The Columbus Museum of Art (CMA) is an art museum in downtown

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

. Formed in 1878 as the Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts (its name until 1978), it was the first art museum to register its charter with the state of Ohio. The museum collects and exhibits American and European modern and

contemporary art Contemporary art is a term used to describe the art of today, generally referring to art produced from the 1970s onwards. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a ...

folk art Folk art covers all forms of visual art made in the context of folk culture. Definitions vary, but generally the objects have practical utility of some kind, rather than being exclusively decorative art, decorative. The makers of folk art a ...

glass art Glass art refers to individual works of art that are substantially or wholly made of glass. It ranges in size from monumental works and installation pieces to wall hangings and windows, to works of art made in studios and factories, including gl ...

, and photography. The museum has been led by Executive Director Brooke Minto since 2023.

History

The CMA was founded in 1878 as the Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts. Beginning in 1919, it was housed in the Francis C. Sessions house, a founder of Columbus Art School (later known as Columbus College of Art and Design (CCAD). Sessions deeded the mansion and property to the art museum, which operated there until 1923. The house was demolished, with the current museum built on its site. The museum's Beaton Hall (administrative offices) includes elements from the entranceway of the Sessions house. The current building was built on the same site from 1929 to 1931, opening on January 22, 1931. In 1974, a visually unobtrusive structure was added to the rear of the building. The museum building was added to the

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on March 19, 1992, under its original name. The Columbus Museum of Art began a massive reconstruction and expansion in 2007. The first new space opened on January 1, 2011, after 13 months of construction. The space, called the Center for Creativity, is an space that includes galleries, gathering areas, and places for workshops that allow visitors to engage in hands-on activities. On October 25, 2015, the new Margaret M. Walter wing opened to the public, adding 50,000 square feet of addition and 40,000 square feet of major renovation to the Museum. The Margaret M. Walter Wing was designed by Michael Bongiorno of the Columbus-based architecture firm DesignGroup. The museum concurrently revealed a new brand identity led by the Columbus, Ohio-based branding agenc
Blackletter
In September 2018, the Pizzuti Collection, a museum in the Short North, was donated to the CMA, along with part of its collection. The museum opened as a part of the Columbus Museum of Art that year. The museum and its Pizzuti Collection branch temporarily closed beginning in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Columbus Museum of Art is part of the Monuments Men and Women Museum Network, launched in 2021 by the Monuments Men Foundation for the Preservation of Art.

Ross Building layout and architecture

The 1931 museum building, today known as the Elizabeth M. and Richard M. Ross Building, was designed in the

Second Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century Revivalism (architecture), architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival architecture, Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival ar ...

style by Columbus architects Richards, McCarty and Bulford. It has a concrete foundation, walls of limestone and concrete, and a truncated copper hipped roof. The building is horizontal, two stories high, and has a central structure advanced several feet in front of its two wings. The wings feature large limestone friezes, together known as ''The Frederick W. Schumacher Frieze'' or ''Masters of Art''. The work, by Robert Ingersoll Aitken and named after Frederick W. Schumacher, depicts 68 artists from 490 B.C. to 1925 A.D. The original main entryway consists of three arched portals to the interior. The facade here includes decorative moldings, keystones, bulls-eye medallions, and stone quoins. A frieze hung above the arches, with the name "Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts". A set of sixteen limestone steps leads to the sidewalk, flanked by two Italian-style lamp posts. The Center for Creativity, on the first floor of the museum, includes a Creativity Lounge, The Studio, The Wonder Room, the Big Idea Gallery, and an Open Gallery.

Gallery

File:Columbus Museum of Art 03.jpg, Current museum entrance File:Columbus Museum of Art.jpg, The Ross Building, built in 1931 File:Columbus Museum of Art 07.jpg, The Walter Wing, built in 2015

Collections

The permanent collection includes outstanding late nineteenth and early twentieth-century American and European modern works of art. Major collections include the Ferdinand Howald Collection of early Modernist paintings, the Sirak Collection of Impressionist and Expressionist works, the

Photo League The Photo League was a cooperative of photographers in New York City, New York who banded together around a range of common social and creative causes. Founded in 1936, the League included some of the most noted American photographers of the mid-20 ...

Collection, and the Philip and Suzanne Schiller Collection of American Social Commentary Art. The Museum houses the largest collections of works by Columbus born artists Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson, Elijah Pierce, and George Bellows. Highlights include early Cubist paintings by

Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

and Juan Gris, works by

François Boucher François Boucher ( , ; ; 29 September 1703 – 30 May 1770) was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher, who worked in the Rococo style. Boucher is known for his idyllic and voluptuous paintings on classical themes, decorative allegories ...

Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter whose work introduced new modes of representation, influenced avant-garde artistic movements of the early 20th century a ...

