 |  | This month marks the one-year anniversary of the museums' closure due to the ongoing pandemic. As we reflect on the past year and muse about the future, we take inspiration from the imperfect elegance of this Moon Jar created Pak Yŏng-suk. We invite you to learn more about the artist's work and how moon jars offer life lessons in acceptance and perseverance.
We admire the perseverance and creativity you all have shown over the past year and look forward to when we can welcome you back to the museums! In the meantime, please join us for one of our upcoming virtual programs and keep an eye on our website for even more ways to engage. |
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 | art talk live The Art of Extinction in Early Modern Europe Tuesday, March 23
12:30-1PM ET Examine the early modern European notions of extinction and its connections with contemporary thinking in museums and elsewhere. |
 | lecture The Intentional Museum Wednesday, March 24
4-5:30PM ET Join American historian Christy Coleman for a discussion on the power that museums have to genuinely engage with communities around what matters to them most. |
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 | special event Haiku and You: Painting Edo and the Arnold Arboretum
Friday, March 26
3-4PM ET Look closely at art and nature through the lens of haiku poetry. |
 | Monday, March 29
7-8:30PM ET Explore the early period of watercolor painting in Boston. |
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 | Wednesday, March 31
4-5PM ET Take a bite-size look at the role of food in art, in partnership with the Food Literacy Project at Harvard University Dining Services. |
 | Watch a recorded video showcasing sirens: hybrid creatures straddling the line between beast and human, fear and desire, life and death. |
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Harvard Art Museums Staff Spotlight  Meet Kate Smith, Conservator of Paintings and Head of the Straus Center Paintings Lab, and the guest of this week’s Harvard Art Museums Staff Spotlight! As a conservator specializing in painting, Kate studies and preserves the museums’ paintings collection of over 5000 pieces, from “ancient mummy portraits to Jackson Pollock paintings,” but her primary interest is “Old Master or more traditional painting techniques from before the 20th-Century.” Through her role, Kate handles both “hands-on treatment including cleaning, repair, and restoration to “bring the painting back to the artist’s original intent.” and also forensic and technical investigation of the paintings.” On her favorite part of her job, she says, “We get this intimate knowledge of the painting; my whole job is about learning what [a painting] is made of, how it was made by the person who made it, and what’s happened to it since to better understand how to interpret it.” Kate goes on to say, “While conservation is about making things look right, it’s all in service of understanding [the art].” On her favorite memory being a conservator, Kate recalls when “the Straus Center took on the conservation and study of the John Singer Sargent murals at the Boston Public Library,” where she and her colleagues spent “18 months working on scaffolding to free [the murals] from dust, wax, and grime” and “learned so much about Sargent and his specific technique.” For those interested in pursuing a career in conservation, Kate recommends “art history, studio art, and chemistry training and a lot of experience working in conservation labs and exposure to the work.” While she stresses it’s not an easy career to get into, Kate “wouldn’t rather be doing anything else.” If you have any questions about starting a career in conservation, she is happy to speak with you via email!
- Kate was interviewed by Zavier Chavez '23
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From our Friends....
Join the Fine Arts Library on March 26 for a virtual discussion on their rich collection of historical photography albums. Register here.
Hungry for our Food in Art program? Whet your appetite with a series of videos from the Uffizi Gallery pairing works of art, chefs, and delicious recipes.
Art Bridges, a foundation dedicated to expanding access to American art across the nation, is currently accepting applications for several remote summer internships. Learn more here. |
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Image (Header): Pak Yŏng-suk, Moon Jar (Tal-hang-a-ri), 2003. Porcelain with pale blue glaze. Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Jenie and Moonseok Kang (Harvard Business School ’87), 2006.126.
Image (The Scary Truth about Ancient Sirens): Hydria (water jar) with Siren Attachment, late 5th century BCE. Bronze, traces of silvering and possible gilding. Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Grace Nichols Strong Memorial Fund, 1949.89. |
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