Art History News: December 2021

Friday, December 31, 2021

Latest Art History News

Art of 17th century Dutch Republic and Flanders: The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

[image: Detail of portrait of woman in a dress and head covering, seated in front of a landscape painting on an easel] Credit *Self-Portrait of the Artist in Her Studio*, about 1680 (detail) Maria Schalcken (Dutch, 1645/50–before 1700) Oil on panel * Gift of Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo, in support of the Center for Netherlandish Art * Photograph © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston In the 17th century, global commerce fueled the economy of the Netherlands and Flanders and sparked an artistic boom. Merchants sailed from Amsterdam, Antwerp and other ports across seas and ocea... read more

Art of Ancient Greece, Rome and the Byzantine Empire: The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

[image: Detail of Byzantine mosaic depicting two figures said to be the personfication of Pleasure and Wealth] Credit *Mosaic with personifications of Pleasure and Wealth (detail)* 6th century C.E. Stone and glass tesserae * Gift of George D. and Margo Behrakis * Photograph © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), is unveiling an ambitious transformation in the George D. and Margo Behrakis Wing for Art of the Ancient World: five reimagined galleries for the art of ancient Greece, Rome and the Byzantine Empire that tell new stories about some of the... read more

Baselitz The retrospective

*Centre Pompidou* *20 October 2021 – 7 March 2022 * Curators *Bernard Blistène *and *Pamela Sticht * *Excellent article - lots more images* Born in 1938, Hans-Georg Kern (his real name) was marked by his childhood in Saxony during the Nazi period and by the atrocities of war he was witness to. He was born in the village Großbaselitz (renamed Deutschbaselitz in 1948) which inspired the pseudonym he adopted in 1961. As of 1949, he grew up under the authoritarian regime of the German Democratic Republic, where abstract painting was prohibited, as an alleged expression of ‘capi... read more

From Hassam to Wyeth: Gifts from Doris and Shouky Shaheen

*Norton Museum of Art* *December 10, 2021 – May 1, 2022* Andrew Wyeth (American, 1917-2009) The Lobster Trap, 1937. Watercolor on paper. Gift of Doris and Shouky Shaheen. ©Andrew Wyeth / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York*Norton Museum of Art* Childe Hassam (American, 1859–1935), Wainscott Links, 1907. Oil on canvas, Canvas: 23 ½ x 29 in. (59.7 x 73.7 cm), Frame: 33 1/8 x 39 x 3 in. (84.1 x 99.1 x 7.6 cm). Gift of Doris and Shouky Shaheen.*Norton Museum of Art* The Norton Museum of Art will open *From Hassam to Wyeth: Gifts from Doris and Shouky Shaheen* (December 10, 2021 – Ma... read more

Alex Katz

*Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum* *14 June to 11 September 2022* For the first time in Spain, the museum is presenting a retrospective on the American painter Alex Katz (born New York, 1927), one of the key figures in the history of 20thcentury American art and a forerunner of Pop Art who continues active today. The exhibition is curated by Guillermo Solana, the museum’s artistic director, and it benefits from the support of the artist and his studio, who are in close contact with this project. The display includes around 30 large-format oils accompanied by various studies, of... read more

Holbein: Capturing Character

* J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center * *October 19, 2021, to January 9, 202* *The Morgan Library & Museum* *February 11, 2022 through May 15, 2022* Co-organized with the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, this marks the first major U.S. exhibition dedicated to the art of Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/98– 1543). The Morgan’s display will feature around sixty objects from over twenty lenders across the globe, including thirty-one paintings and drawings by Holbein himself. Hans Holbein the Younger was among the most skilled, versatile, and inventive European artists of the... read more

Christie’s 19th Century American Art | JANUARY 19

Christie’s will launch 19th Century American Art during the January 2022 Americana Week. The curated sale of 69 lots is dedicated to 19th Century American paintings, drawings and sculpture, and is anchored by two noteworthy collections from Houston, Texas—the James William Glanville and Nancy Hart Glanville Collection and the Estate of Patrick Rutherford, Jr.—which feature important works by Albert Bierstadt, Frederic Church and John Frederick Kensett. Leading the sale is the resplendent *In the Yosemite* by Albert Bierstadt which captures the awe of Cathedral Rocks on a cryst... read more

