Museum Monday: The Cleveland Museum of Art

Punching Well Above Its Weight Class

(4 min read) The Cleveland Museum of Art offers an astonishingly comprehensive collection that rivals museums in cities many times Cleveland's size — a true hidden gem of American cultural institutions.

1. The atrium connecting the main building wings.

Overview

The Cleveland Museum of Art is a shockingly good museum. I don’t mean to offend anyone from the city, I just don’t think anyone would expect an art museum this good in the midwest outside of Chicago — and Cleveland’s museum is nearly as good as the Art Institute in many respects.

In fact, there are only five museums I can think of in the US that can top it as a single “one-stop-shop” museum, and they are all in huge cities where you’d expect a world class museum — NYC, DC, Chicago, Boston, and Philly.

While Cleveland’s Museum of art is not quite up to par with the above, if you were to measure the museum quality on a per capita basis, I bet it beats them all (except, perhaps, the Met).

3. The Armor Court.

2. The Neoclassical exterior fronting the Fine Arts Garden public park.

4. An Old Masters Gallery in the Beaux-Arts wing.

The Cleveland Museum of Art was founded in 1913 with an endowment from three prominent Cleveland industrialists, and opened its doors to the public in 1916, in a Neoclassical Beaux-Arts building. It was expanded twice in the 20th century and most recently over the course of 2005-2013.

5. Nineteenth century sculpture in a contemporary glass box.

6. Twelfth century griffon guardians in a medieval gallery.

The expanded buildings house an incredibly well-rounded collection as well, with everything from ancient artifacts to contemporary concept pieces (ugh!). Moreover, the collection spans the globe, and its Asian galleries in particular are exceptional.

7. One of the galleries dedicated to sculpture from India and SE Asia.

8. Tang dynasty (618-907) tomb guardian ceramics from the Chinese galleries.

9. A “Trident of Nonduality” — Shiva represented as half man, half woman (c1050 CE; Tamil Nadu, India).

10. An Eshu Staff referencing his ability to switch between genders (19th C; Youruba, Africa).

I found myself most impressed by the many pieces here from locations along the so-called Silk Roads — ancient Bactria, the Sasanian Empire, Kashmir… — as you will note by the detailed Notes I show below.

If more recent art is your thing, though, don’t despair: the modern art galleries are great as well.

11. “Perseus’ Last Duty” — Max Beckman, 1949.

12. Early work by Picasso in the modern galleries.

Given its size and the extent and range of the collection here, the Cleveland Museum of Art is reason enough to visit the city, and a place one could spend the better part of a day. Or two.

Don’t Miss

In addition to traditional art galleries shown above, there are also several interactive displays in the new ARTLENs Gallery, such as the massive video display in figure X, where you can get information on tens of thousands of objects in the museum’s collection.

13. In the ARTLENS Gallery: a 40-foot long interactive video wall with the museum’s collection.

Art in Detail

For a detailed look at some of the pieces here I found particularly interesting or photogenic, check out these recent Substack Notes, presented in rough chronological order:

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Practical Information

Where: Cleveland, Ohio (USA)

My Visits: 12-13 August 2021.

Best For: Art enthusiasts seeking a comprehensive collection spanning global cultures and time periods; visitors looking for a world-class museum experience outside major coastal cities; travelers who appreciate both classical and contemporary art presentation.

Pro Tip: The museum is free to visit (special exhibitions may have fees), and the surrounding University Circle area features several other cultural institutions worth exploring. Consider making a full day of it by visiting the neighboring botanical garden or natural history museum as well.