THE CUMMER MUSEUM OF ART & GARDENS
Founder Ninah Holden Cummer Planted The Seed For
This Respected Institution In Jacksonville

ABOVE: A banner across the front entrance of The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens paid tribute to its 40th anniversary last November. Ninah Holden Cummer created an endowment in 1958 to build a museum on the site of her home. Completed in 1961, the original building has evolved into a museum that houses more than 5,000 works of art. Photography by Bill Yates, Jacksonville, FL.

ith its historic gardens bordering the St. Johns River, The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens in Jacksonville is a remarkable study of continuity and change. Founded more than 40 years ago, the museum has become an established and respected fixture in this northeastern Florida community.

Longtime resident Ninah Holden Cummer gave the museum its auspicious beginning in 1958 with her bequest of 2.5 acres of riverfront property, which was the site of her and husband Arthur's home, and the couple's stellar art collection. Today, the museum houses more than 5,000 works of art — an impressive collection that reflects the museum's goal "to be an outstanding survey of world art in the Southeast," says Jeanette Toohey, chief curator of the museum.

Though Mrs. Cummer primarily amassed pieces of Westem art, she wished to establish an encyclopedic collection. "We have in our archives correspondence from Mrs. Cummer to a dealer in London," Museum Director Maarten van de Guchte says, "and they write about certain paintings and which ones to buy. The dealer writes, 'you need a Dutch masterpiece, a work by a French artist, some English Elizabethan, American art from the 19th century,' so we know that she set the collection up as a survey collection."

ABOVE: This past spring the museum exhibited the work of Toulouse-Lautrec, including this poster, "Eldorado, Aristide Bruant." Photography courtesy of The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens. BELOW: An arbor frames a view of the museum's historic Italian garden, where a replica of a fountain in the original garden was installed earlier this year. Photography courtesy of The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens.

Cummer planted the seed for the museum, and the community nurtured the growth of its permanent collection. "That is something our patrons have definitely stepped up to the plate to do," Toohey says. "The galleries are filled with gifts and purchases that have been made since Mrs. Cummer's time."

In addition to Mrs. Cummer's original works, the museum's current holdings include antiquities, pre-Columbian, African, decorative arts and works on paper. "If you begin in the antiquities section of the museum, you can march through time to the mid-20th century," Toohey says.

To complement its permanent collection, the museum schedules three to four traveling exhibitions every year. Last spring, the museum hosted "Toulouse-Lautrec: Artist of Montmarte," which featured the French modernist's posters, lithographs and drawings.

This fall and winter, the Cummer looks forward to two noteworthy exhibitions, both of which originated in Mexico City. "European Masterworks from the San Carlos Museum" opens to the public Oct. 24, 2002, with 43 works by such luminaries as Francisco Goya, Frans Hals, Francisco de Zurbaran, Jean-Honoré Fragonard and Jean-Auguste Ingre. This exhibit runs through the end of December 2002.

In January 2003, "Modern Masters: Corot to Kandinsky" comes to the museum on loan from a private foundation. This 68-work exhibition begins chronologically where the previous one left off, and similarly highlights and expands on the Cummer's holdings. Works by Salvador Dali, Paul Gauguin, Wassily Kandinsky, René Magritte, Pablo Picasso and John Singer Sargent, among others, will be on display.

While the museum showcases important works of art, the historic gardens captivate visitors with their beauty. The English garden dates back to 1904, and the Italian garden was designed in 1931 by Ellen Biddle Shipman, who at the time was one of the most prominent woman landscape architects in the country. With both gardens fully restored to their original splendor, they provide a serene interlude for art enthusiasts or garden lovers.

Recently, the museum restored another part of the gardens: the putting green. Mrs. Cummer had given the putting green to her husband in return for his generous sacrifice of his garage for her ever-expanding gardens.

The museum also keeps an eye on visitors' needs and experiences. "We have a special responsibility and commitment to the people of Jacksonville, and by extension, to the people of northeast Florida," van de Guchte says. "We have as our mandate to make the museum a welcoming place, to provide quality art and to give people an opportunity to find meaning in those art offerings." As a result, the museum has an award-winning education department, a roster of more than 3,500 members and a $25 million endowment.

With an uncommon legacy from its founding benefactor, The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens has settled comfortably into the Jacksonville community, yet has never tired in its quest for excellence. For more information, call 904/356-6857 or visit their web site at www.cummer.org.

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