Johnson Museum of Art

09/01/2026

Edouard Kopp has been named as the next the Richard J. Schwartz Director of the Johnson Museum and will join us in Ithaca this November. Edouard has been chief curator of the Menil Drawing Institute in Houston for the last seven years and previously held curatorial roles at the Harvard Art Museums and The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.

“I am deeply honored to join the Johnson Museum and the Cornell community. I look forward to working with colleagues across the university to activate the collection as a dynamic resource for teaching, research and creative practice; make the museum an even more welcoming destination for the campus and wider community; and steward its extraordinary I. M. Pei building for future generations.”

Read more at the Cornell Chronicle:
https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2026/09/edouard-kopp-named-director-johnson-museum

(📷: Chris Dunn)

Edouard Kopp, chief curator of the Menil Drawing Institute in Houston, has been named the next director of the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell.

07/23/2026

Martie Young died on July 12 at age 96. A member of the faculty from 1959 to his retirement in 1998, he became the A.D. White Museum of Art’s curator of Asian art in 1963 and was a key participant in planning the Johnson Museum.

“What propelled Martie to build the collection of Asian art, and indeed to be a driving force behind the creation of the Johnson Museum, was his dedication to offering students transformational experiences with original works of art,” said Ellen Avril, interim director and the Judith H. Stoikov Curator of Asian Art, who succeeded Martie in 1998. “Martie had a wonderful way of interacting with people and a love for art that was infectious.”

Read more in the Cornell Chronicle:
https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2026/07/martie-young-great-hero-johnson-museum-art-dies-96

06/26/2026

"Quilted Stories: American Quilts from the Permanent Collection" starts Saturday, June 27! See historical and contemporary quilts including recent acquisitions, and explore a special section dedicated to exploring quilt color, fabric, and design, appropriate for all ages.

Save the date! Join us on July 18 to celebrate the exhibition and see the unveiling of a community quilt created by members of the public. This event and Museum admission is free and open to all. Visit our website for summer hours and more information.

03/12/2026

Giving Day is here, and right now, you can DOUBLE your impact for art, for all, when you make a gift to the Johnson Museum of Art. 🙌

Thanks to Ronni Lacroute ’66 and a generous member of the Museum Advisory Council who are matching gifts up to $100,000, your generosity goes twice as far for K-12 learners, Cornellians, and everyone in our community—today only.

Click the link to make a gift while this 1:1 match is active! 🎨💙
https://givingday.cornell.edu/organizations/herbert-f-johnson-museum-of-art

02/19/2026

Free and open to all!

02/18/2026

Calling all quilters! The Johnson Museum is now accepting submissions for quilt blocks to be included in a community quilt in conjunction with a Summer 2026 exhibition. The final quilt will be on temporary display and become part of the Museum's permanent collection.

Sign up online at https://bit.ly/3LOVuFo and see more details below!

02/11/2026

A new student-led installation inspired by a Society for the Humanities - Cornell University seminar explores how tiny figures known as “staffage” indicate scale in paintings and also tell larger stories about the art. It’s on view now in the Richard Sukenik ’59 Teaching Gallery on Floor 2L.

Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art installation focuses on small figures in large landscapes 🖼🖌

The tiny figures in landscape paintings may be barely noticeable, but sometimes they reveal a deeper story about the scene or the person who created it.

A new student-led installation at the Johnson Museum of Art explores how the figures, known as “staffage,” indicate scale in paintings and also tell larger stories about the art.

In the tradition of European landscape painting, staffage figures “give the painting a sense of depth, but also a possibility of narrative, some kind of literary component,” said Benjamin Anderson, associate professor in the Department of History of Art and Visual Studies in the Cornell University College of Arts and Sciences, who taught a fall 2025 Society for the Humanities seminar that inspired the installation.

“The general idea was that the entire painting was executed and then the staffage was added,” Anderson said. “In fact, some painters didn’t do their own staffage.”

More at https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2026/02/museum-installation-focuses-small-figures-large-landscapes.

01/27/2026

Museum volunteers welcome our visitors as their first point of contact, providing information on exhibitions and events, guiding with directions, assisting with accessibility needs, and ensuring a positive museum experience for all. Training is provided, and a time commitment is required.

If you are interested in getting involved at the Johnson as part of our Visitor Services Volunteer Program, please visit our website and email Holly Smith to begin the conversation today: https://museum.cornell.edu/about/volunteer/