With the winter months fast-approaching, the Museum of Fine Arts is a great place to escape the cold weather and become immersed in nearly 450,000 works of art. The MFA is one of the most comprehensive art museums in the world, conveniently located within walking distance of campus. The MFA showcases a variety of art collections that range from ancient Egyptian to contemporary, in addition to special exhibitions, new and improved galleries for European, Asian and African art, and its latest expansions to the American art wing. The MFA is open seven days a week, and is free to Boston University students with their student ID. The MFA is currently housing several must-see special exhibitions for a limited period of time. Check out some of these exhibitions before they are gone! For more information visit: http://www.mfa.org/
“Goya: Order and Disorder”
October 12, 2014 − January 19, 2015
Ann and Graham Gund Gallery (Gallery LG31)
http://www.mfa.org/exhibitions/goya
A major exhibition of Spanish master Francisco Goya (1746−1828):
Above: Francisco Goya y Lucientes, Seated Giant (detail), by 1818. Aquatint with burnishing and scraping, first state.
This exhibit is divided into eight major sections, which express the themes of “nurturing and abuse of children, hunting as sport and metaphor, religious devotion and superstition, equilibrium and loss of balance, justice gone awry and the symbolism of the giant.” This organization helps the viewer to comprehend the artist’s vast creativity and understand the connections across median and time that he constructed. “Goya: Order and Disorder” is on view only at the MFA, and is the largest Goya exhibition in North America in a quarter century.
“Hollywood Glamour: Fashion and Jewelry from the Silver Screen”
September 9, 2014 − March 8, 2015
Loring Gallery of Textiles (Gallery 276)
http://www.mfa.org/exhibitions/hollywood-glamour
See sparklers and gowns from Hollywood’s Golden Age:
Above: Joan Crawford suite of jewelry. By: Verger Freres, French, founded in 1911. Worn by: Joan Crawford, American, 1905–1977. French, about 1935. Gold, diamond, and aquamarine.
“‘Hollywood Glamour: Fashion and Jewelry from the Silver Screen’ presents designer gowns and exquisite jewelry from the 1930s and ‘40s—the most glamorous years of Hollywood film. The exhibition focuses on the iconic style of sultry starlets of the period, including Gloria Swanson, Anna May Wong, Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Mae West, and Joan Crawford. Hollywood style in this era was a blend of on- and off-screen fashion and accessories, including dramatic costumes created for the screen by famous designers such as Adrian, Travis Banton, and Chanel and dazzling jewelry from makers of the era like Trabert & Hoeffer-Mauboussin and Paul Flato. Along with eye-catching gowns once worn by famous figures and the sparkling jewels that contributed to their allure from the MFA and private collections, photography by Edward Steichen along with period photographs, film stills, and film clips capture the style of the silver screen era. Enjoy a glimpse of Hollywood in the Golden Age of glamour.”
“Karsh Goes to Hollywood”
September 9, 2014 – March 8, 2015
Jean S. and Frederic A. Sharf Visitor Center (130.10)
http://www.mfa.org/exhibitions/karsh-goes-hollywood
A galaxy of portraits of legendary stars by the great photographer Yousuf Karsh:
Yousuf Karsh, Princess Grace of Monaco, 1956. Photograph, gelatin silver print.
“This exhibition in Sharf Visitor Center presents twenty iconic figures from Hollywood’s Golden Age photographed by Karsh over his life-long career. Karsh captures the star quality in his celebrity sitters photographed in their prime, a selection that includes images of Humphrey Bogart, Judy Garland, Audrey Hepburn, Clark Gable, Gregory Peck, and many more.”
“Truth and Beauty: Pictorialist Photography”
April 17, 2014 – February 22, 2015
Herb Ritts Gallery (Gallery 169)
http://www.mfa.org/exhibitions/truth-and-beauty
Photography focused on high art ideals at the turn of the 20th century:
Above: F. Holland Day, The Seven Last Words (detail), 1898. Photographs, seven platinum prints in original frame.
“This exhibition celebrates the MFA’s recent acquisition of four major works related to the Boston leader of the movement, F. Holland Day. His The Seven Last Words (1898), purchased in 2013, is a centerpiece of the show and was recently called “an important touchstone of Modernist photography,” by The New York Times. Day daringly styled himself in this series as Christ wearing a crown of thorns. The other three photographs—portraits of Day by Edward Steichen, James Craig Annan, and Clarence H. White—are also included. A small number of significant loans from private collections are also on view.”
“National Pride (and Prejudice)”
November 15, 2014 – April 12, 2015
Edward H. Linde Gallery (Gallery 168)
http://www.mfa.org/exhibitions/national-pride-and-prejudice
Works by artists who tackle issues of national identity:
Above: Still from English Magic (2013) by Jeremy Deller. Museum purchase with funds donated by Judith and Douglas Krupp in honor of Lizbeth and George Krupp. Courtesy the artist and Gaven Brown’s Enterprise. Copyright the artist.
“The American Flag, Stonehenge, Chairman Mao Zedong: instantly recognizable, powerful symbols of the nations that produced them. But what instills pride in one citizen may be a call to protest for another, or may represent a complex combination of thoughts and feelings. The seven works in this installation take a critical look at such images to spark dialogue around provocative issues of national identity. They challenge long-held assumptions about these symbols with a combination of humor, beauty and biting commentary, highlighting the close link between politics and contemporary art. A new acquisition, Jeremy Deller’s off-the-wall video portrait of British culture, English Magic (2013), is accompanied by works by Dave Cole, Burhan Dogançay, Matthew Day Jackson, Lyle Ashton Harris, Catherine Opie and Stan Nanchez.”