Taft Museum of Art

The Taft Museum of Art is a fine art museum in Cincinnati, Ohio, housed in a 200-year-old historic residence at 316 Pike Street. Founded in 1927 through the bequest of Charles Phelps Taft and Anna Sinton Taft, it opened to the public in 1932 and stands as one of the oldest domestic wooden structures in downtown Cincinnati. The museum matters both for its significant collection of European old master and nineteenth-century American paintings, and for its status as a National Historic Landmark, recognized in 1976 particularly for the rare pre-Civil War murals by Robert S. Duncanson that remain in situ.

The house was built about 1820 for Martin Baum, a German-American businessman and politician, who named it Belmont for its commanding view from the Mount Adams slope. Financial difficulties forced Baum to relinquish it, and after serving briefly as a school for young ladies, the house was acquired in 1829 by Nicholas Longworth, a real estate investor and viticulturist who lived there until his death in 1863. Longworth commissioned Robert S. Duncanson to paint a series of eight large-scale landscape murals on the plaster walls between 1851 and 1852, works now recognized as the most significant pre-Civil War domestic murals in the United States. After Longworth, the house passed to David Sinton, father of Anna Sinton, who married Charles Phelps Taft in 1873. The Tafts lived in the house until their deaths in 1929 and 1931, respectively, amassing an art collection and making their home a museum in all but name. In 1927 they formally bequeathed the house and collection to the people of Cincinnati, stating their desire that the works be readily available for all. The museum opened on November 29, 1932. A notable moment in the house's public life came in 1908, when William Howard Taft, Charles's half-brother, accepted the Republican presidential nomination from the portico. The museum closed for an extensive renovation and expansion from 2002 to 2004, reopening in May 2004 with additions including a museum shop, the Carl H. Lindner Family Cafe, and Luther Hall, a lecture and performance space. The garden was redesigned in 1940 by landscape architect Henry Fletcher Kenney as a green architectural garden.

The Taft Museum of Art holds approximately 740 objects, with strengths in European old master painting, nineteenth-century American painting, European decorative arts, and Chinese art. The collection of European painting spans from the thirteenth through nineteenth centuries, while the American holdings focus primarily on the nineteenth century. European decorative arts include significant holdings of Limoges enamels, watches, sculpture, and furniture. Chinese porcelains form another notable component. The museum's character is intimately tied to its setting; works are displayed within the period rooms of the historic house, preserving the domestic atmosphere in which the Tafts lived with their collection.

Among the European old masters, the collection includes Rembrandt van Rijn's Portrait of a Man Rising from His Chair (1633), J. M. W. Turner's Europa and the Bull (circa 1840-50), and works by Frans Hals, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Thomas Gainsborough, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, and Adriaen van Ostade. The medieval holdings feature an anonymous thirteenth-century Virgin and Child from the Abbey of Saint-Denis in Paris (circa 1260-80) and Olivuccio di Ciccarello's Madonna Nursing the Child with Saints. American highlights include James Abbott McNeill Whistler's At the Piano (1858-59), Frank Duveneck's The Cobbler's Apprentice (1877), and Henry Farny's Song of the Talking Wire (1904). Joaquin Sorolla's 1909 portrait of William Howard Taft is also held. The Duncanson murals remain the collection's most unusual treasure: eight large landscapes painted directly on plaster between 1851 and 1852, created by the first widely known African-American landscape painter to achieve international recognition.

The museum building at 316 Pike Street is the oldest domestic wooden structure remaining in downtown Cincinnati on its original site. Constructed about 1820 in the Federal style, it was later adapted with Greek Revival elements. The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a contributing property to the Lytle Park Historic District. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976, specifically in recognition of the Duncanson murals. The 2004 renovation and expansion by Ann Beha Architects added modern amenities while preserving the historic fabric. The site occupies a prominent position on the slope of Mount Adams, with the original garden setting transformed in 1940 into a designed landscape.

The Taft Museum of Art is located at 316 Pike Street in Cincinnati, Ohio, within the Lytle Park Historic District. It operates as a public institution, owned by and serving the people of Cincinnati following the Tafts' 1927 deed of gift. The museum maintains its historic house setting as the primary exhibition environment, with the 2004 expansion providing visitor amenities including the Carl H. Lindner Family Cafe and Luther Hall for programs and performances. Information on current hours, admission, and programming is available through the museum's website at taftmuseum.org.