Visual Arts

Explore exhibitions, artists, and visual works that enrich Harvard’s cultural and academic life.

A photograph of the inside of the From Iran exhibit at the Harvard Peabody Museum

At Harvard’s Peabody Museum, Photos Reimagine Iranian History

Artist Azadeh Akhlaghi reconstructs moments of Iranian political upheaval in a series of meticulously staged images.

by Olivia Farrar

“Building No. 15, 4th Road in Jiu Xian Qiao” (built mid 1950s, photographed in 2005).

In photographs by Wang Di and Xing Danwen, Beijing as "urban utopia"

Two Beijing photographers interpret China's breakneck change from Communist revolution to market-based consumerism.

by John S. Rosenberg

Video: Learn about painter George Oommen's distinctive dripping technique

This video, shot in the studio of painter George Oommen, explores Oommen's distinctive dripping technique.

A vintage golden dress with a fitted bodice and flared skirt displayed on a mannequin.

Jeannie Suk advocates copyright protection for fashion designers' work

Should U.S. fashion designers enjoy the same copyright protection as fellow creative artists—and their European counterparts?

by Craig Lambert

American business embraces photography in the 1930s

Corporate culture embraces photography.

by Christopher Reed

Laura Mehlinger with a Colorfield romper, in silk with mesh streamers (left), and a silk-and-mesh veil chemise

Highbrow Lingerie

Fashion designer Laura Mehlinger draws on inspirations ranging from Vladimer Nabokow to Prince.

<i>Beckoning</i> (2008), one of Dinerstein’s recent concrete sculptures

Sculptor James Dinerstein’s work fuses ancient and modern art

Sculptor James Dinerstein’s works in concrete and bronze fuse ancient forms with modern abstraction.

by Paul Gleason

Photograph by David Foster

Weld Boathouse gains Ellen Kennelly sculpture

Ellen Kennelly ’85 has created a new glass sculpture for Weld Boathouse.

by Craig Lambert

Photograph by Felice Frankel

Nanoscience in photographs

In words and images, George M. Whitesides and Felice. C. Frankel explicate tools, concepts, and applications in nanoscience.

Sassetta's Borgo San Sepolcro altarpiece, reconstructed

Sixty paintings once adorned the altarpiece of a Franciscan church in the small Tuscan town of Borgo San Sepolcro. View illustrations from the modern-day reconstruction.

Even at the scale of cities, planners can work with the local ecology to create lasting interventions that minimize disruptions to the landscape, such as Khed Sez (shown) and Lavasa, both in India.

Architecture that imitates life

Architects are beginning to employ biomimicry, studying nature as a model for building design.

by John Gendall