Johnson Museum of Art
Johnson Museum of Art
4.5
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Saturday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Sunday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
About
Cornell University's Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art in Ithaca, NY, houses 40,000 works of art in a historic I. M. Pei building. Open year-round, explore the permanent collection and regular temporary exhibitions, with spectacular views of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca, and Cornell. Admission is always free! Please visit our website for special hours during Cornell break periods, including Thanksgiving and December holidays.
Duration: 1-2 hours
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
4.5
225 reviews
Excellent
140
Very good
64
Average
16
Poor
2
Terrible
3
JohnRegoPark
Rego Park, NY1,242 contributions
Sept 2021
I have been to the university museums for Harvard, Penn and Yale and I thought that this Ivy Museum would be a nice complement to a trip to the Finger Lakes. DON'T GO! This museum has very little to offer. There is a floor of Asian art that is very modest at best, and a wall full of American paintings, but most of the museum is either empty, under reconstruction, or poorly arranged. The only upside is that it is free. But parking is a serious issue. There are about twenty spots in front of the museum, most of which have been taken up by students. The rest of the parking on campus is severely restricted to faculty and staff. You could park your car on a street down an extremely steep hill, but that is limited to two hours, which might be okay because it would be hard to spend two hours in this place. I don't like writing negative reviews, but sometimes the truth is the truth.
Written September 14, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Catherine P
Flagstaff, AZ5 contributions
Sept 2022 • Couples
Well what a huge disappointment! We drove 2 hrs to see this museum and there is no parking, anywhere to be found. As art historians and Museum employees we are shocked-access is usually part of any museum’s mission. Not this museum!!
Don’t bother even driving up there. We wasted an hour driving around looking for parking!!
Don’t bother even driving up there. We wasted an hour driving around looking for parking!!
Written September 14, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
westie2
Kensington, CT10,630 contributions
Jun 2024 • Couples
The museum building is beautiful with impressive views of the Cornell campus and Cayuga Lake from the 5th floor windows. There is limited parking available immediately in front of the museum, but we arrived a 1/2 hour before it opening so proved to be not a problem for us. Admission is free, but we found little of interest so we were literally in and out in an hour.
Written July 6, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
John K
Brooklyn, NY37 contributions
Oct 2022
...because there is NO PARKING! Absolutely insane, and even the poor museum employees are upset by it. Apparently most visitors are Cornell students who are required to go for some class requirement. And with no parking, prepare yourself for a hike up the Matterhorn! I never set foot past the main lobby, and I only ducked in there to inquire about parking. So this review is only about accessibility, not the museum collection. A major disappointment!
Written April 20, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
operalover939
Toronto, Canada2,938 contributions
Aug 2018 • Couples
The Johnson Museum inhabits an arresting example of the Brutalist style. The collection is quite splendid, especially the Asian art and artifacts on the fifth floor, which also permits an expansive view over the Cornell campus, Ithaca, and Cayuga Lake. There are also nice collections of European and American art. The lowest two floors show special exhibitions. We were very impressed with this museum and art gallery and happily spent more than two hours here.
Written August 13, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Mahessori
Vlodrop, The Netherlands78 contributions
May 2018 • Friends
Fondly referred to as the "piano" building, this unusual building by architect I.M Pei, is located on the Cornell campus high above Cayuga's waters. Take the elevator to the 5th floor, where the Asian and Middle Eastern art collections are exhibited for a magnificent view over Cayuga Lake.
Written June 18, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
lnwyd
Aberdeen, MD514 contributions
Aug 2017 • Couples
So many reasons to visit. When I realized that our route from Corning to Syracuse (a road trip around NY and the Erie Canal when we discovered a week unencumbered with obligations) ran literally through Ithaca, we made the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art a stop.
Beware if it is still 2017 and you are following your GPS here. We came in from route 13 more or less and the closing of the Stewart Avenue bridge created quite a challenge, both coming and going. But we persisted.
We parked in the reserved area immediately adjacent to the museum. As it was Sunday and August, we had neither to pay nor sign in, but if you park there, remember to make the welcome desk your first stop. This is a college campus, after all, and parking is always hard to find. This is the way that the museum makes itself more accessible to out-of-towners.
