Art Study Center

Appointments will be available Tuesday through Friday between 10am and 5pm. Two weeks’ notice is required for scheduling. Specific protocols and procedures will be shared prior to any appointments.

If you are interested in learning about virtual art access options, please send your inquiry to am_artstudycenter@harvard.edu.

Unique in size and scope among North American museums, the expansive Art Study Center allows visitors to request objects not currently on display in the galleries, facilitating self-directed teaching and learning from works in all media. Visitors can study John Singer Sargent’s working process as documented in his drawings, marvel at a ceramic drinking vessel from ancient Greece, or learn about early photographic processes by examining a nineteenth-century daguerreotype.

Housed under the museums’ glass rooftop, this space receives controlled natural light—ideal for the kind of close looking that happens here. With individual centers dedicated to each of the three museums (Fogg Museum, Busch-Reisinger Museum, and Arthur M. Sackler Museum) and four seminar rooms, the Art Study Center encourages extended interactions with original works of art.

In addition to providing access to the museums’ collections, the Art Study Center is also a venue where visitors can call upon the expertise of the museums’ curators, conservators, and educators.