Columbus Museum of Art

Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Columbus Museum of Art
Location:	480 E. Broad St., Columbus, Ohio
Coordinates:	39°57′51″N 82°59′16″W / 39.96417°N 82.98778°W / 39.96417; -82.98778Coordinates: 39°57′51″N 82°59′16″W / 39.96417°N 82.98778°W / 39.96417; -82.98778
Built:	1931
Architect:	Richards, McCarty and Bulford; Robert Aitken
Architectural style:	Late 19th And 20th Century Revivals, Other
Governing body:	Private
NRHP Reference#:	92000173 [1]
Added to NRHP:	March 19, 1992

The Columbus Museum of Art is an art museum located in downtown Columbus, Ohio. Formed in 1878 as the Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts, it was the first art museum to register its charter with the state of Ohio.

Building

Its original building was the Sessions Mansion. It was replaced on the same site by the current building, which opened on January 22, 1931. It was designed by Columbus architects Richards, McCarty and Bulford. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 19, 1992, under its original name.^[1]

Collections

The museum had historically focused on European and American art up through the early modern period, but in recent years has branched into more contemporary art exhibits and a permanent photography collection.

Highlights of its permanent collection include early Cubist paintings by Picasso and Juan Gris, and works by Cézanne, Boucher, Ingres, Degas, Matisse, Monet, Edward Hopper, and Norman Rockwell. The Museum also has a substantial collection of paintings by Columbus native George Bellows. Its photography collection includes works by Berenice Abbott and Eugène Atget.

Most of the Museum's galleries are traditionally decorated with walls of various colors, rather than the stark white cubes of contemporary galleries. Those rooms housing pre-19th century European paintings have been hung in the old "salon style", with the walls covered by paintings hung directly above and next to one another, rather than spaced apart in single rows.

Temporary and traveling shows are also regularly featured. The most popular of these in recent years were Renoir's Women—featuring more than 30 works by the Impressionist master—and an exhibit of Dale Chihuly's glass sculptures, in which the massive, chaotic forms were installed in the midst of the traditional painting galleries.

The Museum also features an outdoor sculpture gallery, a cafe, and "Eye Spy: Adventures in Art", an interactive exhibit tailored towards educating children.

Future plans

The museum will undergo a massive reconstruction and expansion by 2012.

Gallery

• 

  Anthony van Dyck
  Christian Bruce, Countess of Devonshire
  Oil on canvas, 1635

• 

  Paul Cézanne
  Portrait Of Victor Chocquet Seated
  Oil on canvas, 1877

• 

  John Singer Sargent
  Carmela Bertagna
  Oil on canvas, 1879

• 

  Mary Cassatt
  Portrait of a Young Woman
  Pastel on paper, 1898

• 

  George Bellows
  Polo at Lakewood
  Oil on canvas, 1910

• 

  Robert Delaunay
  Portugese Woman
  Oil on canvas, 1916

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2008-04-15. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html. 

External links

• Columbus Museum of Art official site
• Columbus Museum of Art: "Art and Social Issues". In May 2005 the Columbus Museum of Art acquired the Philip J. and Suzanne Schiller Collection which chronicles art through social commentary from 1930–1970s. This section of their website provides images, descriptions, artist biographies, and resources to teachers and students.
• Columbus Museum of Art YouTube channel