David Hockney: People, Places & Things

Walker Art CenterDecember 18, 2021–August 21, 2022 - facebook - twitter - email David Hockney, *Piscine à minuit, Paper Pool 19*, 1978. Gift of Ken and Lindsay Tyler, 1983. Courtesy Walker Art Center. First gaining attention in the 1960s Pop era with his brightly colored portraits and landscapes, David Hockney (UK, b. 1937) has remained a constant presence in contemporary art, revisiting and reinterpreting favorite themes over six decades through experimentation with a range of media, from painting and printmaking to theater set design and, more recently, digital media. Hock... read more

Wayne Thiebaud 100: Paintings, Prints, and Drawings

*The McNay Art Museum *is pleased to present *Wayne Thiebaud 100: Paintings, Prints, and Drawings*, an extensive, celebratory survey featuring a full range of the California artist’s achievements on canvas and paper in an exhibition on view at the McNay from *October 28, 2021 to January 16, 2022.* Wayne Thiebaud, *Pies, Pies, Pies, *1961. Oil on canvas, 20 x 30 in. Crocker Art Museum, gift of Philip L. Ehlert in memory of Dorothy Evelyn Ehlert, 1974.12. © 2021 Wayne Thiebaud / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY. Opening in Thiebaud’s 100th year, the career-span... read more

Late Constable

*The Royal Academy* *30 October 2021 – 13 February 2022 * The Royal Academy presents the first survey of the late work of John Constable (1776-1837). Late Constable will explore the last twelve years of the artist’s career, from 1825 until his unexpected death in 1837. Characterised by the expressive brushwork that came to define Constable’s late career, the exhibition brings together over 50 works including paintings and oil sketches as well as watercolours, drawings and prints, taking an in-depth look at the development of the artist’s late style. Constable was born and raised... read more

RSS Rijksmuseum to Stage the Largest Vermeer Exhibition Ever

* Rijksmuseum* *February 10 to June 4, 2023* Johannes Vermeer, The Girl with the Pearl Earring, 1665.*Mauritshuis in The Hague* In the spring of 2023, the Rijksmuseum, the national museum of the Netherlands, will dedicate a retrospective exhibition to the 17th-century master Johannes Vermeer for the first time in its history. With loans from all over the world, this promises to be the largest Vermeer exhibition ever. The Rijksmuseum itself has four masterpieces by Vermeer, including the world-famous *Milkmaid *and *The Little Street*. The exhibition is a collaboration between th... read more

The Magritte machine

*Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza* *From 14 September 2021 to 30 January 2022* Curator: Guillermo Solana The Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza is holding the first retrospective in Madrid on the Belgian artist and leading Surrealist René Magritte (1898-1967) since the exhibition held at the Fundación Juan March in 1989. Its title, *The Magritte machine*, emphasises the repetitive and combinatorial element present in the work of this painter, whose obsessive themes constantly recur with innumerable variations. Magritte’s boundless imagination gave rise to a very large number of ... read more

Italian painting from the fourteenth to the eighteenth century

Italian painting from the fourteenth to the eighteenth century from Baron Thyssen-Bornemisza’s Collection at the MNAC *Madrid, Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza,* *.From 25 October 2021 to 9 January 2022* Curator: Mar Borobia When the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza opened in 1992 an important and representative selection of nearly 80 works of the Italian and German schools was placed on long-term deposit for display at the Monastery of Pedralbes in Barcelona through an agreement reached between Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza and the city’s mayor, Pasqual Maragall. In 2004 that grou... read more

American Art from the Thyssen Collection

* Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza * *4 December 2021 to 26 June 2022* Curators: Paloma Alarcó and Alba Campo Rosillo In the final event of a year that has paid tribute to Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza (1921-2002), marking the 00th anniversary of his birth, the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza is presenting an exhibition which brings together the magnificent collection of American art assembled by the Baron over more than three decades. The works on display come from both the Thyssen family and the Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza collections, as well as and principally from the... read more

