When you get to the top of the steps in the Great Hall of the Cincinnati Art Museum, you face a wall of stained glass. If you go to the right, on the wall by the doorway is an interactive display where you can see how layering different colors of glass affects the color you see.
American Art
Through the doorway, you enter the American Art galleries. One of the first pieces I came across really intrigued me. I don’t remember seeing it before. The bookcase was created to display books with ornate bindings. The oak shelves are very ornately carved with an author’s name carved into each shelf. This bookcase was owned by Henry Probasco who also commissioned the Tyler Davidson Fountain.
One of my favorite paintings, in this
collection, is Horace Pippin’s Christmas Morning, Breakfast. It’s not often you see a painting of a family doing something as simple as enjoying Christmas morning breakfast. It is a tradition that my family enjoys.
European Art
One of my absolute favorite pieces in the Cincinnati Art Museum is the Toy Kitchen. It was created in the late 18th century in Nuremberg, Germany.
We have always referred to this painting as the one with the baby holding a sucker. I have always found this a little odd as I doubt they had suckers in 1635. I actually stopped and read the description next to the painting and found out that it is in fact not a sucker but a cherry that the child is holding.
The galleries toward the front of the building and the balcony wrapping around the second floor of the lobby contain Christian artwork. There are recreated spaces that display the Frescos from the Hermitage of San Baudelio de Berlanga.
The balcony area houses many depictions of the Madonna and Child. This particular one stood out to me because the colors were so vibrant.
Artwork in the Great Hall
On the second floor of the Great Hall, there are several artworks that I found absolutely beautiful! The first one I came across was Deli-Going to Lunch by Emily Brock. It is a miniature deli created completely out of glass. It was amazing that someone could make something so detailed from glass.
The next intriguing piece was a quilted piece called Fiber Spirits by Lenore Davis which depicted acrobatic figures.
Two other glass pieces I really enjoyed were Untitled by Ginny Ruffer and X by Karla Trinkley.
Art Deco
With the current special exhibit, Joseph Urban’s Art Deco Bedroom, there have been additional Art Deco pieces added around the art museum. These lamps by Walter von Nessen and clock by Jean Puiforcat are two examples.
Modern & Contemporary Art
Andy Warhol’s paintings of the Campbell’s Soup Can and Pete Rose live among a variety of other Modern & Contemporary Art. Although this is not my favorite style of art, I enjoy the colors and textures created in the artwork.
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