Mary Cassatt Mary Stevenson Cassatt (; May 22, 1844June 14, 1926) was an American painter and printmaker. She was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania (now part of Pittsburgh's North Side (Pittsburgh), North Side), but lived much of her adult life in France, whe ...

Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres ( ; ; 29 August 1780 – 14 January 1867) was a French Neoclassicism, Neoclassical Painting, painter. Ingres was profoundly influenced by past artistic traditions and aspired to become the guardian of academic ...

Edgar Degas Edgar Degas (, ; born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, ; 19 July 183427 September 1917) was a French Impressionist artist famous for his pastel drawings and oil paintings. Degas also produced bronze sculptures, prints, and drawings. Degas is e ...

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual arts, visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, ...

Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, ; ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of Impressionism painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During his ...

Edward Hopper Edward Hopper (July 22, 1882 – May 15, 1967) was an American realism painter and printmaker. He is one of America's most renowned artists and known for his skill in depicting modern American life and landscapes. Born in Nyack, New York, to a ...

, and

Norman Rockwell Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978) was an American painter and illustrator. His works have a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of Culture of the United States, the country's culture. Roc ...

, and installations by Mel Chin, Josiah McElheny, Susan Philipsz, and Allan Sekula. Sculptures include: '' Hare on Ball and Claw'', '' Intermediate Model for the Arch'', '' Out of There'', '' The Family of Man: Figure 2, Ancestor II'', ''

The Mountain The Mountain () was a political group during the French Revolution. Its members, called the Montagnards (), sat on the highest benches in the National Convention. The term, first used during a session of the Legislative Assembly, came into ge ...

'', '' Three-Piece Reclining Figure: Draped 1975'', '' Two Lines Up Excentric Variation VI'', '' Wasahaban''. The collection can be browsed on the museum's website.

Selections from the permanent collection

File:Anthony van Dyck - Christian Bruce.jpg,

Anthony van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (; ; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Flemish Baroque painting, Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Spanish Netherlands and Italy. The seventh child of ...

, ''Christian Bruce'', 1635 File:David and Bathsheba by Artemisia Gentileschi.jpg,

Artemisia Gentileschi Artemisia Lomi Gentileschi ( ; ; 8 July 1593) was an Italian Baroque painter. Gentileschi is considered among the most accomplished 17th century, 17th-century artists, initially working in the style of Caravaggio. She was producing professional ...

, ''David and Bathsheba'', c. 1610–1675 File:Vigée-Lebrun, Elisabeth - Varvara Naryshkina.jpg, Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun, ''Varvara Naryshkina'', 1800 File:Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres - Raphael and the Baker's Daughter (1840).jpg,

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres ( ; ; 29 August 1780 – 14 January 1867) was a French Neoclassicism, Neoclassical Painting, painter. Ingres was profoundly influenced by past artistic traditions and aspired to become the guardian of academic ...

, ''Raphael and the Baker's Daughter'', 1840 File:The Coal Carriers by Rosa Bonheur, Columbus Museum of Art.JPG,

Rosa Bonheur Rosa Bonheur (born Marie-Rosalie Bonheur; 16 March 1822 – 25 May 1899) was a French artist known best as a painter of animals (animalière). She also made sculptures in a Realism (arts), realist style. Her paintings include ''Ploughing in the N ...

, ''The Coal Carriers'', 1851 File:Winslow Homer - Haymaking (1864).jpg, Winslow Homer, ''Haymaking'', 1864 File:Albert Bierstadt - Landscape (c. 1867-1869).jpg, Albert Bierstadt, ''Landscape'', c. 1867–1869 File:Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot - The Little Bird Nesters (1873-1874).jpg,

Camille Corot Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot ( , , ; 16 July 1796 – 22 February 1875), or simply Camille Corot, was a French landscape and portrait painter as well as a printmaker in etching. A pivotal figure in landscape painting, his vast output si ...

, ''The Little Bird Nesters'', 1873 File:Albert Pinkham Ryder - Spirit of Autumn (c. 1875).jpg,

Albert Pinkham Ryder Albert Pinkham Ryder (March 19, 1847 – March 28, 1917) was an American painter best known for his poetic and moody allegory, allegorical works and seascapes, as well as his Eccentricity (behavior), eccentric personality. While his art shared an ...

, ''Spirit of Autumn'', 1875 File:Pierre-Auguste Renoir - Madame Henriot en travesti.jpg,

Pierre-Auguste Renoir Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; ; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) was a French people, French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionism, Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty and especially femininity, fe ...

, ''Madame Henriot 'en travesti' (The Page)'', 1875–76 File:Portrait de Victor Chocquet assis, par Paul Cézanne.jpg,

, portrait of '' Victor Chocquet'', 1877 File:Carmela Bertagna John Singer Sargent.jpg,

John Singer Sargent John Singer Sargent (; January 12, 1856 – April 15, 1925) was an American expatriate artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian era, Edwardian-era luxury. He created roughly 900 oil ...

