The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art ("The Johnson Museum") is an

art museum An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own collection. It might be in public or private ownership and may be accessible to all or have restrictions in place. Although primarily con ...

located on the northwest corner of the Arts Quad on the main campus of

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

Ithaca Ithaca most commonly refers to: *Homer's Ithaca, an island featured in Homer's ''Odyssey'' *Ithaca (island), an island in Greece, possibly Homer's Ithaca *Ithaca, New York, a city, and home of Cornell University and Ithaca College Ithaca, Ithaka ...

, New York. Its collection includes two windows from

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...

Darwin D. Martin House The Darwin D. Martin House Complex is a historic house museum in Buffalo, New York. The property's buildings were designed by renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright and built between 1903 and 1905. The house is considered to be one of the most imp ...

, and more than 35,000 other works in the permanent collection. It was designed by architect

I.M. Pei Ieoh Ming Pei
– website of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners ( ; ; April 26, 1917 – May 16, 2019) was ...

and is known for its distinctive

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wid ...

facade.

History

President

Deane Waldo Malott Deane Waldo Malott (July 10, 1898 – September 11, 1996) was an American academic and administrator. Biography The son of a banker, Malott was born in Abilene, Kansas and went on to study at the University of Kansas. While at school there, ...

established the original University Art Museum in 1953. The A. D. White House was renovated to house Cornell's art collections. The current museum, constructed in 1973, is named after its primary benefactor, Herbert Fisk Johnson, Jr., a Cornell Class of 1922 graduate, head of S.C. Johnson & Sons ("Johnson Wax"), and a former member of the university's Board of Trustees.

Architecture

The Johnson Museum of Art was designed by architect

I.M. Pei Ieoh Ming Pei
– website of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners ( ; ; April 26, 1917 – May 16, 2019) was ...

. It can be characterized by its fifth floor, which cantilevers over the open aired sculpture garden. It was designed so that it would not block the view of

Cayuga Lake Cayuga Lake (,,) is the longest of central New York's glacial Finger Lakes, and is the second largest in surface area (marginally smaller than Seneca Lake) and second largest in volume. It is just under long. Its average width is , and it is ...

, and offers a panoramic view of the same from its north and west sides. It also houses a room for meetings on the sixth floor, which was used for many years by Cornell's Board of Trustees. The unique location of the museum presented several architectural challenges; building space was limited, and it could not overwhelm the view of

or the nearby Arts Quad. Moreover, it would sit atop the knoll where tradition said

Ezra Cornell Ezra Cornell (; January 11, 1807 – December 9, 1874) was an American businessman, politician, and philanthropist. He was the founder of Western Union and a co-founder of Cornell University. He also served as President of the New York Agricul ...

chose the site for his university, at the north end of the Stone Row of McGraw, Morrill, and White Halls. The design sought to visually terminate the north end of Library Slope. The resulting design was a narrow tower and a bridge, which critics have likened to a giant sewing machine. The building was awarded the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...

Honor Award in 1975. The building's design also appeared on the cover of ''Scientific American'' as an early example of computer graphics.

Extension

In 2011, the museum opened renovated spaces and a 16,000-square-foot extension inspired by the original plans drawn up by

Pei Cobb Freed & Partners Pei Cobb Freed & Partners is an American architectural firm based in New York City, founded in 1955 by I. M. Pei and other associates.

. The head architect was John L. Sullivan III, Cornell class of 1962. The project cost $22 million, including some renovations to the main building, and was funded by major grants from the

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

and the

Kresge Foundation The Kresge Foundation is a philanthropic private foundation headquartered in Troy, Michigan, United States. The foundation works to expand opportunities in America's cities through grantmaking and investing in arts and culture, education, envir ...

. The Asian art storage area was relocated from the center of the fifth floor to the lower level of the addition, making room for additional public gallery space on the fifth floor. An outdoor Japanese garden was created outside the extension. In 2015, Cornell filed a lawsuit against Pei Cobb Freed & Partners for "architectural malpractice," citing an "inherently flawed and materially defective" design of the new wing. Cornell claimed the addition was "fundamentally flawed" and resulted in over $1.1 million in damage costs.

Collections

The permanent collection consists of more than 35,000 works of art. Most notable is the George and Mary Rockwell Asian Art collection. Spanning from the Middle Ages to the 20th century, the European collection includes works by Albrecht Dürer,

William Hogarth William Hogarth (; 10 November 1697 – 26 October 1764) was an English painter, engraver, pictorial satirist, social critic, editorial cartoonist and occasional writer on art. His work ranges from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like ...

Francisco Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 174616 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, and e ...

Édouard Manet Édouard Manet (, ; ; 23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883) was a French modernist painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, as well as a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism. Bo ...

Charles-François Daubigny Charles-François Daubigny ( , , ; 15 February 181719 February 1878) was a French painter, one of the members of the Barbizon school, and is considered an important precursor of impressionism. He was also a prolific printmaker, mostly in etchin ...

, Edgar Degas,

William-Adolphe Bouguereau William-Adolphe Bouguereau (; 30 November 1825 – 19 August 1905) was a French academic painter. In his realistic genre paintings, he used mythological themes, making modern interpretations of classical subjects, with an emphasis on the female ...

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Comte Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa (24 November 1864 – 9 September 1901) was a French painter, printmaker, draughtsman, caricaturist and illustrator whose immersion in the colourful and theatrical life of Paris in th ...

Otto Dix Wilhelm Heinrich Otto Dix (; 2 December 1891 – 25 July 1969) was a German painter and printmaker, noted for his ruthless and harshly realistic depictions of German society during the Weimar Republic and the brutality of war. Along with George ...

, Fernand Léger and

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, and sculptur ...

.There are also extensive holdings of American artists, including

Georgia O'Keeffe Georgia Totto O'Keeffe (November 15, 1887 – March 6, 1986) was an American modernist artist. She was known for her paintings of enlarged flowers, New York skyscrapers, and New Mexico landscapes. O'Keeffe has been called the "Mother of Ame ...

and

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the Art movement, visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore th ...

, as well as members of the

Hudson River School The Hudson River School was a mid-19th century American art movement embodied by a group of landscape painters whose aesthetic vision was influenced by Romanticism. The paintings typically depict the Hudson River Valley and the surrounding area ...

and the American Impressionists to contemporary art. The Collection of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs consists of more than 22,000 works, including works by Berenice Abbott, Robert Frank, Alfred Stieglitz, and

Garry Winogrand Garry Winogrand (January 14, 1928 – March 19, 1984) was an American street photographer, known for his portrayal of U.S. life and its social issues, in the mid-20th century. Photography curator, historian, and critic John Szarkowski called Wino ...

. Its fifth floor houses the museum's extensive Asian collection. The permanent collection also includes works from Africa, pre-Columbian America, and Oceania, representing many eras.

Education

Although for-credit classes are conducted by Cornell's academic departments rather than the museum, the museum does provide curriculum-structured gallery sessions for specific classes. It also hosts faculty-conducted gallery tours and course-related exhibitions. The museum also hosts thematic tours for local school student field trips. The Johnson Museum Club is a Cornell student group that promotes awareness of the Johnson Museum's facilities and collections. It hosts concerts, scavenger hunts and other events.

References

External links

Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art
official

website.
Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art Online Collection
{{authority control Cornell University buildings I. M. Pei buildings Art museums established in 1973 University museums in New York (state) Art museums and galleries in New York (state) Museums in Tompkins County, New York 1973 establishments in New York (state) Museums of American art Asian art museums in New York (state) University art museums and galleries in New York (state) Tourist attractions in Ithaca, New York