An American Place: Highlights from the James and Barbara Palmer Collection

* Palmer Museum of Art* *Jan. 29 through April 24, 2022* Thomas Hart Benton (American, 1889–1975), Shallow Creek, 1938–39, oil and Egg tempera on canvas mounted on board, 36 x 25 inches. Bequest of James R. and Barbara R. Palmer, 2019.31. © 2021 T.H. and R.P. Benton Trusts / Licensed by Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York Pancrace Bessa (French, 1772–1846), Hyacinthus Orientalis, 1810–1826, watercolor on white vellum, 7 3/8 x 4 9/16 inches. Presented in memory of James Rea Maxwell Jr., Class of 1921, 74.4 *An American Place: Highlights from the James and Barbara Palmer Collect... read more

Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera and Mexican Modernism from the Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection

*Norton Museum of Art* *October 23, 2021-February 6, 2022* Featuring over 150 paintings, works on paper, photographs, and period clothing collected by Jacques and Natasha Gelman, the exhibition includes the largest group of works by *Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera* ever on view at the institution. Presenting these artists’ creative pursuits in the broader context of the art created during the renaissance following the end of the Mexican Revolution in 1920, the exhibition also includes work by Manuel and Lola Álvarez Bravo, Miguel Covarrubias, Gunther Gerzso, Graciela Iturbide, Mar... read more

Strict Beauty: Sol LeWitt Prints

*New Britain Museum of American Art,* *through January 9, 2022* *Williams College Museum of Art* *Feb. 18 to June 12, 2022* Sol LeWitt, Loopy/Doopy, Blue-Red, 2000. Color woodcut. New Britain Museum of American Art. The conceptual artist Sol LeWitt (1928–2007) is best known for his programmatic wall drawings and modular structures, but alongside these works he generated more than 350 print projects, comprising thousands of lithographs, silkscreens, etchings, aquatints, woodcuts, and linocuts. On view at Connecticut's New Britain Museum of American Art, through January 9, 2... read more

The Credit Suisse Exhibition Lucian Freud: New Perspectives

*The National Gallery will stage a landmark exhibition to mark the centenary of the birth of the great 20th-century artist Lucian Freud (1922–2011 October 1, 2022 to January 22, 2022.* This first major survey of his paintings for 10 years will bring together a large selection of his most important works from across seven decades – spanning early works such as Image: Lucian Freud, 'Girl with Roses', 1947-8. Courtesy of the British Council Collection. Photo © The British Council © The Lucian Freud Archive / Bridgeman Images 'Girl with Roses' (British Council Collection) from th... read more

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Latest Art History News

Thursday, December 30, 2021

Art of 17th century Dutch Republic and Flanders: The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Self-Portrait of the Artist in Her Studio, about 1680 (detail)

Maria Schalcken (Dutch, 1645/50–before 1700)

Oil on panel

* Gift of Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo, in support of the Center for Netherlandish Art

* Photograph © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

In the 17th century, global commerce fueled the economy of the Netherlands and Flanders and sparked an artistic boom. Merchants sailed from Amsterdam, Antwerp and other ports across seas and oceans, joining trade networks that stretched from Asia to the Americas and Africa. This unprecedented movement of goods, ideas and people, both free and enslaved, gave rise to what some have called the first age of globalization. On November 20, 2021, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), opens a suite of seven newly renovated galleries that explore the rich visual culture of the Dutch Republic and Flanders during this time, bringing together nearly 100 paintings by the greatest masters—including Rembrandt van Rijn, Peter Paul Rubens, Gerrit Dou, Frans Hals and Anthony van Dyck—in addition to works on paper and decorative arts such as silver and Delft ceramics. The new installations examine a variety of themes: women artists and patrons; the growth of the art market; and the unexpected connection between still life paintings, the sugar trade and slavery. Many of the featured paintings are drawn from a 2017 gift from Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo and Susan and Matthew Weatherbie, which elevated the MFA’s holdings into one of the country’s foremost collections of Dutch art from the 17th century and significantly strengthened its representation of Flemish works from the period. The installation features additional gifts and purchases, supplementing the 2017 gift: seven Dutch and Flemish pictures from the collections of Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo, Maida and George Abrams and Kathleen and Martin Feldstein. Other highlights are a selection of Dutch medals from the Abrams Collection and a silver mounted coconut cup and a pair of silver tazze from the Van Otterloo Collection. The 2017 landmark donation also included endowment funds to establish the Center for Netherlandish Art (CNA), an innovative center for scholarship housed at the MFA and the first resource of its kind in the U.S. The CNA will launch in conjunction with the new galleries.

