Collecting Art: Reflections on Works at the University of Cincinnati
Terrence Corbin, The Music of Everyday, circa 1985, acrylic on paper, 37 1/2 x 46 in (95.25 x 116.84 cm)
June 23rd - November 10th, 2025
In 2020 the University of Cincinnati’s Art Collection, Galleries, and Museum Studies program were unified under one umbrella - the UCAC – with the goal of making the UC Art Collection more accessible for teaching, research, and immersive learning. In less than 5 years, this initiative has resulted in the production of five exhibitions, three innovative research projects, the use of artworks for classroom lectures and tours, the hiring of more than 24 co-op students to date, and the direct access to works by numerous scholars for research purposes.
After nearly three years of planning, documentation, research, editing, and design, one of the most significant accomplishments of these efforts is the production of Collecting Art: Reflections on Works at the University of Cincinnati, a book that brings to life the richness and depth of the university's art collection. This publication and accompanying exhibition in UC’s Meyers Gallery bring to the forefront the history, strength, and present utilization of the collection.
UC’s art collection includes more than 5000 works of art, craft, and design dating from antiquity to the present. Roughly 2500 of these works are on loan throughout campus and can be found on display in more than 60 buildings across the university, as well as at the Clermont and Blue Ash campuses. Additional works are on loan to the Cincinnati Art Museum, Taft Museum, Cincinnati Observatory, and Getty Museum, Los Angeles, for the exhibition, The Kingdom of Pylos: Warrior-Princes of Ancient Greece, until January 2026.
This project has been made possible through the leadership of Emeritus Provost, Kristi Nelson and Emeritus Dean, Robert Probst, with contributions from student co-ops, alumni, staff, and university faculty. Neville Pinto, UC’s President, deserves special recognition for his enthusiastic support of this project. This exhibition features selected works from the publication of the same name, highlighting both the quality and breadth of the university collection. The book will be released this September and broadly available at retail book sellers. It is with great pride that we present Collecting Art: Reflections on Works at the University of Cincinnati for your enjoyment.
Curator: Aaron Cowan
Sponsors: UC Art Collection and DAAP Galleries
Chapter 1
Herman Schneider: Founder and Futurist
Herman Henry Wessel, "Coal Miner", c. 1910, oil on canvas.
Edwin Austin Abbey, "Winter", 1882, gouache on paper.
Louis Charles Vogt, "Morning in a Railroad Yard", c. 1925, oil on canvas.
Dennis Puhalla, "Clean Sounds Among Hills and Waters", 1972, mixed media on canvas.
Chapter 2
Interwoven: Art in Colleges and Libraries
Joseph Oriel Eaton, "Judge Timothy Walker", 1854, oil on canvas.
Dixie Selden, "Frederick Charles Hicks, 1928, oil on canvas.
Chapter 3
At Home and Abroad: Cincinnati Stories
Frank Duveneck, "Bridge of Sighs (first plate)", 1883, ink on paper.
Elizabeth Nourse, "Le grand-pere, Saint Leger (Le Berceau)", 1906, watercolor on paper.
Frank Duveneck, "Bridge of Sighs (second plate)", 1885, ink on paper.
John Rettig, "Assouan", 1889, watercolor on paper.
John Rettig, "Temple of Amen-Mut-Khonsu at Luxor, Thebes", 1889, watercolor on paper.
Lewis Henry Meakin, "Road and Orchard near Antibes", 1895, oil on canvas.
Henry Lindley Fry and William Henry Fry, untitled, c. 1862-66, ebony and black walnut.
Chapter 4
Looking East: Asian Art and Design
Utagawa Hiroshige, "Full Moon at Takanawa, from the series Famous Places of the Eastern Capital", 1831, ink on paper.
Kitagawa Utamaro, "Three Laughing Figures at Tiger Brook", c. 1798, ink on paper.
Kitagawa Utamaro, "Sekidera Temple, from the series Fashionable Adaptations of the Seven Komachi Plays", c. 1803, ink on paper.
Utagawa Hiroshige II, "Shinagawa River Scene, Shell Gathering at Low Tide", mid 19th century, ink on paper.
Tanaka Raishō, "Rocks and Sea with Red Sun", before 1940, ink on silk.
Tanaka Raishō, "Rocks and Sea By Moonlight", before 1940, ink on silk.
Chapter 5
Intimacy, Identity, and Form: Woman Artists
Dixie Selden, "Mary Emery", 1921, oil on canvas.
Elizabeth Nourse, "Peasant Girl in a Pinafore", 1889, oil on canvas.
Elizabeth Nourse, "L'enfant qui Dort", 1912, oil on paperboard.
Chapter 6
Presence and Prestige: Portriat Busts
Moses Jacob Ezekiel, "Bust of Benjamin Berkeley Hotchkiss", 1879, bronze.
Moses Jacob Ezekiel, "Bust of Abraham Lincoln", c. 1880, bronze.
unknown, "Bust of William Mackpiece Thackery", mid 19th century, porcelain.
unknown, "Miles Greenwood", mid 19th century, oil on canvas.
Moses Jacob Ezekiel, "Joseph Aub", 1889, marble.
Chapter 7
Archaeological Discoveries: Antiquities
Piet de Jong, untitled, 1953-1967, watercolor on paper.
unknown, "Calyx Krater", c. 475 B.C.E, terracotta.
unknown, "Africana II type transport amphora (or Africano grande)", mid 3rd to early 4th century C.E., clay.
Plaster cast of a tablet found at Pylos.
Fragment of a jar from Crete.
Chapter 8
Art and Science: Classroom and Laboratory Callaborations
unknown, after Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, "Self Portrait (copy)", 19th century, oil on canvas.
unknown, after Anthony Van Dyck, "Rest on the Flight to Egypt", 19th century, oil on canvas.
unknown, after Pietro Lorennzetti, "Madonna and Child with Saints", 19th century to early 20th century, oil on wood panel.
Jusepe de Ribera, "Saint Jerome Hearing the Trumpet of the Last Judgement", 1621, etching on laid paper.
Albrecht Altdorfer, "Venus after the Bath", c. 1525, engraving on laid paper.
Chapter 10
Next Lives Here: Today and into the Future
Gary Gaffney, "Conjurings", 2007, mixed media on paper.
Paul Briol, untitled, c. 1937, silver print photograph.
Diane Kruer, "No Exit", 1981, porcelain, wood, and cloth, 1981, porcelain, wood, and cloth.