Collection
About the Taft Museum of Art Collection
The museum’s collection galleries are located in the Baum-Longworth-Sinton-Taft historic house. With the core of the collection still comprising the works acquired by Anna Sinton Taft and Charles Phelps Taft, the Taft collection now numbers over 800 objects, including Chinese porcelains, American furniture, and European decorative arts such as a remarkable collection of French Renaissance enamels and one of the most exceptional medieval ivory sculptures in the United States. The major holdings of European and American paintings include works by such leading artists as Thomas Gainsborough, Francisco Goya, Rembrandt van Rijn, John Singer Sargent, J. M. W. Turner, and James McNeill Whistler.
Explore the Collection
Discover a selection of the Taft's collection, including European and American paintings and sculptures, Chinese porcelains, European watches, French Renaissance enamels, and American furniture in the museum collection galleries. Nearly the entire collection is also accessible online, for viewing anytime.
Duncanson Murals
Between 1850 and 1852, Robert S. Duncanson (1821–1872) painted a series of eight monumental landscape murals commissioned by horticulturalist and art patron Nicholas Longworth to decorate the entry hall of his home, now the Taft Museum of Art. These are now recognized as the most important pre–Civil War domestic murals in the United States. In 1976, the Taft historic house and the Duncanson murals were designated as National Historic Landmarks.
Artworks on Adventure
James McNeill Whistler's "At the Piano"
James McNeill Whistler’s painting At the Piano, which normally hangs the in the collection galleries' Plum Parlor, is currently on loan to the major Whistler exhibition at the Tate Britain, London, May 21–September 27, 2026, and the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, October 16–January 10, 2027.
Artworks on Adventure
Anna Sinton Taft and Charles Phelps Taft Portraits
The portraits of Taft Museum of Art co-founders Charles Phelps Taft and Anna Sinton Taft that usually hang above the mantels in the Music Room are currently featured in the exhibition Raimundo de Madrazo, the first major show devoted to the Spanish artist. The paintings—which have never traveled outside of Cincinnati—can be seen at the Meadows Museum, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas (February 22–June 21, 2026).
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The Taft Museum of Art's collection digitization project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and by The H.B., E.W., and F.R. Luther Charitable Foundation, Fifth Third Bank, N.A., Trustee.