“The newly installed galleries combine existing and new collections and link historical context to issues of our time. The complicated power dynamics of international trade, the creation of art markets, the evolution of domestic space defined by class— all are addressed in narrative groupings of works that celebrate many known and unknown artists,” said Matthew Teitelbaum, Ann and Graham Gund Director. “The role of the museum is to re-evaluate accepted storylines and traditions—affirming while broadening, challenging and deepening our assumptions about the past. We do so by acknowledging both the power and beauty of great works of art, and affirming sustaining value in the work of Rembrandt, Hals and Rubens alongside discoveries like Wautier, Schalcken and Ruysch. The presentation is the result of collaboration among scholars, artists and cultural thinkers both within and outside the Museum, who came together to share ideas and create new meaning.”

When the galleries open, an installation in the MFA’s Upper Hemicycle will feature five paintings by Michaelina Wautier (1604–1689)—making their public debut after 370 years. The rare series, titled The Five Senses (1650, Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Collection), constitutes five of the only 40 or so known works by Wautier, an artist from Brussels who until recently had been omitted from art history. Rather than depicting the senses as experienced by idealized women, the detailed portrayals of Sight, Sound, Hearing, Taste and Touch focus on boys performing everyday activities. One of the great mysteries in the study of Flemish art has been the whereabouts of this set, which resurfaced in 2020 and showcases Wautier’s innovative conception, complex choreography of glances and gestures, and ability to convey different textures.

Arguably the greatest early Netherlandish painting in North America, Saint Luke Drawing the Virgin(about 1435–40) by Rogier van der Weyden (about 1400–1464) introduces the “Dutch Specialties”gallery and provides a conceptual starting point for the rest of the suite. Many of the genres that Dutch artists would become famous for exploring in the 17th century are drawn from elements in sacred paintings by Van der Weyden and his 15th-century contemporaries. The gallery delves into these genres: artists in their studios, flower still lifes, architectural painting, portraits and head studies (called “tronies” in Dutch), and painstaking depictions of textures. The paintings include major works by Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–1669), Pieter Saenredam (1597–1665) and Balthasar van der Ast (1593 or 1594–1657) as well as two works that will be the first paintings by early modern Dutch women to enter the MFA’s collection. Self-Portrait of the Artist in Her Studio (about 1680) by Maria Schalcken (1645/50–before 1700) was previously attributed to her brother and teacher Godfried Schalcken, but conservation treatment revealed Maria’s signature in the upper left corner—and thus established the painting, a Van Otterloo gift, as a self-portrait. Still Life with Flowers (1709) is an exquisite example by Rachel Ruysch(1664–1750), the daughter of a well-known professor of botany and anatomy, who is now ranked among the leading Dutch still life painters.

A new rotating gallery in the suite will be dedicated to presenting research developed at the CNA. The inaugural presentation analyzes the competitiveness of the Dutch art market in the 17th century, with displays created in collaboration with professors and graduate students from the Experience Design Lab and the Co-Lab for Data Impact at Northeastern University. The gallery explores how painters developed instantly recognizable styles and motifs to adapt to the demands of the market. Willem Claesz. Heda (1594–1680), for example, created a new brand of monochrome still life, while Jacob van Ruisdael (1628 or 1629–1682) specialized in sweeping views of Haarlem. By contrast, Jan van Goyen(1596–1656) used cheaper pigments and faster working methods to offer his depictions of the Dutch countryside at competitive prices.

