Valentine's Day Itinerary Sure, red roses and chocolates are great, but if you’re looking for something EXTRA special this year, take your Valentine on a love-themed scavenger hunt of the museums! Here are 5 clues that’ll have you and your date wandering around our lovely galleries. Trust us: they’ll love it (and maybe
you, by the end of it).
*The works associated with these clues—as well as their locations—are written at the end of this section. 1. Floor 1: Teddy bears on Valentine’s day are overdone. Find yourself a jade bear.
2. Floor 2: We’re not always smart with love, but the six sages displayed here might be able to help you out.
3. Floor 2: No matter how much you love her, dog moms will always put their pooch first. Once you see this lil pup, you’ll understand.
4. Floor 3: Familial love is some of the strongest love there is. The image on this vessel captures the last few moments before a son leaves his father for war.
5. Floor 3: No tour about love is complete without this goddess. Apparently she was represented adjusting her sandal in this now-fragmentary Roman sculpture.
Answers: 1.
Jade Seated Bear in the Round: Level 1, Room 1740, Early Chinese Art, Arts of Ancient China from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age
2.
Six Legendary Chinese Sages in Landscapes by Chŏng Yusŭng (also known as Ch'ui-ŭn): Level 2, Room 2600, East Asian Art, East Asian Painting and Decorative Arts
3.
Woman on a Striped Sofa with a Dog by Mary Cassatt: Level 2, Room 2700, European and American Art, 19th century, Impressionism and the Late Nineteenth Century
4.
Hydria (water jar): Warrior’s Farewell: Level 3, Room 3410, South Arcade
5.
Aphrodite Adjusting Her Sandal: Level 3, Room 3200, Ancient Mediterranean and Middle Eastern Art, Classical Sculpture
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From Our Friends... Join curator Chassidy A. Winestock and art historian Mary Schneider Enriquez on Monday, February 5, on Zoom, for the
opening program of the exhibition
A Female Landscape and the Abstract Gesture. On view at Radcliffe's Johnson-Kulukundis Family Gallery (February 5-June 22),
the exhibition features work by Maren Hassinger, Howardena Pindell, Liliana Porter, and Mildred Thompson. Be sure to check out Thompson’s work,
Zylo-Probe, on view at the Harvard Art Museums, too!
The Department of History of Art and Architecture invites you to two upcoming talks: "
Reconfiguration and Revival: Newar Buddhist Tradition in the Kathmandu Valley (and Beyond)," by Prof. Todd Lewis (Holy Cross) on February 7 at 5:30PM and "
To the Baroque and Back Again: Architectural Renovation in the Late Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey," by Prof. Emily Neumeier (Temple) on February 8 at 6PM.
Dumbarton Oaks summer fellowship
applications are due February 15! Dumbarton Oaks is a Harvard research institute, library, museum, and garden in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. that supports learning in Byzantine, Garden and Landscape, and Pre-Columbian Studies.
Graduating Harvard students in the visual and fine arts, including art history, conservation, studio art, and photography, can apply for the
Mortimer Hays-Brandeis Traveling Fellowship to be awarded $19,000 for independent travel and study. Applications due February 16!
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Spotlight on the Student Guides
Hannah Gadway, Class of 2025 Concentration: History and Literature
Tours: "Visions of American" and "Food for Thought"
What is your ideal Valentine’s day activity? Watching old romance films in speciality theaters like The Brattle — it's so romantic, and there are snacks!
What would you treat your date to at Jenny’s Café? The chicken salad sandwich with an iced matcha. It's not the most romantic of food, but it will make them fall in love with me.
If you could go on a (platonic) date with any artist, who would it be? John Singer Sargent. He knew how to live large, so we'd have a fun romp around Boston, and maybe I could convince him to paint a picture of me at the end.
What’s a recent work of art that you’ve discovered (either at the Harvard Art Museums or elsewhere) that you love? While researching James Abbott McNeill Whistler for an upcoming tour, I became quite obsessed with his painting
Miss Florence Leyland. It is so atmospheric and evocative despite being hazy and unclear. I love art that makes you think of the thought process behind it!
Besides working as a student guide, what do you like to do on the weekends? I love to read and people watch in the cafes of Harvard Square! Nothing is better than a good novel and a strong cortado <3
What is the funniest or most perplexing interaction you’ve had on a tour? Once I had someone ask me to speculate on John Singer Sargent's sexuality on a tour. I didn't go into detail, but I thought it was an interesting ask.
Stop by the courtyard for Hannah’s "Visions of America" tour on Sunday, 2/18 at 11AM!
Jieyan Wang, Class of 2025 Concentration: English and East Asian Studies
Tour: "Floribunda and Other Flower Stories"
What would you treat your date to at Jenny’s Café? Any sandwich, just without mayonnaise.
If you could go on a (platonic) date with any artist, who would it be? Georgia O’Keeffe — one of her pieces is on my tour, and I am fascinated both by her work and modernist art and literature in general!
What’s a recent work of art that you’ve discovered (either in the Harvard Art Museums or elsewhere) that you love? Matisse's
Jazz, which I discovered during the paper cutout workshop at one of our student guide meetings!
Besides working as a student guide, what do you like to do on the weekends? Making tea (oolong tea is the best).Reading something that is exciting to me. Eating lunch and/or dinner with friends. Staring out a window (really - sometimes it's just nice to have space to think while looking at a tree).
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Last But Not Least The Harvard Art Museums are hiring! Work with us this summer as we develop museum-based programs related to U.S. citizenship, law, and interdisciplinary teaching. Harvard College students of all disciplines are welcome to apply now until February 14 through the
Summer Humanities and Arts Research Program (SHARP).
Come check out the large
Expressionist landscape by Egon Schiele temporarily on view in Room 1440 (Secessionism: Munich, Vienna, Berlin). It's a reciprocal loan from the Neue Galerie in New York, where our Gustav Klimt painting
Pear Tree is in the exhibition
Klimt Landscapes, February 15–May 6, 2024.
