Re-View: S426A (Large Niche) #1: The Past and the Present: British Art of the 19th Century

An image that represents a scene from the historical or mythological past is always more about the present in which it was made than about the past. The implications of this statement are explored in this installation that draws on the Harvard Art Museums’ collection of works by 19th-century British artists. The first rotation features works on paper by Robert Adam, William Blake, Henry Fuseli, Frederic Leighton, John Martin, and William Morris (September 3–November 20, 2010). The second rotation includes works by the Pre-Raphaelite Dante Gabriel Rossetti and John Flaxman (November 26, 2010–January 8, 2011). Complements a course offered by David Bindman, Emeritus Professor of the History of Art, University College London, and a 2010 Sheila Biddle Ford Foundation Fellow, W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard.

This installation accompanies an undergraduate course in Harvard University’s Department of History of Art and Architecture (HAA) and features a select group of objects from the Harvard Art Museums’ collections. Coordinated by Amy Brauer, Diane Heath Beever Curator of the Collection, Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art, Harvard Art Museums.