Past Exhibitions

Emergence: Art from MFA Boston Staff

May 25–June 24, 2023

Presented at the Copley Society of Art on Newbury Street, this exhibition features artwork by MFA staff who explore the idea of emergence—the process...

Hokusai: Inspiration and Influence

March 26–July 16, 2023

Taking a new approach to the work of the ever-popular Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849), this major exhibition explores in detail his impact on other artists—both during his lifetime and beyond.

Hear Me Now: The Black Potters of Old Edgefield, South Carolina

March 4–July 9, 2023

Explore an untold chapter in American history Focusing on the work of Black potters in the 19th-century American South, this landmark exhibition...

Who Holds Up the Sky?

January 21–September 4, 2023

Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, attacks have continued endlessly in different regions of the country, and...

Making Past Present: Cy Twombly

January 14–May 7, 2023

Unique among his peers at the vanguard of postwar American art, Cy Twombly (1928–2011) sought inspiration from ancient Greek, Roman, and Egyptian...

Jess T. Dugan: Coupled

November 23, 2022–June 25, 2023

Jess T. Dugan (b. 1986) is a queer, nonbinary artist who explores issues of identity, attraction, representation, and community in their work. Drawn...

SMFA at Tufts: Archive and Autobiography

November 19, 2022–April 16, 2023

Archives shape our feelings about memory, history, geography, storytelling, and ourselves. Traditional archives might look like a storage facility, a...

Frank Bowling’s Americas

October 22, 2022–April 9, 2023

“Modernism belonged to me also.” So resolved British Guiana–born artist Frank Bowling in 1966, when he moved from London to New York City, impelled by...

Body Awareness: Maria Lassnig’s Experimental Films

October 15, 2022–April 2, 2023

Although best known as a painter, Maria Lassnig (1919–2014) began to experiment with film in 1970. From that point on, she created animations using...

LIFE Magazine and the Power of Photography

October 9, 2022–January 16, 2023

Reconsidering the pictures we remember. Revealing the stories we don’t know.