Cincinnati Art Museum
Cincinnati Art Museum
It has been a while since I last visited the Cincinnati Art Museum. I was pleasantly surprised by a number of improvements that have been made in the last several years. First, the museum is free! Secondly, the back wing on the first floor has been extensively renovated to allow for a classy cafe adjacent to the courtyard; a wing devoted to Cincinnati artists; and an updated African gallery. I was so happy to turn from the great hall and see the wonderful blue Miro mural in a nice natural light facing the courtyard.
The Miro mural cheerfully announces the new terrace cafe, which is bright and open with glass and modern lines. The Miro mural was originally created in 1947 to hang in the Gourmet Room, a restaurant on the top floor of the Cincinnati Terrace Plaza hotel. The restaurant was round, with large windows open to the sky, and the blue mural was a continuation of the sky with playful abstract shapes. The mural is so much more at home in this new location in the museum than in its old spot on the second floor mixed in with the other modern art. A Calder mobile hangs in front of the mural and works perfectly. Inside the cafe, a more modern, spiral-shaped, cosmos-inspired installation hangs on the wall. This piece relates well to the sky and cosmos theme of the Miro mural.
This newly renovated, bright and appealing area used to be dark and drab, and home to the non-Western, non-Asian art. I remember one of my favorite Art History teachers at the University of Cincinnati, Theresa Leininger-Miller, telling us about how this seemed inappropriate and represented and old and outdated way of thinking about "primitive" art. The display came off as more of a curio-cabinet than a presentation of art with its own merit. I can fully appreciate the renovated African art gallery across the great hall. It is bright and uncluttered, and allows you to see the individual pieces. Such a big improvement!
The Cincinnati wing is another welcome addition. Surely one of the CAM's greatest assets is its extensive collection of Cincinnati artists. I really enjoyed catching a glimpse of what life used to be like here, captured through the eyes of people who lived in the time. For Cincinnati residents, these galleries combine a sense of intimacy and familiarity of places you know, with something new and unknown, unveiling an interesting layer of history. As we just moved into a house built around 1930 near Ault Park, I was fascinated to see a painting of the park around the same time. Ault Park Promenade, by Myer Abel, shows what must have been a new park structure at the time, grand archways and stairways, illuminated in the violet night, with crowds of people, all dressed up, walking around as if attending a special event. The strong use of color, and the vibrant, billowing energy of the people and the landscape give life to this historic, yet ordinary moment. This is exactly what art should do!
