The Cleveland Museum of Art Presents the Exhibition Impressionism to Modernism: The Keithley Collection

CLEVELAND (September 8, 2022) — In March 2020, Clevelanders Joseph P. and Nancy F. Keithley gave and promised their private collection of more than 100 works of art to the Cleveland Museum of Art, the largest gift of art to the museum since the bequest of Leonard C. Hanna Jr. in 1958. For the first time, the collection will be on view in its entirety in the CMA’s newest exhibition, Impressionism to Modernism: The Keithley Collection, from September 11, 2022, to January 8, 2023 in the Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation Exhibition Hall.

Throughout two decades of collecting, the Keithleys selected works of art to complement and enrich the CMA’s collection. At times, the Keithleys built upon a strength in the museum’s collection; on other occasions, they acquired a work of art that would bring something entirely new to the collection. Certain works of art in the Keithleys’ gift and promised gift are shown alongside other paintings, drawings or objects from the CMA’s collection, inviting visitors to discover connections, contrasts and poetic conversations between familiar, favorite works of art and new objects from the Keithleys.

“The private collection of Joe and Nancy Keithley reflects their personal taste, aesthetic preferences, and their experiences traveling,” said William Griswold, CMA Director and President. “This exhibition will give visitors the opportunity to experience the Keithleys’ passion for collecting art, and to learn more about a collection that was initially private but now belongs to everyone.”

The Keithleys’ collection focuses on Impressionist, Post-Impressionist and modern European and American paintings. Among the highlights in Impressionism to Modernism: The Keithley Collection are five paintings by Pierre Bonnard; four each by Maurice Denis and Édouard Vuillard; two each by Milton Avery, Georges Braque, Gustave Caillebotte, Joan Mitchell and Félix Vallotton; and individual pictures of outstanding quality by Henri-Edmond Cross, Vilhelm Hammershøi, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Camille Pissarro and Andrew Wyeth.

Among the works on paper are six watercolors by John Marin, five drawings by Bonnard and a spectacular pastel by Eugène Boudin. Also included in the exhibition is a selection of European and American decorative arts.

The Keithleys also collected Chinese and contemporary Japanese ceramics. In the exhibition, Asian ceramics are shown alongside Western paintings and drawings to echo the harmonies created by the Keithleys, who enjoyed thoughtfully juxtaposing the works in their home.

“The Keithleys loved collecting, took great pleasure in living with their collection, and are now delighted to share their collection with others,” said Griswold. “Cleveland has such a rich history of philanthropy and the extraordinary generosity of the Keithleys epitomizes the promise made by our founders, for the benefit of all the people forever.”

Exhibition Catalogue

A lavishly illustrated 280-page catalogue accompanies The Keithley Collection exhibition and features more than 200 color illustrations and CMA Director William Griswold’s interview with the Keithleys. Entries by eminent curators and art historians from the United States and Europe shed new light on masterpieces in the Keithleys’ transformative gift and promised gift to the museum.

The catalogue is edited by Heather Lemonedes Brown, Virginia N. and Randall J. Barbato Deputy Director and Chief Curator, the Cleveland Museum of Art; with contributions from Henry Adams, Ruth Coulter Heede Professor of Art History, Case Western Reserve University; Dita Amory, Curator in Charge and Administrator, the Robert Lehman Collection, the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Carolyn Boyle-Turner, Executive Director, Pont-Aven School of Contemporary Art (Emeritus) and President, Comité Paul Sérusier; Mary Weaver Chapin, Curator of Prints and Drawings, Portland Art Museum; Mark Cole, Chair of Modern, Contemporary, and Decorative Art and William P. and Amanda C. Madar Curator of American Painting and Sculpture, the Cleveland Museum of Art; Emmanuel Ducamp, Independent Art Historian; Ruth Fine, Independent curator and artist based in Philadelphia, and Curator, National Gallery of Art, Washington; William M. Griswold, Director and President, Sarah S. and Alexander M. Cutler Chair, the Cleveland Museum of Art; Gloria Groom, Chair and David and Mary Winton Green Curator of European Painting and Sculpture, Art Institute of Chicago; Robert Hobbs, Rhoda Thalhimer Endowed Chair of American Art in the School of the Arts, Virginia Commonwealth University (Emeritus); Cory Korkow, Curator of European Paintings and Sculpture, 1500–1800, the Cleveland Museum of Art; Emily Liebert, Curator of Contemporary Art, the Cleveland Museum of Art; Mary Morton, Curator and Head of the Department of French Paintings, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; Emily J. Peters, Curator of Prints and Drawings, the Cleveland Museum of Art; Andrea Wolk Rager, Jesse Hauk Shera Assistant Professor, Case Western Reserve University; Sarah Roberts, Andrew W. Mellon Associate Curator of Painting and Sculpture, SFMOMA; William Robinson, Senior Curator of Modern Art, the Cleveland Museum of Art; Nicole Coolidge Rousmaniere, Research Director at the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures; Britany Salsbury, Associate Curator of Prints and Drawings, the Cleveland Museum of Art; Catherine Scallen, Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities, Associate Professor of Art History, Case Western Reserve University; Clarissa von Spee, Chair of Asian Art and James and Donna Reid Curator of Chinese Art and Interim Curator of Islamic Art, the Cleveland Museum of Art; and Fabienne Stahl, Curator, Musée départemental Maurice Denis, Saint-Germaine-en-Laye, France.

