An overview of the University of Cincinnati art collection.

The University of Cincinnati is known for many extraordinary academic and aesthetic contributions to the local community and higher education. Home to the birthplace of cooperative education and one of the world’s most distinguished collections of Classical Studies materials, it also sits on the list of most architecturally attractive campuses. Until now, few people have known that the University of Cincinnati has spent two centuries cultivating and curating a world-class art collection for presentation and educational enrichment with over four thousand works, international in scope spanning five millennia, from ancient Greece to the present day. A core collection area is American art, with the art of Cincinnati as a particular strength, especially pieces produced during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Pieces include works by Louis Charles Vogt, Elizabeth Nourse, Lewis Henry Meakin, Frank Harmon Myers, Herman Henry Wessel, and John Ellsworth Weis.

Collecting Art highlights a sampling of significant and unique works to acquaint readers with the abundance of artwork owned by the University of Cincinnati, from paintings, antiquities, and decorative arts to portrait busts and public sculpture that it stewards. Packed with beautifully photographed images of these works and presented in a spectacular oversized trim, each medium covered includes a richly detailed essay written by faculty scholars, librarians, and members of the art curatorial community. With special attention given to academic disciplinary connections and women artists, the book includes a foreword by University of Cincinnati president Neville Pinto and an original timeline of featured pieces that places them in the larger context.

Kristi Ann Nelson is professor emeritus of art history at the University of Cincinnati, and she received her PhD at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Robert Probst is professor of graphic design and dean emeritus at the University of Cincinnati and his research and practice focuses on environmental graphic design.