The Columbus Museum of Art (CMA) is an art museum in downtown Columbus, Ohio. 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, folk art, glass art, and photography. The museum has been led by Executive Director Brooke Minto since 2023.

History

thumb|left|The Sessions house and William Monypeny houses, hosting the art museum (left) and Columbus Art School (right)

thumb|left|The [[Pizzuti Collection]]

thumb|[[Claude Monet, Weeping Willow, 1918]]

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 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 agency 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,

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.

Selections from the permanent collection

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File:Anthony van Dyck - Christian Bruce.jpg|Anthony van Dyck, Christian Bruce, 1635

File:David and Bathsheba by Artemisia Gentileschi.jpg|Artemisia Gentileschi, 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, Raphael and the Baker's Daughter, 1840

File:The Coal Carriers by Rosa Bonheur, Columbus Museum of Art.JPG|Rosa Bonheur, 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, The Little Bird Nesters, 1873

File:Albert Pinkham Ryder - Spirit of Autumn (c. 1875).jpg|Albert Pinkham Ryder, Spirit of Autumn, 1875

File:Pierre-Auguste Renoir - Madame Henriot en travesti.jpg|Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Madame Henriot 'en travesti' (The Page), 1875–76

File:Portrait de Victor Chocquet assis, par Paul Cézanne.jpg|Paul Cézanne, portrait of Victor Chocquet, 1877

File:Carmela Bertagna John Singer Sargent.jpg|John Singer Sargent<br />Carmela Bertagna<br />Oil on canvas, 1879

File:Mary Cassatt - Susan Comforting the Baby No. 1 (c. 1881) 01.JPG|Mary Cassatt, 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|Claude Monet, 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, Tiger Hunt, c. 1895

File:Cassatt - Portrait of a Young Woman.jpg|Mary Cassatt<br />Portrait of a Young Woman, Pastel on paper, 1898

File:Girl Asleep by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Columbus Museum of Art .JPG|Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, 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|Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, 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, 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|Pablo Picasso, 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, Lhasa, 1916

File:Delaunay Portuguese Woman.jpg|Robert Delaunay, 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

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References

  • Catalogue of the Art Collection of Mr. F. C. Sessions (1890)