Cleveland Art, 2026, Issue 1
- Member Magazine
In this Issue: Martin Puryear: Nexus: Career Survey Explores Form, Material, and Making; Manet & Morisot: An Artistic Friendship; Premodern India's Serial Storytelling: Paintings from the "'Shangri' Ramayana"; Rare "Welcoming Descent" Painting: Amida with 25 Bodhisattvas Joins the Collection; Welcome, Tiara L. Paris; Revitalizing the "Court of Nature"; The Fine Art Campus's Restoration; Spring Fling at the CMA; The CMA's Educational Initiatives; This Spring's Key Players; The John P. Murphy Foundation; A Legacy of Service and Support; Supporting Digital Innovation
Bower, 1980. Martin Puryear (American, b. 1941). Sitka spruce, pine, copper tacks; 163.3 x 240.2 x 66 cm. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Purchase made possible through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, Alexander Caler, Frank Wilbert Stokes, and the Ford Motor Company, 2002.18. Photo: Smithsonian Art Museum, DC / Art Resource, NY. © Martin Puryear, courtesy of Matthew Marks Gallery
Welcome, Tiara L. Paris
Tiara L. Paris began her new role at the CMA in January as Margaret and Loyal Wilson Chief Exhibition, Design, and Publications Officer. She is responsible for overseeing the museum’s world-renowned exhibition program, publication, and design initiatives.
Paris comes to the CMA from the Nelson-Atkins...
Tiara L. Paris
Rare “Welcoming Descent” Painting
A recent accession to the Japanese art collection, currently on view until June, is a large-scale painting depicting the Buddha Amida arriving to escort a dying person to his Pure Land, or Western Paradise. Amida is attended by an entourage of 25 bodhisattvas, enlightened beings who are committed to...
Premodern India’s Serial Storytelling
Most collections of Indian paintings include individual works extracted from a manuscript, album, or pictorial series. On display in a museum or a home, a painting can be savored in an elegant mat and frame, appreciated for its artistry and subject matter. However, when paintings that were made to b...
Monkeys and bears search for Sita from the “Shangri” Ramayana, c. 1700. Gum tempera and silver on paper; 21 x 33.7 cm. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection, Museum Associates Purchase, M.74.5.11. Digital image © 2026 Museum Associates / LACMA. Licensed by Art Resource, NY
Manet & Morisot
Manet & Morisot is the first major exhibition dedicated to the artistic exchange between Édouard Manet, considered the father of modern painting, and Berthe Morisot, the only woman among the founding members of the Impressionist movement. Thirty-six paintings and seven works on paper on loan from mu...
Boating, 1874–76. Édouard Manet (French, 1832–1883). Oil on canvas; 97.2 x 130.2 cm. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929, 29.100.115
Martin Puryear: Nexus
One of the most celebrated and influential artists of our time, Martin Puryear (American, born 1941) has for more than half a century created work of startling beauty that is at once technically precise and conceptually expansive. His art demonstrates the enduring relevance of abstraction and its ca...
A Column for Sally Hemings (installation view at the American Pavilion, Venice Biennale), 2019. Martin Puryear (American, b. 1941). Cast iron, painted tulip poplar; 201.3 x 43.8 x 43.8 cm. Photo: Joshua White. © Martin Puryear, courtesy of Matthew Marks Gallery
The Fine Arts Campus’s Restoration
Established through the extraordinary philanthropy and vision of four 19th- and 20th-century philanthropists, the origins of the Cleveland Museum of Art can be traced to Horace Kelley, namesake of the Horace Kelley Art Foundation. In his will, Kelley directed that a substantial portion of his estate...
H. Kim Kelley III, VP and treasurer of the foundation (left), and Curtin G. Kelley, MD, president of the foundation (right)
Spring Fling at the CMA
The season of rebirth is upon us—a burst of new growth, the fragrance of damp earth, and a fresh suite of exhibitions and programming at the Cleveland Museum of Art are sure to inspire. Browse a few of my suggestions below!
Peruse Fine Art Prints
Spend the day in the CMA’s light-filled Ames Family Atr...
The CMA’s Educational Initiatives
In anticipation of a busy spring season of family and adult programming, Cleveland Art spoke with Mary Ladrick, associate director of adult programs and interpretation, and Jeremiah Myers, director of school and teaching programs. Together, they discussed learning goals, audience engagement, and wha...
Kristen Windmuller-Luna, curator of African art, delivering remarks at the opening event for the exhibition Africa & Byzantium
This Spring’s Key Players
When invented in the 1700s, the piano forte—the precursor to the modern piano—was immediately recognized as an improvement to the harpsichord. Unlike the harpsichord that utilizes plectrums to pluck strings, the piano forte uses hammers to strike strings. This development allowed piano players to co...
Tigran Hamasyan
The John P. Murphy Foundation
When the John P. Murphy Foundation became the presenting sponsor of Renaissance to Runway: The Enduring Italian Houses last fall, their gift represented the foundation’s most significant investment in the museum’s programs to date. Established in 1960 by John P. Murphy and his wife, Gladys, the foun...
Installation view of Renaissance to Runway: The Enduring Italian Houses, the Cleveland Museum of Art, 2025
A Legacy of Service and Support
Founded in 1941, the Womens Council of the Cleveland Museum of Art actively supports the museum through volunteerism, philanthropy, and interest in the museum’s art education programs and exhibitions. Through these experiences, members build lifelong connections with other arts supporters in the com...
The late Helen Champney Cole (center)
Supporting Digital Innovation
The Cleveland Museum of Art has been a global leader among museums in leveraging technology to make art more accessible to people everywhere. From the museum’s ArtLens Gallery and Open Access initiative, which made its collection free to use, reproduce, and modify, to the incorporation of digital el...
Leigh H. Carter; Susan and Dean Trilling; Leanne and John Sauerland