan, this compelling story features high drama, disappointment, tragedy, and ultimately, triumph, as the inside story of the Kimbell Art Museum is told in Of the First Class for the first time.
When Texas business legend Kay Kimbell died in 1964, he left behind a sizable art collection and a vague but imposing mandate: to “build a museum of the first class.” No one could have foreseen the extent to which his dream would be accomplished.
His wife, Velma, his niece and heir, Kay Fortson, and her husband, Ben, achieved cultural greatness in an unlikely place and against all odds with help from visionary experts and profound architects. Today, the museum is heralded around the globe for the quality of its collections and the architectural achievements that house them.
