The following history of the Columbia Museum of Art is based upon information contained in Charles R. Mack,European Art in the Columbia Museum of Art. Volume I: The Thirtenth Through the Sixteenth Century, Columbia: Univ. of South Carolina Press, 2009, pp.12-14 and Robert Ochs, The Columbia Art Association, 1915-1975. The Columbia Museum of Art,1950-1975: A History, Columbia: Columbia Museums of Art and Science, 1975, pp.5-35, as well as upon the Columbia Museum of Art Visitors Guide, published 12 July 1998 as a supplement to The State newspaper.</ref> The building that housed the new museum had originally been erected as the private residence of the city's prominent Taylor family. Situated at the edge of downtown Columbia, adjacent to the campus of the University of South Carolina and only three blocks from the South Carolina State House, the stately Taylor House, repurposed through the addition of gallery wings and a round planetarium, was home to the Columbia Museum for almost half a century. The art collection that first went on view in 1950 was certainly modest in scope consisting of the gifts and bequests of local collectors. It included only ten old master paintings, the most significant having been executed by Joshua Reynolds, Scipione Pulzone, Juan de Pareja and Artus Wolffort. This situation changed drastically in 1954 when the Columbia Museum was included among the 95 institutions nationwide selected to receive donations of Renaissance and Baroque art from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation. Designated a regional center by the Kress Foundation, the Columbia Museum of Art and Science received, over the next two decades, a total of 78 examples of fine and decorative art from the Renaissance and Baroque periods. The Samuel H. Kress Foundation provided the essential nucleus of quality and historical breadth upon which the Museum could further build. Wikipedia [ - ]

The following history of the Columbia Museum of Art is based upon information contained in... [ + ]