In the decades around 1600, the Dutch mastered the ocean; their world-spanning routes linked ports in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas. Burgeoning trade with Asia was managed by the Dutch East India company (or VOC from its Dutch name), founded in 1602, the world’s first multinational cooperation. On view in the “Global Commerce” gallery, seascapes by artists including Willem van de Velde, the Younger (1633–1707) and Ludolf Bakhuizen (1631–1708) celebrate the Dutch Republic’s seafaring prowess, and atlases by Joan Blaeu (1596–1673) outline the vast trade networks from the North Sea to the Indian Ocean and the Sea of Japan. Still lifes by artists including Willem Kalf (1619–1693) and Frans Snyders (1579–1657) showcase a variety of local and imported commodities, including precious glassware produced in Antwerp and blue-and-white porcelain from China. A major theme is the darker history of international trade, highlighted with a special emphasis on sugar. Sugar production in Brazil depended on the work of large numbers of enslaved laborers, and the juxtaposition of still lifes containing sweets by Osias Beert (about 1580–1623), a Brazilian landscape by Frans Post (1612-1680), and a map of Brazil with a sugar mill in Blaeu’s atlas will explore the often-overlooked connection between sugar consumption, plantation labor and slavery. One extraordinary object sums up the cosmopolitan taste of Amsterdam artists and patrons: a coconut turned into a sea monster battling Neptune, through its elaborate silver mount. This fanciful work of art was made in 1607 by Frederiks Andries (1566-1627) and donated by Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo in 2020.

The Eighty Years’ War (1568–1648) split the Netherlands into an independent, largely Protestant Dutch Republic in the north and a Catholic Southern Netherlands ruled by Spain. Divergent artistic styles emerged in the two regions. A grand gallery, the largest one in the suite, is dedicated to “Dutch and Flemish Masterpieces,” presenting many of the greatest treasures in the MFA from both cultures.

Self-Portrait as Icarus with Daedalus, about 1618

Anthony van Dyck (Flemish, 1599–1641)

Oil on canvas

* Promised gift of Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo, in support of the Center for Netherlandish Art

*Courtesy, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Among the many highlights are Self-Portrait as Icarus with Daedalus (about 1618) painted by a 19-year-old Anthony van Dyck (1599–1641),

Mulay Ahmad, about 1609

Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577–1640)

Oil on panel

*Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. M. Theresa B. Hopkins Fund

*Photograph © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Mulay Ahmad (about 1609) by Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640)

and three great portraits by Rembrandt,

Portrait of Aeltje Uylenburgh, 1632

Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch, 1606–1669)

Oil on panel

*Promised gift of Rose‑Marie and Eijk van Otterloo, in support of the Center for Netherlandish Art

*Courtesy, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

including the moving Aeltje Uylenburgh (1632).

A section of this gallery has been transformed into an immersive installation that evokes an Amsterdam house in the second half of the 17th-century, teeming with exquisite paintings, silver, furniture and Delft ceramics. A doll’s house filled with nearly 200 silver and porcelain miniatures as well as an elaborately carved beeldenkast(cupboard), both on loan from the Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Collection, are the focal points of this intimate space.

The Triumph of the Winter Queen: Allegory of the Just, 1636

Gerrit van Honthorst (Dutch, 1592 – 1656)

Oil on canvas

*Private Collection

*Courtesy, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Measuring nearly 10 by 15 feet, The Triumph of the Winter Queen: Allegory of the Just (1636) by Gerrit van Honthorst (1590–1656) is the focus of the “Creativity in Exile” gallery. Part allegory and part family portrait, the monumental painting was commissioned by Elizabeth Stuart, formerly Queen of Bohemia (nicknamed the “Winter Queen” for her short reign), long after she was exiled to the Netherlands in 1621. The gallery also displays ceramics donated to the MFA by Fritz and Rita Markus, who had to abandon and then rebuild their collection after fleeing persecution in the Netherlands during World War II. Though separated by more than 300 years—and by different mediums—these ceramics and Honthorst’s masterpiece are linked by the creative impulse and by perseverance in the face of loss.

