Louise Shipman Richards, 1942
B.A., Denison University
M.A., Oberlin College
Citation awarded June, 1988
Following graduation from Denison, Louise Shipman Richards went to Oberlin for a masters in art. She began her career as assistant to the curator at the Allen Art Museum, and eventually moved to the Cleveland Museum of Art, where she rose to become curator of prints and drawings.
The Cleveland Museum is considered to be one of the top museums and their print collection one of the most notable collections in the United States. Louise has been directly responsible for building the collection. She is recognized as one of the preeminent authorities in the field and has an extraordinary eye with regard to the documentation and validation of significant works. She has been very active in the prestigious Print Club of Cleveland and has published many of their exhibition catalogs. A recent publication was a catalog of the Italian artist, Federico Barocci’s graphic work. She has also published many articles, the majority of which were published within the Art Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum, but also a number in The Connoisseur, a respected scholarly journal.
Louise comes from a family of many Denisonians, including her grandfather Emory Hunt who served as president.
She has maintained close ties with the Denison art department and has been very helpful and accommodating to the faculty by authenticating many of the college’s prints and drawings.
