The Harvard Art Museums are temporarily closed, but our channels are open and refreshed frequently. On this Harvard Art Museums from Home page, you will find stories and activities that reflect the power of art to soothe the mind, inspire conversation, and bring people together.

We invite you to explore the materials below—from Art Talk videos to special tours to family-friendly resources—and check our calendar for a schedule of free online live events, which are open to everyone.

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Newest
Discover the latest offerings, including articles, videos, and events.

In the latest episode of our podcast, curator Mary Schneider Enriquez chats with us about living in Mexico, discovering a love of teaching, and the joys and challenges of curatorial work.

On Tuesday, July 13, discover Edward Hopper’s 1930 watercolor Highland Light, the quintessential image of summer in New England.

On Friday, July 16, join curator Joachim Homann as he explores the themes, techniques, and function of Dutch drawings in a conversation with preeminent collector George Abrams (Harvard College ’54, Harvard Law ’57).

Check out the range of videos on the Harvard Art Museums YouTube channel, which features recordings of lectures and artist talks, conservation stories, explorations into the Forbes Pigment Collection, and more.

Please join us in welcoming Horace D. Ballard as the new Theodore E. Stebbins Jr. Associate Curator of American Art. Ballard comes to us from Williams College Museum of Art, in Williamstown, Massachusetts—we’re eagerly awaiting his arrival in September!

Follow us on Instagram (@harvardartmuseums) and stay tuned over the coming weeks for a chance to win a copy of the new book Object Lessons: The Bauhaus and Harvard.

Watch Our Videos of Art Talks, Lectures, and Seminars 
Explore videos from our Art Talks series, which offers an up-close look at works from the collections, as well as our lectures and seminars.

Haiku and You: Painting Edo and the Arnold Arboretum
Learn about haiku in the Edo period and explore haiku as a creative practice, inspired by the Arnold Arboretum and the Painting Edo exhibition.

The Abject Object—Decay and Irreverence in Dieter Roth’s Multiples
Explore Dieter Roth’s use of nontraditional materials in his works.

The Botany of a Buddhist Sculpture: Hinoki Cypress and Prince Shōtoku at Age Two
Get up close with the extraordinary sculpture Prince Shōtoku at Age Two and discover new insights gained from collaborative research with the Arnold Arboretum.

Picturing the Modern Home—Lucia Moholy’s Bauhaus Living Room
Learn about the historically overlooked role Lucia Moholy played in promoting a Bauhaus vision of modern living.

Designing Painting Edo
Go behind the scenes with lead designer Elie Glyn as he reveals how traditional and modern Japanese aesthetics inspired the unique built environment of the Painting Edo exhibition.

Feeling Funny—Picasso in 1918
With supreme economy and enviable elegance, Pablo Picasso’s drawing Pierrot speaks about the purpose of art in a time of crisis.

Object Lessons: The Bauhaus and Harvard
Hear from The Bauhaus and Harvard curator Laura Muir with a special preview of our new publication Object Lessons: The Bauhaus and Harvard.
 

Check out the Art Talks channel on Vimeo for the full series. You can also view a broad range of videos on the Harvard Art Museums YouTube channel, which features recordings of lectures and artist talks, conservation stories, explorations into the Forbes Pigment Collection, and more. 

Experience More
Dive deeper into the world of the museums and our collections through immersive tours, a podcast series, special digital resources, and more. 

Curator Mary Schneider Enriquez chats with us about the joys and challenges of curatorial work in the latest episode of our podcast A Closer Look.

In this episode of A Closer Look, design manager Zak Jensen tells us about his background, his early interest in design, and what it means to create a visual identity for a museum.

For A Closer Look, exhibition production specialist Erik Lindahl talks about his route to the Harvard Art Museums, including his work as a carpenter and his trip to post-war Afghanistan. 

Explore our world-famous pigment collection, narrated by Narayan Khandekar and Alison Cariens.

Take a multipart tour of our stunning exhibition of Edo period Japanese paintings, hosted on Google Arts and Culture. 

Make and Create
Make art at home, taking inspiration from select artworks in the collections of the Harvard Art Museums.

Download our Planting Edo Field Guide and take a walk in the Arnold Arboretum to pair up flowers and trees with those featured in works from our Painting Edo exhibition.

Watch this demonstration of the relief aquatint technique that artist Dan Flavin used to create three incredible prints now in the collections of the Harvard Art Museums. 

Download the Coloring Ancient Egypt activity book, available in Spanish, English, Chinese, and Arabic. 

Learn how to create cyanotypes at home and discover the science behind it.

Use these prompts for thinking, drawing, and other creative exercises inspired by sculpture.

Read the Latest on Index
Browse our online magazine to dive into the collections and discover what makes up this vibrant 21st-century laboratory for the arts.

Celebrating Juneteenth: The Power of Portraits
In honor of Juneteenth, Harvard students and staff discuss a selection of portraits and portrait-like images by Black artists.

A Closer Look: Our New Podcast Series
Season 1 of our new podcast, which introduces museum jobs through the personal stories of our staff, is now available for listening.

Understanding Paper: Structures, Watermarks, and a Conservator’s Passion
Paper conservation fellow Leonie Müller guides readers in an examination of paper’s material qualities and explains how its structures reflect the process of how it’s made.

Painting Edo and the Arnold Arboretum
Painted plants come to life through an ongoing collaboration with the Arnold Arboretum inspired by the exhibition Painting Edo: Japanese Art from the Feinberg Collection.

Curator Makeda Best speaks with photographer Mariette Pathy Allen about her artistic process and her groundbreaking portfolio on crossdressers.

In their collaborative effort to reconstruct the base of an ancient vessel, conservator Haddon Dine and curator Susanne Ebbinghaus make unexpected discoveries.

View more articles on Index.