Throughout the galleries, newly produced videos provide additional context on specific topics or works of art. These include insights from Boston-based artist Eben Haines on Rembrandt’s Artist in his Studio(about 1628); Courtney Harris, the MFA’s Assistant Curator, Decorative Arts and Sculpture, Art of Europe, on the Dutch doll’s house; Nasser Rabbat, Aga Khan Professor of Islamic Architecture at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, on Rubens’ Mulay Ahmad (about 1609); and Mary Hicks, Assistant Professor of History at the University of Chicago, with Antien Knaap, the MFA’s Assistant Curator of Paintings, Art of Europe, on the connections between the sugar trade and slavery in the 17th century.

The new installations were organized by Frederick Ilchman, Mrs. Russell W. Baker Curator of Paintings and Chair, Art of Europe; Antien Knaap, Assistant Curator of Paintings; Courtney Harris, Assistant Curator of European Decorative Arts and Sculpture; Simona Di Nepi, Charles and Lynn Schusterman Curator of Judaica; Christopher Atkins, Van Otterloo–Weatherbie Director of the Center for Netherlandish Art; and Benjamin Weiss, Leonard A. Lauder Senior Curator of Visual Culture. Regular consultation with an Advisory Group of experts in history and art history informed the interpretation of the galleries. The group’s participants were Pepijn Brandon, Assistant Professor of History, Free University of Amsterdam; Mary Hicks, Assistant Professor of History, University of Chicago; Jessie Park, Nina and Lee Griggs Assistant Curator of European Art, Yale University Art Gallery; Nasser Rabbat, Aga Khan Professor of Islamic Architecture, MIT; and Michael Zell, Associate Professor of Art History, Boston University.

More Images:

Self-Portrait of the Artist in Her Studio, about 1680

Maria Schalcken (Dutch, 1645/50–before 1700)

Oil on panel

* Gift of Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo, in support of the Center for Netherlandish Art

* Photograph © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Covered coconut cup, 1607
Frederiks Andries (Dutch, 1566–1627)

Silver, coconut

* Gift of Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo, in honor of Thomas S. Michie, and in support of the Center for Netherlandish Art

* Photograph © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Winter Landscape near a Village, about 1610–15

Hendrick Avercamp (Dutch, 1585–1634)

Oil on panel

*Promised gift of Rose‑Marie and Eijk van Otterloo, in support of the Center for Netherlandish Art

*Courtesy, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Model of the Dutch East India Company ship "Valkenisse," 1717

Wood

*Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Gift of John Templeman Coolidge

*Photograph © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Ships in a Gale on the IJ before the City of Amsterdam, 1666

Ludolf Bakhuizen (Dutch, 1631–1708)

Oil on canvas

*Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Gift of Rose‑Marie and Eijk van Otterloo in support of the Center for Netherlandish Art

*Photograph © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Still Life with Flowers, 1709

Rachel Ruysch (Dutch, 1664–1750)

Oil on canvas

*Promised gift of Rose‑Marie and Eijk van Otterloo, in support of the Center for Netherlandish Art

*Courtesy, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

The Card Players, about 1659

Gerard ter Borch (Dutch, 1617–1681)

Oil on canvas, laid down on panel

*Promised gift of Rose‑Marie and Eijk van Otterloo, in support of the Center for Netherlandish Art

*Courtesy, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

The Grote or St. Bavokerk in Haarlem, 1666

Gerrit Berckheyde (Dutch, 1638–1698)

Oil on panel

* Susan and Matthew Weatherbie Collection

* Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Tavern Yard with a Game of Bowls, mid 1620s

Adriaen Brouwer (Flemish, 1606–1638)

Oil on panel

* The Maida and George Abrams Collection—Partial gift, and museum acquisition with funds donated by Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo, in support of the Center for Netherlandish Art

* Photograph © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Still Life with Various Vessels on a Table, about 1610

Osias Beert (Flemish, about 1580–1623)

Oil on canvas

*Promised gift of Susan and Matthew Weatherbie, in support of the Center for Netherlandish Art

*Courtesy, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Portrait of a Woman with Arm Akimbo, late 1620s

Frans Hals (Dutch, 1581 to 1585–1666)

Oil on canvas

* Susan and Matthew Weatherbie Collection

* Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Map of Asia from Grooten Atlas, oft werelt-beschryving, in welcke t’aerdryck, de zee, en hemel, wort vertoont en beschreven (Volume IX: Asia), 1662–1665

