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August

In a museum gallery, two people look at a glass case with various ceramic vessels. The person on the left is crouching and wears a pink sweater and black pants; the person on the right is standing and wears a blue floral dress with a denim jacket and beige brimmed hat.

Beat the heat this August and make the Harvard Art Museums part of your summertime adventures! Be sure to explore Crossroads: Drawing the Dutch Landscape and Earthly Delights: 6,000 Years of Asian Ceramics before they close on Sunday, August 14. Later this month, we kick off the school year by welcoming students back to the galleries, and two new exhibitions will open on Saturday, August 27: Funerary Portraits from Roman Egypt: Facing Forward and A Colloquium in the Visual Arts.

Between all these events, keep your calendar clear for the next Harvard Art Museums at Night—an evening of festivities awaits!

A painted portrait of a woman with dark brown eyes and black hair pulled back is divided into two parts. The left side of the image shows the portrait in ultraviolet light; the right side shows the work in natural light.

EXHIBITION

Facing Forward

Beginning Saturday, August 27, come face to face with portraits of Egyptians who lived during the Roman period, in Funerary Portraits from Roman Egypt: Facing Forward. Prepare to discover what role these images played in funerary rituals as well as what modern technical study can reveal about ancient artistic practices.

A landscape painting of a valley between two mountain ranges.

TOURS

Stay SHARP

Join Summer Humanities and Arts Research Program (SHARP) fellow Hannah Gadway on Sunday, August 7, as she explores how different artists have helped define Americans’ ideas about their country. Be sure to stick around for another fascinating tour by SHARP fellow Genesis Nam later that same day.

In a museum gallery, a group of people look at a case displaying a drawing. Behind them a person stands looking at a group of drawings on a dark blue wall.

EXHIBITIONS

Parting Thoughts

Don’t miss your chance to see Crossroads: Drawing the Dutch Landscape and Earthly Delights: 6,000 Years of Asian Ceramics, on view only until Sunday, August 14. Check the calendar to find details on gallery talks and exhibitions tours for a closer look at these shows.

The faces of two smiling people appear in cut-outs superimposed on a reproduction of a painting with two figures embracing. The painted figure at left wears a velvet dress; the figure at right wears a blue silk cape.

AT NIGHT

Night Vision

Stay late at the Harvard Art Museums on the last Thursday of every month for an evening of art, fun, food, and more! Each night will feature a new mix of local talent and community partners to make this a festive occasion for all—stay tuned for what’s in store for the next At Night, on August 25.

Black and white print of two construction workers standing on an I-beam, which is suspended by a crane over a cityscape.

GALLERY TALK

Modern Meets Mesopotamia

In a gallery talk on Thursday, August 18, discover how ancient Mesopotamian kings presented themselves as builders and why, even now, Babylon is a metaphor for ambitious construction.

BOOK

Rosy Review

Check out Kirsten Tambling’s Apollo Magazine review of our newest book, Madame de Pompadour: Painted Pink. Find your copy, along with our other publications, in the museum shop or online.

Index

Events

Images: Header, Parting Thoughts, Night Vision: © Caitlin Cunningham Photography. Facing Forward: Portrait of a woman (ultraviolet image at left, original portrait at right), Roman Egypt, probably from er-Rubayat, c. 200 CE. Tempera on sycamore fig panel. Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., 1939.111. Stay SHARP: Albert Bierstadt, American, Rocky Mountains, “Lander’s Peak,” 1863. Oil on linen. Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Bequest of Mrs. William Hayes Fogg, 1895.698. Modern Meets Mesopotamia: Samuel L. Margolies, American, Builders of Babylon, 1937, printed 1950. Aquatint. Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Louise E. Bettens Fund, M12391.