Director's Message
Dear Friends,
Welcome to the Harvard Art Museums! As fall unfolds in Cambridge, our museum team is energized by visitors from both campus and community. Students contribute so much to the life of the museums, including as tour guides and student board members. At the same time, we are delighted to be engaging with so many first-time visitors. It is wonderful to see our regional community taking full advantage of new ways to experience the museums. Our Free Sundays have been especially popular with families—each Sunday the museums are bustling with activity, and we invite you to be part of the action. In April, we also unveiled our new Harvard Art Museums at Night events. We’re keeping our doors open late on the last Thursday of every month for an evening of art, fun, food, music, and more. A record number of visitors have found this a great way to connect with friends after work while finding inspiration in the galleries.
I am especially proud of the two exhibitions that opened this fall. Dare to Know: Prints and Drawings in the Age of Enlightenment considers how works on paper—more portable, affordable, and nimble than other art forms—waged a powerful campaign of investigation and persuasion. With strong parallels to today, the Enlightenment was a complex period brimming with new ideas, when people were challenged to think for themselves and question sources of information.
In Funerary Portraits from Roman Egypt: Facing Forward, we invite you to come face-to-face with portraits of ancient Egyptians; the images are uncanny in their ability to evoke a living human being. The exhibition illuminates the role these works played in funerary rituals and what conservators and technical analysis can reveal about ancient artistic practices and materials.
As always, I am incredibly grateful to our staff, who bring so much commitment and creativity to their work at the museums. Come and get to know us—we are here for you.
The latest exhibitions and programs are always posted on our website. Look to see what else is new this fall!
Martha Tedeschi
Elizabeth and John Moors Cabot Director