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Spotlight Tour: Beneath the Armor, with Andy Kim ’25

A smiling young man wearing glasses and a dark T-shirt stands on a bridge. He holds his arm out as if to support a Greek vase. The vase is decorated with horses and men in armor carrying shields.
One of the works Andy Kim will explore is Hydria (water jar): Warrior’s farewell (Greek, c. 550–540 BCE).

Tour

In-Person
Harvard Art Museums
32 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA

This event does not require registration; see further details below.

Andy Kim ’25 will explore the human stories behind three works featuring soldiers. Touching on his experience of 18 months of Korean conscripted military service, he will ask such questions as: how does military service change conscripted soldiers? How does a nation justify individual sacrifices for a greater good? What can artistic depictions of conflict tell us about the societies involved? The tour will move from a scene of a warrior’s farewell to a scene of battle to a scene that indicates a homecoming. Kim will spotlight Hydria (water jar): Warrior’s farewell (Greek, c. 550–540 BCE), Charles Wilson Peale’s portrait of General George Washington at Yorktown, Pennsylvania (1784), and Robert Smullyan Sloan’s 1945 painting of a Black soldier.

Spotlight Tours offer a chance to explore the collections of the Harvard Art Museums through the eyes of a Harvard student. Free and open to the public, these tours start outside the museum shop on Saturdays and Sundays at 11am and 2pm. Drop in and join the conversation! And find out what the Student Guides are up to anytime on Instagram @harvardarthappens.

Please check in with museum staff at the Admissions desk in the Calderwood Courtyard to request to join the tour. Tours are limited to 18 people and are available on a first-come, first-served basis; no registration is required.

The Harvard Art Museums are now offering free admission every day, Tuesday through Sunday. Please see the museum visit page to learn about our general policies for visiting the museums.

This program is supported by the Ho Family Student Guide Fund.

The Ho Family Student Guide Program at the Harvard Art Museums prepares students to develop original, research-based tours of the collections. Through their training, Student Guides gain knowledge of the collections and develop skills in critical thinking, visual analysis, public speaking, and leadership.

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.