Index Magazine

The Fogg at 125: An American Pre-Raphaelite Legacy

February 11, 2021
Index Magazine

The Fogg at 125: An American Pre-Raphaelite Legacy

This watercolor depicts a large gray boulder with rich orange and yellow segments, centered in an outcrop of other rocks. Behind the boulder is a stand of trees, beyond which can be seen a craggy mountain peak beneath a cloudy blue sky.
John Ruskin, British, Fragment of the Alps, c. 1854–56. Watercolor and gouache over graphite on cream wove paper. Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Samuel Sachs, 1919.506.

The year 2020 marked the 125th anniversary of the founding of the Fogg Museum. This talk by curator Miriam Stewart and curatorial fellow Sophie Lynford examines that moment through the lens of the American Pre-Raphaelite painters involved in the institution’s establishment, including Charles Herbert Moore, first director of the Fogg and Harvard’s first drawing instructor.

Through close looking at a selection of 19th-century American Pre-Raphaelite watercolors, this talk explores the legacy left by these artists, including their commitment to meticulous realism, their interest in contemporary British painting, and their lasting influence on art collecting at Harvard.

Led by:
Miriam Stewart, Curator of the Collection, Division of European and American Art

Sophie Lynford, Rousseau Curatorial Fellow in European Art, Division of European and American Art

Works explored:
John Ruskin, British, Fragment of the Alps, c. 1854–56. Watercolor and gouache over graphite on cream wove paper. Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Samuel Sachs, 1919.506.

Charles Herbert Moore, American, Rocks by the Water, c. 1865–72. Watercolor and white gouache over graphite on cream wove paper. Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Transfer from the Fine Arts Department, Harvard University, 1926.33.92.

Albert Bierstadt, American, Rocky Mountains, “Lander's Peak,” 1863. Oil on linen. Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Bequest of Mrs. William Hayes Fogg, 1895.698. 

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