Cleveland Museum of Art Inaugural Exhibition posters

Collection

Identifier: 1111.134

Staff Only

Cleveland Museum of Art Inaugural exhibition posters

Scope and Contents note

The collection consists of four posters submitted by students of the Cleveland School of Arts to the museum under the auspices of Ralph King. The winning poster by Robert Roessler was to be used at the museum opening although there is no evidence of this, and the poster in the museum archives is an incomplete work.

Dates

1915

Conditions Governing Access note

Open to the public. For more information or to access this collection contact archives staff at archives2@clevelandart.org

Biographical/Historical note

Cleveland real estate investor Ralph King was an important early supporter of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Although not involved in the museum's construction, he served on the advisory board in 1914 and joined the board of trustees in 1915. He served on the accessions committee and executive committee and was elected vice president in 1921. he also voluntarily served as curator of prints from 1919 to 1921.

King was also a supporter and trustee of the Cleveland School of the arts, and was especially interested in encouraging young artists. When the museum was under construction he offered a prize of $100 for the best poster to be used at the opening. He was so impressed with the entries that he offered a second and third place prize as well. The winner was Robert Roessler, a sophomore at the school. Ruth Deike was awarded the $50 second prize and Charles Burchfield was awarded the $25 third prize. There is no evidence that the posters were used to promote the opening of the museum in 1916.