Photograph by Phil Armstrong
A$5 million gift to the Cincinnati Art Museum by local collector, scholar, and art enthusiast Mary W. Baskett will support the future of the institution’s fashion arts and textiles collection.
The donation endows the role of curator of fashion arts and textiles—the first curatorial role to be endowed at the museum. Currently in the role, Cynthia Amnéus is excited by the honor and hopes other curators have the opportunity to feel the same. “I hope that other donors and patrons will follow suit,” she says.
Photograph by Phil Armstrong
The donation also allows CAM to create its first gallery dedicated completely to fashion. At a gallery showcase on July 9, CAM displayed Baskett’s collection as well as four pieces from student designers at UC, highlighting the potential of the next generation of designers in the city.
“Their presence reminds us that the future of fashion is here, it is in Cincinnati,” says Brad Hawse, director of philanthropy at the museum. “It is bold, smart, and ready to be seen.”
Baskett’s contributions to CAM predate her multimillion-dollar donation. She served as its curator of prints from 1965 to 1971, where, as a specialist in both Western and Japanese prints, Baskett was involved in accumulating one of the world’s finest collections of 20th century Japanese prints.
Although her official role at the museum came to a close decades ago, her passion for fashion has not wavered. In 2010, Baskett received the Minister of Foreign Affairs Tokyo Commendation Award, granted to recipients that have made outstanding “contributions to the promotion of friendship between Japan and other countries,” for her contributions to cultural exchange in the art industry.
Photograph by Phil Armstrong
Baskett also owns the Mary W. Baskett Gallery in her home in Mt. Adams, which houses contemporary fashion pieces from groundbreaking Japanese designers. This collection will accompany the donation and will grace the fashion exhibit in addition to other pieces from CAM’s fashion arts and textiles collection, which contains 15,000 total works from around the world.
“It has long been my dream to endow a fashion gallery at the Cincinnati Art Museum,” Baskett says. “Showcasing and studying the extraordinary Japanese designers that I have collected since the 1960s can now be a possibility and a priority.”
Baskett’s donation has a focus on Japanese fashion, and the museum plans to show her collection first, followed by others from CAM’s collection as a comparison. Baskett’s collection has toured the country, making appearances at the Textile Museum in Washington, D.C., the Crow Museum of Asian Art in Dallas, and the Indianapolis Museum of Art.
Collection of Mary W. Baskett
These unconventional garments come from the minds of iconic Japanese designers such as Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto, and Rei Kawakubo. The strange shapes, clashing textures, and complicated designs make the collection feel more like sculptures than clothing.
Of the pieces on display are Kawakubo’s “sculptural shoulder” dress, an orange and red hodgepodge made up of the shoulders from other pieces of clothing. The design creates curves in unexpected places, intended to directly challenge how women’s bodies are “supposed” to look in dresses.
Collection of Mary W. Baskett
Yanamoto’s “gray suit” look like a typical suit at first glance. However, the bottoms were constructed by sewing pants and a skirt together, and can be worn either way. Additionally, the arms do not go through what we see as the sleeves, but through elongated panels in the sides of the jacket.
An announcement about when visitors can see Basektt’s collection and the future fashion gallery will come at a later date.
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