Joan Blaeu (Dutch, 1596–1673)

Illustrated book; letterpress with hand-colored engravings

* Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Collection

* Courtesy, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Map of Pernambuco, Brazil from Grooten Atlas, oft werelt-beschryving, in welcke t’aerdryck, de zee, en hemel, wort vertoont en beschreven (Volume VIII: Spain, Africa and America), 1662–1665

Joan Blaeu (Dutch, 1596–1673)

Illustrated book; letterpress with hand-colored engravings

* Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Collection

* Courtesy, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Wednesday, December 29, 2021

Art of Ancient Greece, Rome and the Byzantine Empire: The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Mosaic with personifications of Pleasure and Wealth (detail)

6th century C.E.

Stone and glass tesserae

* Gift of George D. and Margo Behrakis

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), is unveiling an ambitious transformation in the George D. and Margo Behrakis Wing for Art of the Ancient World: five reimagined galleries for the art of ancient Greece, Rome and the Byzantine Empire that tell new stories about some of the oldest works in the MFA’s collection. Filled with natural light, the newly renovated spaces feature innovative displays, interactive and digital experiences created in partnership with local and international collaborators, and immersive evocations of an ancient Greek temple and a Byzantine church. Each of the nearly 550 featured objects—ranging from the beginnings of Greek art (about 950 B.C.E.) through the fall of Constantinople in the 15th century and into the present day—was researched, cleaned and conserved prior to going on view. Many are on view for the first time or after a long period off view, including the recently conserved Monopoli Altarpiece and a colossal seated marble sculpture of a goddess. Narratives throughout the galleries provide fresh perspectives on an era that provided inspiration for our own modern society and examine contemporary issues through the art of the past—posing questions about community, the role of religion, and why the mythical world is an enduring source of fascination, then and now.

“We are pleased to open our galleries after a period of almost two years, and share new perspectives on many objects, some on view for the first time in a generation. Our challenge was to take one of the great collections of ancient art in the world, and create a context for understanding and appreciation amongst audiences today,” said Matthew Teitelbaum, Ann and Graham Gund Director. “From colossal to miniature, and realized in a range of materials by artists and artisans from many countries and cultures, the galleries are filled with reflections on the founding concepts of democracy, civic leadership and religious community. They make direct connections between the art of the past and a range of vibrant concerns today. It is exciting to create narratives that respect the past while anticipating the ways ideas connect to the future.”

The renovations are made possible by a community of individuals, families and foundations, led by George D. and Margo Behrakis, Lizbeth and George Krupp, Richard and Nancy Lubin and an anonymous donor. The Greek and Roman Free Admission Day is generously supported by The Jeffrey A. and Pamela Dippel Choney Fund.

The MFA’s collection of Greek and Roman art is one of the finest and most comprehensive in the world. The major renovation and reinstallation project has created a grand entry to these holdings, with three galleries exploring Greek and Roman mythology, early Greek art and Roman portraiture. The suite also includes a new gallery devoted to art of the Byzantine Empire—the first of its kind in New England—and a gallery for rotating installations that explore how modern and contemporary artists interacted with art of the past. The inaugural installation features sculptural works by American abstractionist Cy Twombly (1928–2011), on loan from the Cy Twombly Foundation, and an important painting by the artist that is a promised gift to the Museum.

The new installations were curated by Christine Kondoleon, George D. and Margo Behrakis Chair, Art of Ancient Greece and Rome; Phoebe Segal, Mary Bryce Comstock Curator of Greek and Roman Art; and Laure Marest, Cornelius and Emily Vermeule Assistant Curator of Greek and Roman Art. The extensive conservation work was carried out by Robert P. and Carol T. Henderson Head of Objects Conservation Abigail Hykin and objects conservators LeeAnn Gordon, Mei-An Tsu, Marie Stewart, Emilie Tréhu and Christie Pohl. The new galleries were designed by Keith Crippen, Director of Design.

