Museums & Collections

Discover treasures from Harvard’s museums and special collections, from ancient artifacts to modern art.

A vibrant composition of flowers, a bird, and butterflies with a distant manor under a moody sky.

Rachel Ruysch’s Lush (Still) Life

Now on display at the Museum of Fine Arts, a Dutch painter’s art proved a treasure trove for scientists.

by Lydialyle Gibson

A lively concert in a modern auditorium with an audience seated on multiple levels.

Concerts and Carols at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Tuning into one of Boston's best chamber music halls 

by Nell Porter-Brown

Three models showcase distinct fashions: a floral black gown, a blue top with a floral yellow skirt, and a green dress.

The Peabody Essex Museum Spotlights Designer Andrew Gn

Landmark exhibition on global fashion 

by Nell Porter-Brown

A whimsical illustration of a man balancing on a rooftop edge, wearing a suit and glasses.

The Artist Edward Gorey—and Pets—at Harvard

Winter exhibits at Houghton Library   

by Nell Porter-Brown

Two women in traditional Japanese clothing sitting on a wooden platform near a tranquil pond, surrounded by autumn foliage.

Japan As It Never Will Be Again

Harvard’s Stillman collection showcases glimpses of the Meiji era. 

by Lydialyle Gibson

A drawing of a young boy reading by lamplight.

What of the Humble Pencil?

Review: At the Harvard Art Museums’ new exhibit, drawing takes center stage

by Olivia Farrar

Nineteenth-century prison ruins with brick guardhouse surrounded by forest.

This Connecticut Mine Was Once a Prison

The underground Old New-Gate Prison quickly became “a school for crime.”

by Nell Porter-Brown

Two women in traditional kimonos, one lighting a cigarette, in a scene from Apart from You.

Harvard Film Archive Spotlights Japanese Director Mikio Naruse

A retrospective of the filmmaker’s works, from Floating Clouds to Flowing

by Nell Porter-Brown

Two people moving large abstract painting with blue V-shaped design in museum courtyard.

A Harvard Art Museums Painting Gets a Bath

Water and sunlight help restore a modern American classic.

by Max J. Krupnick

Room filled with furniture made from tightly rolled newspaper sheets.

A Paper House in Massachusetts

The 1920s Rockport cottage reflects resourceful ingenuity.

by Nell Porter-Brown

An illustration of a green leaf being hit by a beam of light and bouncing off the leaf and then becoming a color prisim

Harvard’s Plant Collection Meets Space Science

Light-based analysis of botanical collections link plants to Earth’s changing climate.

by Jonathan Shaw