The Cincinnati Art Museum in Cincinnati, Ohio is One of the Largest of its Kind in the Midwest

Located in the Eden Park neighborhood of downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, the Cincinnati Art Museum boasts one of the most comprehensive collections of art in the Midwest.

The idea for the museum was proposed in the late 1870s with the organization of the Women's Art Association of Cincinnati. A few years later, the Cincinnati Museum Association was incorporated and plans for a purpose-built art museum emerged. This would be the first such museum west of the Allegheny Mountains. It opened its doors in May 1886 and became known as "The Art Palace of the West.''

The museum collection grew quickly and additions to the attractive Romanesque Revival building, designed by architect James McLaughlin, were being made by 1907. More additions came in the 1930s and the 40s and 50s ushered in a period of renovation for the Cincinnati Art Museum. More space was added in 1965, 1993, and 2003.

Today, the expansive museum houses a permanent collection of more than 60,000 works of art spanning about six centuries. The works are spread out over many galleries, organized according to the era or region to which they belong.

The American Painting and Sculpture gallery includes works from several centuries including pieces by American favorites like Winslow Homer, Mary Cassatt, Hiram Powers, Charles Wilson Peale, Andrew Wyeth, and Grant Wood and also features several contemporary pieces. The European Painting and Sculpture galleries include works by the Old Masters such as Titian, van Dyck, Hals, Rubens, and Gainsborough, and more recent works by such artists as Picasso, Renoir, Derain, Braque, Modigliani, Mir', and Chagall.

A Classical and Near Eastern Arts department features ancient tomb and temple reliefs from Egypt as well as BC-era objects made of alabaster, earthenware, cast bronze, ivory and other materials. More recent pieces are included as well, such as an 18th century room from Damascus. The Far Eastern Art gallery includes a variety of works from Japan and other regions of the Orient, ranging mostly from the 12th to the 18th centuries.

The Cincinnati Museum of Art also boasts an impressive Decorative Arts collection. Most of the pieces are American and are by artists/companies like Fenton, Tiffany, Lalique, Faberge, Whitehouse, Parkman, and Duhme and Co. The Fashion Arts and Textiles area is a favorite with female visitors and includes outfits by some of the world's most renowned designers of past and present like Geoffrey Beene, Elizabeth Hawes, Anna Dunlevy, Josephine Kasselman, and H. & S. Pogue Company.

There is also an Art of Africa section with mostly wood pieces of the 19th and 20th centuries and an Art of the Americas gallery, which features works of art from South and Central America ranging from 4000 BC to the late 19th century. A Photography collection includes works by a variety of unknown photographers as well as some of America's finest renowned masters of photography. Finally, the Prints, Drawings, and Watercolors galleries include mostly American works of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Cincinnati Art Museum is open Tuesday through Sunday. Thanks to a donation from local philanthropists, admission to the museum is free. Throughout the year, a variety of activities are offered for all ages, including hands-on workshops, lectures, and more.