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CINCINNATI— Cincinnati Art Museum has been approved for a $36,000 Grants for Arts Projects award to support the special exhibition, Paintings, Politics and the Monuments Men: The Berlin Masterpieces in America (July 9–Oct. 3, 2021).

This project tells the story of how and why some of the world’s most iconic European paintings left Germany immediately after World War II and toured the United States in what became the first blockbuster art exhibition of our time.

Cincinnati Art Museum’s exhibition is among the more than 1,100 projects across America totaling nearly $27 million that were selected during this second round of Grants for Arts Projects fiscal year 2021 funding.

“As the country and the arts sector begin to imagine returning to a post-pandemic world, the National Endowment for the Arts is proud to announce funding that will help arts organizations such as Cincinnati Art Museum reengage fully with partners and audiences,” said NEA Acting Chairman Ann Eilers. “Although the arts have sustained many during the pandemic, the chance to gather with one another and share arts experiences is its own necessity and pleasure.”

Paintings, Politics and the Monuments Men: The Berlin Masterpieces in America focuses on the fate of 200 of the finest European paintings from the Berlin State Museums that traveled to the United States soon after the end of the war and were exhibited at 14 museums across the country before returning to Germany.

Longtime Cincinnatian and supporter of the arts, Captain Walter Farmer led the Monuments Men’s protest against the paintings’ controversial transfer from Germany. Featuring paintings that made the journey, alongside artworks and historical material from the Cincinnati Art Museum and other lenders, the exhibition delves into the complex role of artworks in a time of social upheaval and war and highlights the importance of tracing the movements and uses of cultural treasures. Learn more at cincinnatiartmuseum.org/berlinmasterpieces.

For more information on the projects included in the Arts Endowment grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news.

About the Cincinnati Art Museum

The Cincinnati Art Museum is supported by the generosity of individuals and businesses that give annually to ArtsWave. The Ohio Arts Council helps fund the Cincinnati Art Museum with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans. The Cincinnati Art Museum gratefully acknowledges operating support from the City of Cincinnati, as well as our members.

Free general admission to the Cincinnati Art Museum is made possible by a gift from the Rosenthal Family Foundation. Special exhibition pricing may vary. Parking at the Cincinnati Art Museum is free. The museum is open Tuesday–Sunday, 11 a.m.–5 p.m. and Thursday, 11 a.m.–8 p.m. cincinnatiartmusem.org

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