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Peer institutions celebrate the Cleveland Museum of Art’s birthday by lending major works for display in the galleries
Debbie Gribbon , Interim Chief Curator
December 21, 2015

When the Cleveland Museum of Art first opened its doors to the public in 1916, museums around the country welcomed the arrival by lending works of art to the fledgling institution for a special inaugural exhibition. Now, as Cleveland celebrates 100 years during which our collection grew to such prominence that we have more often been the lenders of works to other museums, we again welcome some visitors to our galleries.

Over the course of the next 14 months, more than a dozen works of art will be installed in the permanent collection alongside Cleveland’s own masterpieces. Among those appearing in the first round is the cover image of the January/February Cleveland Art print magazine, a fine portrait by Titian from the J. Paul Getty Museum, on view in gallery 118 beginning January 2.

Portrait of Alfonso d’Avalos, Marchese del Vasto, in Armor with a Page, Probably January–February 1533. Titian (Tiziano Vecellio) (Italian, about 1487–1576). Oil on canvas; 110 x 80 cm. J. Paul Getty Museum, 2003.486. Centennial loan from the J. Paul Getty Museum

 

Also appearing this winter and spring are Kerry James Marshall’s Bang from the Progressive Art Collection (in gallery 229, also January 2), a Congolese/Luba kifwebe mask from the Seattle Art Museum (March 14), and Marcel Duchamp’s Nude Descending a Staircase from the Philadelphia Museum of Art (April 1). Further installment will be announced. This initiative offers Cleveland audiences a chance to see works they might otherwise need to travel hundreds or thousands of miles to see, while also expressing how our nation’s community of museums works together to bring the power and beauty of art into people’s lives. We are grateful for the opportunity to collaborate, now and in the future, with our peer museums around the country.

KJ Marshall
Bang, Kerry James Marshall (American, born 1955). Acrylic and collage on canvas; 103 x 114 in. Courtesy of the Progressive Corporation. © Kerry James Marshall. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York. Centennial loan from the Progressive Corporation

 

Cleveland Art, January/February 2016