Taft Museum of Art

Infobox_nrhp | name =Taft Museum
nrhp_type = nhl

---

caption = Taft Museum of Art
location= Cincinnati, Ohio
lat_degrees = 39
lat_minutes = 6
lat_seconds = 9
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 84
long_minutes = 30
long_seconds = 12
long_direction = W
locmapin = Ohio
area =
built =1820
architect= Latrobe,Benjamin; Hoban,James
architecture= Federal
added = January 29, 1973
governing_body = Private
refnum=73001470cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2007-01-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service] The Taft Museum of Art is a house museum in Downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. The building which houses the museum was built as a villa on the edge of Cincinnati about 1820 for Martin Baum and then was the residence of Nicholas Longworth. David Sinton lived in the house with his daughter Anna, who married Charles Phelps Taft, the half-brother of President William Howard Taft. The Tafts lived in the house from 1873 until 1929. William H. Taft accepted his presidential nomination here in 1908. [http://www.fodors.com/miniguides/mgresults.cfm?destination=cincinnati@50&cur_section=sig&property_id=284204] The Tafts were avid art collectors. They turned their home into a museum, and donated their Greek Revival house and the collection of art that filled it to the people of Cincinnati in 1927. In the Tafts' gift of deed they stated, "We desire to devote our collection of pictures, porcelains, and other works of art to the people of Cincinnati in such a manner that they may be readily available for all."

The museum's collections include European old master paintings, with works by Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot, Thomas Gainsborough, Frans Hals, Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, and Adriaen van Ostade, among others, and 19th-century American paintings, including the well known murals by Robert Duncanson. The galleries in the historic house also include Chinese porcelains, European decorative arts, Limoges enamels, watches, sculptures, and furniture.

Collection highlights:
* Frank Duveneck, "The Cobbler's Apprentice", 1877.
* Henry Farny, "Song of the Talking Wire", 1904.
* Rembrandt van Rijn, "Portrait of a Man Rising from His Chair", 1633.
* J. M. W. Turner, "Europa and the Bull", ca. 1840-50.
* James Abbott McNeill Whistler," At the Piano", 1858-59.
* "Virgin and Child", Paris, Abbey of Saint-Denis, ca. 1260-80.

The museum reopened in May 2004 after an extensive renovation. The expansion includes a museum shop, the Carl H. Lindner Family Café, and a lecture and performance space, Luther Hall.

ee also

*William Howard Taft National Historic Site

References

External links

* [http://www.taftmuseum.org/ Taft Museum of Art online]
* [http://www.cincinnatimemory.org/gsdl/collect/greaterc/archives/HASH01ff/0edfaf58.dir/ocp002952pccpc.jpgPostcard Taft Home]