Dear
George,
One
of our five-star places for weekend outings is the Taft Museum of Art. We go whenever there’s a new show,
sometimes more than once (e.g., for the recent Edward Steichen photography
exhibition). The museum is located
downtown at Lytle Park and is the former home of members of Cincinnati's Taft
family. The mansion was built on
the city’s edge about 1820 for wealthy businessman and former mayor, Martin
Baum. It then became the residence
of Nicholas Longworth, Cincinnati lawyer, banker, and acclaimed winemaker. David Sinton, who made a fortune
selling pig-iron at inflated prices during the Civil War and became one of the
wealthiest men in America, then purchased the house in 1871. Sinton's daughter Anna married Charles
Phelps Taft, editor of the Cincinnati Times-Star and half-brother of President William Howard Taft
(whose presidential campaign Sinton had financed). Anna and Charles Phelps Taft lived in the house from
1873 to 1929, and William Howard Taft accepted the presidential nomination
there in 1908. In addition to
launching the Taft media empire, Charles Phelps Taft served in Congress and was
the owner of the Chicago Cubs for several years. The Tafts were major art collectors, and they turned their
home into a museum in 1927, donating the house, its 690 works of art, and a
million dollar endowment to the people of Cincinnati. The deed for the gift stated, "We desire to devote our
collection of pictures, porcelains, and other works of art to the people of
Cincinnati in such a manner that they may be readily available for
all." The Taft Museum opened
in 1932. The interior is
beautiful, and it houses a marvelous collection of art, including European
masterworks (e.g., Rembrandt, Hals, Gainsborough, Ingres, Millet, Goya, Corot,
Turner, Van Diest), 19th century American paintings (e.g., Duveneck, Farny,
Sargent, Whistler), an extensive collection of porcelains and enamels, antique
furniture, and famous entryway murals from the 1840’s by Cincinnati
African-American artist Robert Duncanson. The Taft was renovated in 2003-4, and
its turn of the century decor gives the guest the feeling of visiting the
Taft's home. On a recent visit
during the holidays I took pictures of various rooms housing the permanent
collection. Here's how the
Taft is looking these days.
Love,
Dave
The courtyard
Sources: www.wikipedia.org
(“Taft Museum of Art”, “Charles Phelps Taft”, “David Sinton”); www.taftmuseum.org (“History”); www.digproj.libraries.uc.edu
(“Baum-Taft-House”)
G-mail Comments
-Gayle C-L (2-11): This museum is amazing. So
beautiful. The walls are lucky.. and so are you, you were there!! Great detail..and a great story..
Thank you for this :)
Love you :)
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