''Carmela Bertagna''
Oil on canvas, 1879 File:Mary Cassatt - Susan Comforting the Baby No. 1 (c. 1881) 01.JPG,

, ''Susan Comforting the Baby No. 1'', c. 1881 File:William Michael Harnett - After the Hunt (1883) 02.jpg, William Michael Harnett, ''After the Hunt'', 1883 File:The Mediterranean (Cap d'Antibes) by Claude Monet, Columbus Museum of Art .JPG,

, ''The Mediterranean (Cap d'Antibes)'', 1888 File:Pierre-Auguste Renoir - Christine Lerolle Embroidering (c. 1895).jpg, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, ''Christine Lerolle Embroidering'', c. 1895 File:Henri Rousseau - The tiger hunt.jpg,

Henri Rousseau Henri Julien Félix Rousseau (; 21 May 1844 – 2 September 1910)
at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, Gug ...

, ''Tiger Hunt'', c. 1895 File:Cassatt - Portrait of a Young Woman.jpg,

''Portrait of a Young Woman'', Pastel on paper, 1898 File:Girl Asleep by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Columbus Museum of Art .JPG,

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (6 May 1880 – 15 June 1938) was a German Expressionism, expressionist Painting, painter and printmaker and one of the founders of the artists group Die Brücke or "The Bridge", a key group leading to the foundation of Expr ...

, ''Girl Asleep'', 1905–06 File:'Cosmos' by Marsden Hartley, Columbus Museum of Art.jpg, Marsden Hartley, ''Cosmos'', Oil on Canvas, 1908–09 File:Men and Mountains by Rockwell Kent, Columbus Museum of Art.JPG, Rockwell Kent, ''Men and Mountains'', 1909 File:Middleton Manigault - The Rocket (1909).jpg, Edward Middleton Manigault - ''The Rocket'', 1909 File:Ernst Ludwig Kirchner - Tower Room, Fehmarn (1913) 02.jpg,

, ''Tower Room, Fehmarn'', 1913 File:Juan Gris - Glass of Beer and Playing Cards.jpg, Juan Gris, ''Glass of Beer and Playing Cards,'' 1914 File:Pre-War Pageant by Marsden Hartley, 1914.JPG, Marsden Hartley, ''Pre-War Pageant'', 1914 File:Jacques Villon, 1914, Portrait de M. J. B. peintre (Jacques Bon), oil on canvas, 121.92 x 81.28 cm, Columbus Museum of Art.jpg,

Jacques Villon Jacques Villon (July 31, 1875 – June 9, 1963), also known as Gaston Duchamp, was a French Cubist and Abstract art, abstract painter and printmaker. Early life Born Émile Méry Frédéric Gaston Duchamp in Damville, Eure, Damville, Eure, ...

, ''Portrait de M. J. B. peintre (Jacques Bon)'', 1914 File:Pablo Picasso, 1914-15, Nature morte au compotier (Still Life with Compote and Glass), oil on canvas, 63.5 x 78.7 cm (25 x 31 in), Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio.jpg,

, ''Nature morte au compotier (Still Life with Compote and Glass)'', oil on canvas, 1914–15 File:George Wesley Bellows - Riverfront No. 1 (1915).jpg, George Wesley Bellows, ''Riverfront No. 1,'' 1915 File:Twilight Moon by Charles Burchfield, 1916, Columbus Museum of Art.JPG, Charles Burchfield, ''Twilight Moon'', 1916 File:Lhasa,1916.jpg,

Charles Sheeler Charles Sheeler (July 16, 1883 – May 7, 1965) was an American artist known for his Precisionism, Precisionist paintings, commercial photographer, commercial photography, and the 1921 avant-garde film, ''Manhatta'', which he made in collaboratio ...

, ''Lhasa'', 1916 File:Delaunay Portuguese Woman.jpg,

Robert Delaunay Robert Delaunay (; 12 April 1885 – 25 October 1941) was a French artist of the School of Paris movement; who, with his wife Sonia Delaunay and others, co-founded the Orphism (art), Orphism art movement, noted for its use of strong colours and g ...

, ''Portuguese Woman'', Oil on canvas, 1916 File:William Glackens - Beach Scene, New London (1918).jpg, William Glackens, ''Beach Scene, New London," 1918 File:The Tower by Charles Demuth, Columbus Museum of Art.jpg, Charles Demuth, ''The Tower'', 1920

References

External links

*
Catalogue of the Art Collection of Mr. F. C. Sessions (1890)
{{National Register of Historic Places in Ohio 1878 establishments in Ohio Art museums and galleries established in 1878 Art museums and galleries in Ohio Educational buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio Buildings and structures in Downtown Columbus, Ohio Institutions accredited by the American Alliance of Museums Museums in Columbus, Ohio Museums on the National Register of Historic Places National Register of Historic Places in Columbus, Ohio Broad Street (Columbus, Ohio)