Gallery Talk: Dare to Know: Prints and Drawings in the Age of Enlightenment

Join Ben Sibson, Ph.D. candidate in Harvard’s Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, for an in-depth discussion about the depiction of the human body in selected works on view in the exhibition Dare to Know: Prints and Drawings in the Age of Enlightenment. He will share insights about artists’ representations of the human form, focusing on Jacques-Fabien Gautier d’Agoty’s mezzotint Muscles of the Back.

Featuring approximately 150 works on paper and other related objects, Dare to Know explores how the graphic arts inspired, shaped, and gave immediacy to new ideas in the Enlightenment era by encouraging individuals to follow their own reason when seeking to know more. An illustrated catalogue with 26 thematic essays—an A to Z exploration of the Enlightenment quest for understanding and change—accompanies the exhibition.

Our galleries are full of stories—this series of talks gives visitors a chance to hear the best ones! The talks highlight new works on view, take a fresh look at old favorites, investigate artists’ materials and techniques, and reveal the latest discoveries by curators, conservators, fellows, visiting artists, technologists, and other contributors.

Led by:
Ben Sibson, Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, and Head Teaching Fellow

Gallery talks are limited to 18 people, and it is required that you reserve your place. At 10am the day of the event, reservations will open and may be arranged online through this form. The gallery talk reservation will also serve as your general museum reservation. If required, visitors will pay the museum admission fee upon arrival.

Please meet in the Calderwood Courtyard, in front of the digital screens between the shop and the admissions desk.

Please see the museum visit page to learn about our general policies for visiting the museum.

This exhibition is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. Support for the exhibition is provided by the Melvin R. Seiden and Janine Luke Fund for Publications and Exhibitions, the Robert M. Light Print Department Fund, the Stanley H. Durwood Foundation Support Fund, the Catalogues and Exhibitions Fund for Pre-Twentieth-Century Art of the Fogg Museum, and the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation. The catalogue was made possible by the Andrew W. Mellon Publication Funds, including the Henry P. McIlhenny Fund. Related programming is supported by the M. Victor Leventritt Lecture Series Endowment Fund.

The Harvard Art Museums are committed to accessibility for all visitors. For anyone requiring accessibility accommodations for our programs, please contact us at am_register@harvard.edu at least 48 hours in advance.