Visual Arts

John Singer Sargent, "Olive Trees, Corfu" (1909). (Courtesy Boston College)

Boston College's art museum receives a $20 million gift of paintings by Sargent, Rivera and Picasso

The McMullen Museum of Art has received its most significant gift ever: a trove that includes 27 paintings by acclaimed artists including Pablo Picasso, John Singer Sargent and Mary Cassatt.

Inside the MFA's newly renovated Dutch and Flemish art galleries

Art, geo-politics and commerce suggestively underlay all the displays in the seven renovated galleries at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, says arts critic Lloyd Schwartz. These rooms are also...

MFA Boston union employees strike over wages and stalled negotiations

More than 100 employees from departments across the Museum of Fine Arts -- including curators, conservators and educators -- picketed outside the Huntington Avenue entrance on Wednesday.

At MIT List, a sculptor finds resilience in inhospitable places

In his exhibition "Grave/Grove," artist Sreshta Rit Premnath uses live plants in minimalistic sculptures to investigate life along the margins.

Somerville Museum showcases social media from a bygone era: the penny postcard

Penny postcards were "the social media of their day;" through them we can see visions from the past, "from the exotic to the local," with special attention to reminding us...

Meet theo tyson, the MFA's new fashion curator

“I don’t want people to think they need to have a PhD or be a rocket scientist to engage with fashion art, or the arts as a whole,” tyson says....

In two fall art exhibits, quilts offer more than just warmth

In “Quarantine Quilts” at the New England Quilt Museum and “Fabric of a Nation” at MFA Boston, quilts are celebrated for their beauty and their social commentary.

A new interactive installation invites you into the works of Vincent van Gogh

“Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience” utilizes light projections, interactive displays, 3D installations and Virtual Reality to bring viewers into the world of the artist. WBUR's Magdiela Matta explored the exhibit...

Local Coverage

Oct 8, 2021

Frances F. Denny's portraits: "Keavy (Brooklyn, NY)" (left) and "Leonore (Montpelier, VT)" (right). (Courtesy of the artist and ClampArt, New York, NY)

At the Peabody Essex Museum, a new exhibit reclaims what it means to be a 'witch'

Photographer Frances F. Denny unveils the diversity among modern-day witches in her portraits, on view as part of the museum’s exhibit “The Salem Witch Trails: Reckoning and Reclaiming.”

Local Coverage

Oct 6, 2021

Bisa Butler, "To God and Truth," 2019. (Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts Boston)

15 Art Exhibits Worth Exploring This Fall

From a meditative series of geometric paintings inspired by breathing to an exhibit exploring the quilting tradition, visual arts writer Pam Reynolds recommends exhibits worth venturing into public.

Local Coverage

Sep 27, 2021

MASS MoCA, in the city of North Adams. (Beth J. Harpaz/AP)

MASS MoCA Hires New Director

Kristy Edmunds will join MASS MoCA in October. For the past decade, she has been executive and artistic director at UCLA's Center for the Art of Performance (CAP UCLA).

Local Coverage

Sep 23, 2021

Artist Nicole L'Huillier by the Media Lab at MIT. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

For Multimedia Artist Nicole L'Huillier, Sound Is A Portal For Change

Blending sound, science and art, L’Huillier's work asks audiences to clear their minds, unlearn their conditioning, and get back to the basics. “How do we form parts, how do we...

Local Coverage

05:13Sep 20, 2021

Artist bashezo by the Mystic River in Medford. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

Artist Bashezo Uplifts People In The Queer And Trans Community

The trans nonbinary artist has spent nearly half a lifetime defining who they are, finding solace in spirituality, sculpture and building art installations.

Local Coverage

05:24Sep 20, 2021

Photographer Philip Keith Is Capturing The Full Human Experience

Black Lives Matter marches kicked off the photographer's career, but he doesn't want to be defined by his protest photos.

Local Coverage

04:49Sep 20, 2021

Abelardo Morell, "Camera Obscura: Palazzo Jungle Room," 2008. (Courtesy Fitchburg Art Museum)

In Photographer Abelardo Morell’s Italy, Life Upside Down Is Still Beautiful

On view at the Fitchburg Art Museum, the photos capture multiple levels of ravishing beauty and arresting grandeur, layered and folded in upon themselves, the way art and genius so...

Local Coverage

Sep 2, 2021

Eben Haines, "Low Battery," 2019. (Courtesy the artist and ICA)

Three Boston Artists Present Personal Takes On Community At The ICA

Marlon Forrester, Eben Haines and Dell Marie Hamilton were selected for this year's James and Audrey Foster Prize exhibition.

Local Coverage

Aug 31, 2021

Bill Russell, left, and Celtics coach Red Auerbach celebrate the team's victory over the L.A. Lakers for the 1966 NBA title. (AP)

A Macular Degeneration Odyssey: Books, Bill Russell And Beethoven

A critic tries to cope with age-related eye issues. Can he learn new tricks?

Local Coverage

Aug 31, 2021

Raúl de Nieves, "The Battle of Saint George and the Dragon," 2016-2021. (Courtesy ICA)

At The ICA, Artist Raúl De Nieves Investigates Memory And Mastery

Raúl de Nieves is known for his adorned sculptures coated with beads, bangles and sequins, inspired by both the costumes he remembers as a boy in Mexico and the costumes...

Local Coverage

Aug 30, 2021

The Hostetter Gallery where "Titian - Women, Myth, and Power" is on display at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Separated For Centuries, Titian’s 'Poesie' Reunite At The Gardner Museum In A Powerful Exhibition

The whole set has not been seen together for nearly 500 years. Boston is now the last of its three rarefied stops. It’s a very big deal. And it’s wonderful,...

Local Coverage

Aug 16, 2021

Installers move Titian’s "The Rape of Europa" across the Hostetter Gallery after its return to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum from being on loan to the Prado Museum in Madrid, Spain. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Rare Reunion Of Titian Masterpieces Sheds Light On Isabella Stewart Gardner As A Collecting Pioneer

125 years ago this month, a ravishing Italian masterpiece arrived in Boston. Right before the pandemic "The Rape of Europa" — Isabella Stewart Gardner's “crown jewel” — left the Gardner...

Local Coverage

06:11Aug 12, 2021

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Boston College's art museum receives a $20 million gift of paintings by Sargent, Rivera and Picasso

Inside the MFA's newly renovated Dutch and Flemish art galleries

MFA Boston union employees strike over wages and stalled negotiations

At MIT List, a sculptor finds resilience in inhospitable places

Somerville Museum showcases social media from a bygone era: the penny postcard

Meet theo tyson, the MFA's new fashion curator

In two fall art exhibits, quilts offer more than just warmth

A new interactive installation invites you into the works of Vincent van Gogh

At the Peabody Essex Museum, a new exhibit reclaims what it means to be a 'witch'

15 Art Exhibits Worth Exploring This Fall

MASS MoCA Hires New Director

For Multimedia Artist Nicole L'Huillier, Sound Is A Portal For Change

Artist Bashezo Uplifts People In The Queer And Trans Community

Photographer Philip Keith Is Capturing The Full Human Experience

In Photographer Abelardo Morell’s Italy, Life Upside Down Is Still Beautiful

Three Boston Artists Present Personal Takes On Community At The ICA

A Macular Degeneration Odyssey: Books, Bill Russell And Beethoven

At The ICA, Artist Raúl De Nieves Investigates Memory And Mastery

Separated For Centuries, Titian’s 'Poesie' Reunite At The Gardner Museum In A Powerful Exhibition

Rare Reunion Of Titian Masterpieces Sheds Light On Isabella Stewart Gardner As A Collecting Pioneer