The five new galleries build on the transformative renovation of seven additional Classical galleries since 2009—most recently, “Daily Life in Ancient Greece” in 2017; “Homer and the Epics,” “Dionysus and the Symposium” and “Theater and Performance” in 2014; and “Ancient Coins” in 2012.

Gods and Goddesses

Bathed in natural light, this grand gallery has been designed to evoke the atmosphere of an ancient temple, introducing visitors to Greek and Roman art through one of its most important and popular subjects: mythology.

The MFA’s beloved 13-foot-tall Juno (late 1st century B.C.E.)—the largest Classical statue in the U.S., weighing 13,000 pounds—anchors the space, which also features depictions of other Olympians from the Museum’s collection and The Hope Hygieia (about 130–161 C.E.), a marble six-foot-tall sculpture of the goddess of health on multiyear loan from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). Thematic groupings of artworks explore the gods’ varied personalities and complex realms, as well as religious practices and myths that were so central to people’s lives and beliefs in ancient Greece and Rome.

The MFA’s staff worked in collaboration with the Boston-based company Black Math on a digital reconstruction of a marble sculpture of Athena Parthenos (2nd or 3rd century C.E.) on view in this gallery. An augmented reality experience available on the Museum’s free MFA Mobile app enables visitors to see how ancient Romans may have seen the goddess—in color. The process, which involved scientific analysis and multispectral imaging performed by conservators, is showcased in a behind-the-scenes video featured in the gallery.

George D. and Margo Behrakis Gallery, 207

Byzantine Empire

As successor to the Roman Empire and the first Christian realm, the Byzantine Empire (330–1453) both preserved Greek and Roman culture and ushered in innovative forms of art and architecture that responded to the new Christian beliefs and practices. This gallery’s design was inspired by Byzantium’s most important contribution to sacred architecture: centrally planned churches with soaring golden domes evoking “heaven on earth,” most perfectly realized in the church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. The space also features a soundscape of liturgical hymns, reflecting what might be heard during weekly Eastern Orthodox services. The gallery—located in between the MFA’s classical and medieval European art galleries—and the nearly 190 artworks it houses reflect the transition from paganism to Christianity and the point where East met West. Among the highlights is the monumental 15th-century Monopoli Altarpiece (Virgin and Child with Saints Christopher, Augustine, John the Baptist, Stephen, Nicholas, and Sebastian), on view at the MFA for the first time following a three-year conservation treatment.

Gallery 208

Roman Portraiture

In this gallery, visitors can explore the beginnings of portraiture in Western art history and the role it has played in constructing and maintaining identity—from the past to today. More than mere records of appearance, Roman portraits are visual constructions, combining likeness, character and social status in images that are compellingly human. The 40 objects on view, including depictions of emperors and everyday individuals of all ages, illustrate the range of applications for Roman portraiture—from historical documents and propaganda to artworks used in domestic, funerary and civic spaces.

Gallery 206

Early Greek Art

Early Greek art, dating from the end of the 10th through 5th centuries B.C.E., is a major strength of the MFA’s collection. This large gallery featuring more than 200 objects introduces two key developments in Geometric and Archaic art—new ways of depicting the human body and the birth of storytelling—exploring them chronologically and demonstrating how the achievements of the Classical period were rooted in these innovative earlier periods. It also demonstrates the tension between local and regional visual identities in Greek art during this period and the integration of new ideas and technologies acquired through trade and colonization.

Newly enhanced with a heightened ceiling, the gallery demonstrates the monumentality of early Greek architecture with a display of two original frieze blocks from the 6th-century Temple of Athena at Assos, which depict Herakles with centaurs and sphinxes. This rare example of Greek temple architecture in a U.S. art museum is accompanied by a brand-new digital reconstruction of the original site as well as a projected backdrop of newly recorded footage by Turkish videographers of the archaeological site at Assos.

The gallery also debuts the MFA’s first-ever animated film, How to Make an Athenian Vase, produced in partnership with Zedem Media, an animation studio based in Cyprus. The video brings to life the development of black- and red-figure painting that can be seen in the MFA’s rare vase by the Andokides Painter—one of only about 55 such objects in the world to showcase both techniques.

Gallery 213

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