The building is an early museum work by Pei and dates to 1968. (There is a marvelous discussion of the architecture and engineering on their website. Do take a look.) Pei's firm produced the somewhat later wing, and I am glad for the harmonious effect.
Not all the spaces were open. It was August and that is always a moment museums gear up with something new for the fall. But permanent collection was available on the main and upper levels. Really fine photo-realist work (and this isn't even something I particularly like), exceptional 20th century modernist works. I particularly like the way that one gallery focused on the figure, bringing together objects from different styles and places, and another followed a sort of cubist theme, taking the viewer from the earliest efforts in Europe and America to the emergence of abstract expressionism in the US. Tiny space, small works, monumental effect.
The temporary exhibitions included a retrospective of the work of Robert Richenberg, a painter I had never heard of but who clearly belongs in the pantheon of American Abstract painters. There was an exhibition of portfolios in the permanent collection and the works of visionary / outsider artists as well.
There is a later wing attached to the main museum building, and below it an ethereal Japanese garden. Sadly we did not have time to sit but that is just one more reason to come back.
Beware if it is still 2017 and you are following your GPS here. We came in from route 13 more or less and the closing of the Stewart Avenue bridge created quite a challenge, both coming and going. But we persisted.
We parked in the reserved area immediately adjacent to the museum. As it was Sunday and August, we had neither to pay nor sign in, but if you park there, remember to make the welcome desk your first stop. This is a college campus, after all, and parking is always hard to find. This is the way that the museum makes itself more accessible to out-of-towners.
The building is an early museum work by Pei and dates to 1968. (There is a marvelous discussion of the architecture and engineering on their website. Do take a look.) Pei's firm produced the somewhat later wing, and I am glad for the harmonious effect.
Not all the spaces were open. It was August and that is always a moment museums gear up with something new for the fall. But permanent collection was available on the main and upper levels. Really fine photo-realist work (and this isn't even something I particularly like), exceptional 20th century modernist works. I particularly like the way that one gallery focused on the figure, bringing together objects from different styles and places, and another followed a sort of cubist theme, taking the viewer from the earliest efforts in Europe and America to the emergence of abstract expressionism in the US. Tiny space, small works, monumental effect.
The temporary exhibitions included a retrospective of the work of Robert Richenberg, a painter I had never heard of but who clearly belongs in the pantheon of American Abstract painters. There was an exhibition of portfolios in the permanent collection and the works of visionary / outsider artists as well.
There is a later wing attached to the main museum building, and below it an ethereal Japanese garden. Sadly we did not have time to sit but that is just one more reason to come back.
Written August 20, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
jeter928
Hartford, CT64 contributions
Jul 2015 • Couples
Take a break from the wineries to visit this impressive art museum on Cornell's campus. Some tips: stock up on quarters and feed the meter (25 cents = 10 minutes) and give yourself about 2 hours to enjoy. We decided to visit here on a cold, rainy summer day to pass the time on our vacation and it was truly a highlight. The museum has extensive collections that will appeal to anyone's taste - modern (including works from Cornell students), ancient, sculpture, medieval, Renaissance... Oh and the outdoor light piece on the ceiling of the 5th floor... Stunning. Great views from the top overlooking campus and vistas. After your visit, find new parking (it's very closely monitored) and hike around the waterfalls right nearby. You won't be disappointed!
Written July 16, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Brian P
Marcellus, NY38 contributions
May 2015 • Business
Great collection; much better than the Everson in Syracuse. All the guards were chatty and friendly which I don't usually find in museums. Museum is free. There is no gift shop but a few magnets and cards are sold at the front desk: I wish there had been more to choose from. If you are in the area, you must visit this museum. It's right on the campus and you will not be disappointed if you are an admirer of great works of art.
Written May 5, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
TaoBella
1 contribution
Nov 2014
Great museum if you like your racism with a bit of culture. I've never had a security guard stalk me floor to floor in any museum in Boston, DC, San Francisco, or NYC, but apparently they are "bored" here (according to the person at the front desk). Don't worry - they are only bored if you are black. Go and have fun! #sarcasm
Written November 25, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
TaoBella, we're so sorry to hear you had this experience. Please be assured that we're addressing your concern with our security staff, and will be working to make sure this never happens again.
Written November 26, 2014
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
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