The Keithley Collection is published by the CMA and distributed by Yale University Press. It will be available for purchase online or at the Cleveland Museum of Art store for $65.

Complementary Programming

Lunchtime Lecture: CMA Backstories: Women Collectors Build Cleveland Collections Program

Leslie Cade, Director of Ingalls Library and Museum Archives  
Tuesday, October 4, 2022, 12:00 p.m.  
Gartner Auditorium
FREE, ticket required

The Cleveland Museum of Art is renowned for the quality and breadth of its collection. Throughout the years, the museum has relied on the expertise and generosity of benefactors, many of whom were women, to achieve this goal. In this lecture, Leslie Cade, director of Ingalls Library and Museum Archives, introduces a few of these extraordinary women, including Emery May Norweb, whose Pre-Columbian art formed the basis of the museum’s collection in that area, and India Early Minshall, an expert in Russian history and Fabergé.

The Art of Collecting  
Friday, November 11, 2022, 6:00 p.m. 
Gartner Auditorium 
FREE, ticket required 

Deputy Director and Chief Curator Heather Lemonedes Brown, curator of Impressionism to Modernism: The Keithley Collection​, joins sneaker collector and authenticator Sadelle Moore (StockX), comic book collector Ben Joines-Mundy (Carol & John’s Comic Book Shop), and music critic and record collector Annie Zaleski (Duran Duran's Rio) for a conversation about the passion that drives collecting. 

Member Preview Days

Members see it FIRST and for FREE!

Members can view The Keithley Collection first on Member Preview Days, Friday, September 9, 2 to 9 p.m. and Saturday, September 10, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Join today and reserve free tickets.

Ticket Pricing

Adults $15; seniors, students and children ages 6–17 $12; children 5 and under and CMA members free.

The CMA recommends reserving tickets through its online platform by visiting the The Keithley Collection exhibition webpage. Tickets can also be reserved by phone at 216-421-7350 or on-site at one of the ticket desks. 

Tickets are expected to book quickly and are not guaranteed. Your first choice of date and time may not be available, so please have other date and time options in mind when reserving tickets. Advance ticket sales are highly recommended.

Exhibition tours are offered at 11:15 a.m. daily, September 17 through December 31.

All exhibitions at the Cleveland Museum of Art are underwritten by the CMA Fund for Exhibitions. Principal annual support is provided by Michael Frank in memory of Patricia Snyder. Major annual support is provided by the Womens Council of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Generous annual support is provided by an anonymous supporter, Dick Blum (deceased) and Harriet Warm, Cynthia and Dale Brogan, Dr. Ben and Julia Brouhard, Mr. and Mrs. Walter R. Chapman Jr., Richard and Dian Disantis, the Jeffery Wallace Ellis Trust in memory of Lloyd H. Ellis Jr., Leigh and Andy Fabens, the Sam J. Frankino Foundation, Janice Hammond and Edward Hemmelgarn, Carl T. Jagatich, Cathy Lincoln, Eva and Rudolf Linnebach, William S. and Margaret F. Lipscomb, Bill and Joyce Litzler, Carl and Lu Anne Morrison, Tim O’Brien and Breck Platner, Henry Ott Hansen, Mr. and Mrs. Michael F. Resch, Margaret and Loyal Wilson, and Claudia C. Woods and David A. Osage.

The Cleveland Museum of Art is funded in part by residents of Cuyahoga County through a public grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture.

This exhibition is supported in part by the Ohio Arts Council, which receives support from the State of Ohio and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Additional Information

The CDC updated its guidelines regarding the need to wear face coverings in public settings for protection against COVID-19. The CMA recommends but no longer requires visitors to wear a face covering inside the building.

The CMA’s current hours of operation are Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Wednesday and Friday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. The museum is closed Mondays. Updated hours will be announced as decided. Visit cma.org to stay up to date on this information.