Arts & Culture

Explore Harvard’s vibrant arts scene—from campus exhibitions and theater to cultural analysis and literary reviews. Discover how creativity shapes the Harvard experience.

Two bare-knuckle boxers fight in a ring, surrounded by onlookers in 19th-century attire.

England’s First Sports Megastar

A collection of illustrations capture a boxer’s triumphant moment. 

by Nell Porter-Brown

Thackeray’s self-portrait from an 1848 edition of <i>Vanity Fair</i>

Harvard’s Houghton Library celebrates William Makepeace Thackeray

Houghton Library celebrates William Makepeace Thackeray.

by Christopher Reed

&ldquo;Interweave,&rdquo; a 1982 studio quilt by Michael James. From the Ardis and Robert James Collection.

Quilts are art, as the International Quilt Study Center and Museum proves

Fabric art that rises from mattresses to museum walls

Thomas Rowlandson&rsquo;s view of the library of the Royal Institution in London, circa 1810

Innovation in humanities courses aims to reach larger numbers of students

New gateways into the humanities for students “still fully molten as human beings”

by Jonathan Shaw

The 70-year-old Mark I computing machine was powered on briefly yesterday.

At Harvard, Howard Aiken's computing machine hums briefly back to life

At Harvard, Howard Aiken's computing machine hums briefly back to life.

The title page of Andreas Vesalius's renowned anatomy textbook depicts a public dissection.

At Harvard, a special exhibit showcases the history of anatomy and dissection

A special exhibit showcases the history of anatomy and dissection.

The façade of the new 204,000-square-foot Renzo Piano-designed facility rises from the back of 32 Quincy Street.

Renovated Harvard Art Museums to open November 16 2014

The new Renzo Piano-designed facility will open to the public on November 16, 2014.

<i>Bowles's new pocket map of the United States of America: the British possessions of Canada, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland, with the French and Spanish territories of Louisiana and Florida, as settled by the preliminary articles of peace signed at Versailles the 20th. Jany. 1783,</i> published by Carington Bowles (London, 1784)

Harvard maps settle U.S.-Canada border

A library loan—with latitude

by John S. Rosenberg

Beatrix Potter&rsquo;s home, gardens, and tales of small creatures, at the Arnold Arboretum

Art, lectures, cultural and campus events at Harvard in March and April

Harvard arts and cultural events

An eighteenth-century Chinese jadeite tripod covered censer that was stolen from the Fogg Museum in 1979 has been formally returned to the Harvard Art Museums.

Stolen Chinese censer returns to Harvard Art Museums

Three decades later, an eighteenth-century artwork returns home.

A wintry scene by Meri Bond, at the Arnold Arboretum

Art, lectures, cultural and campus events at Harvard in November and December

Harvard arts and cultural events