If there is a Hall of Fame somewhere for librarians — and there should be — then Alice S. Plaut, former head of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County’s Art & Music Department, belongs in it. In 1958, entrusted by the Library with some of the $50,000 bequest by Eda Kuhn Loeb, she went to Europe to purchase rare, signed, limited-edition books from the finest artists. She chose sterling work by Chagall, Gauguin and others, including a copy of Matisse’s Jazz masterpiece. The results are on display in Creative Expression: Artists Works at the Main Library’s Cincinnati Room, and this is a show that compares favorably with those currently up in our art museums. It may be one of the year’s best, in fact.
Through Aug. 24. Free. 800 Vine St., Downtown, cincinnatilibrary.org.
