Drawings by Dutch and Flemish masters, among them Bruegel, Rembrandt, and Rubens, a show exploring the mysterious world of symbolism during the end of the 19th century, prehistoric pottery from Northwest China, and works of contemporary indigenous Australian art can be found in four separate exhibitions now on view at the Harvard Art Museums. The museums are home to over 250,000 works of art, including an impressive 12,000 drawings by Old Masters and works by American impressionists and postimpressionists.
In 2014, Harvard’s Fogg Museum, Busch-Reisinger Museum, and Arthur M. Sackler Museum were brought together under one roof in a new facility, designed by noted architect Renzo Piano and rechristened the Harvard Arts Museums.
Two of the current exhibitions, Drawings from the Age of Bruegel, Rubens, and Rembrandt and Flowers of Evil: Symbolist Drawings 1870–1910 (both running through August 14), feature standouts from the museums’ permanent drawings collection, one of the best in the country. Both shows focus on draftsmanship. Drawings from the Age of Bruegel, Rubens, and Rembrandt shows approximately 100 drawings by Netherlandish, Dutch, and Flemish draftsmen from the 16th through 18th century, and Flowers of Evil: Symbolist Drawings 1870–1910 explores the late 19th-century symbolist movement through a collection of drawings by Western European and American symbolists. The exhibitions are supplemented by a series of gallery talks, a seminar, and a lecture, which can be found on the museum calendar.
In addition to the drawing exhibitions, another show, Prehistoric Pottery from Northwest China, also runs through August 14. It comprises approximately 60 pieces of prehistoric Chinese ceramics, many rarely on view, drawn from both the museums and Harvard’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology collections.
The museum’s current special exhibition, Everywhen: The Eternal Present in Indigenous Art from Australia, showcases work by contemporary indigenous Australian artists and is on view through September 18.
The Harvard Art Museums are at 32 Quincy St., Cambridge. Find hours, admission prices, and directions here. Find a calendar of gallery talks, tours and events here. For more information, visit the Harvard Art Museums website or call 617-495-9400.
Liz Vanderau can be reached at vanderau@bu.edu.
