Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

10/19/2026

Does this scene look familiar? 👀

In "Charles River and Beacon Hill," painted around 1892, Dorchester-born artist Childe Hassam captured a view of Boston that looks quite different today. Look closely and you'll spot some familiar landmarks: the Charles River on the left, Beacon Hill and the gold dome of the Massachusetts State House in the center, and Back Bay on the right, a residential area that had only recently been created after a 40-year landfill project.

The waterfront itself has changed dramatically since then. The dirt road and narrow walkway along the Charles would soon give way to a 100-foot-wide promenade, an early predecessor of today's Esplanade.

🎨 Childe Hassam (American, 1859–1935), "Charles River and Beacon Hill" (about 1892), oil on canvas.

10/17/2026

On Thursday, October 29, join us for a powerful conversation with three-time Emmy Award–winning actor, best-selling author, and advocate Uzo Aduba ✨

Best known for her standout portrayal of Suzanne “Crazy Eyes” Warren in "Orange Is the New Black," Aduba comes to the MFA as part of our Ruth and Carl J. Shapiro Celebrity Lectures series.

🎟️ Get tickets: http://ms.spr.ly/6183aQRI5

“Growing up, I never thought there was a seat for me, so I've decided to build my own table. Come. Pull up a chair.” —Uzo Aduba

10/17/2026

One of Boston's favorite weekends is here! 🚣

Good luck to all the rowers competing in the Head Of The Charles Regatta—the city will be cheering you on from the banks of the Charles!

🎨: Cyril E. Power (English, 1872–1951), "The Eight" (about 1930), color linocut

10/16/2026

Introduce your little artists to the women who helped shape art history at a special family book talk! 🎨

Join art historian and bestselling author Katy Hessel at the MFA on Saturday, October 24, to celebrate the release of her first children’s book, “The Story of Art Without Men: An Illustrated Guide to Amazing Women Artists.”

Designed for younger audiences but captivating for all ages, the book introduces a new generation to the creativity, innovation, and achievements of extraordinary women artists.

🎟️ Get tickets: http://ms.spr.ly/6183atNJ7

Inviting families and younger audiences to rediscover the story of artFor the release of her first children’s book, The Story of Art without Men: An Illustrated Guide to Amazing Women Artists, art historian, best-selling author, and champion of women artists Katy Hessel invites young readers and f...

10/12/2026

Admission to the MFA is FREE today for Massachusetts residents in honor of !

Enjoy gallery tours, make your own art, and see works on view by Native American and Indigenous artists—including an installation in our newly reimagined 18th-century Art of the Americas galleries by Hartman Deetz, a Mashpee Wampanoag artist and activist. At 3 pm, join Deetz in Gallery 168 for a special performance blending spoken-word poetry and traditional songs.

The Museum is open from 10 am–5 pm—stop by for an hour or for the whole day! Learn more: http://ms.spr.ly/6183aS8G3

10/10/2026

Celebrating Alberto Giacometti, who was born in 1901.

Returning to Paris after World War II, Giacometti developed his signature sculptural vocabulary: individual and grouped figures, painfully thin and elongated as if seen at a distance or in a memory. Philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre identified a profound sense of isolation and emptiness surrounding these anonymous, striding figures.

Giacometti was prone to self-doubt, and the creative and emotional support of his friend Sartre, wife, Annette Arm, and brother Diego nurtured him during this pivotal period. See this work by the artist and more on view in our modern art galleries!

🎨: Alberto Giacometti (Swiss (active in France), 1901–1966), "Annette" (1953), bronze. © 2025 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris. Licensed by VAGA, New York.

10/08/2026

"For me, it’s political to make an artwork about peace and beauty. I wanted people, especially Black people, to see the beauty. People need beauty.”—Suzanne Jackson

For more than six decades, Jackson has created lyrical, awe-inspiring paintings shaped by her deep respect for the natural world and persistent belief in the interconnectedness of all living things. Often dedicating her works to personal and cultural histories and environmental concerns, for Jackson, beauty is an act of care and a means of resistance.

Don't miss the first retrospective devoted to the full breadth of the artist’s career. “Suzanne Jackson: What Is Love” is only on view at the MFA through January 18! Learn more: http://ms.spr.ly/6182aUbmE

📷: Tim Correira Photography

10/05/2026

We gave this bird a beak tweak 🐦

In 1923, the MFA acquired the Horus of Nekhen, a monumental sculpture of a falcon made in Egypt during the reign of Amenhotep III. In the 1970s, conservators gave it a plaster beak because the original couldn’t be identified among numerous stone fragments in storage. Decades later, while cataloging the collection, a staff member recognized a fragment that matched the falcon—it was the missing piece! 🧩

The exhibition “Maverick Kings: Three Visionary Pharaohs of Egypt’s Golden Age” gave us the perfect opportunity to restore the sculpture. Through close collaboration between conservator LeeAnn Gordon (MFA Conservation) and curator Lawrence Berman, we were able to reveal the falcon’s original appearance.

10/04/2026

How do you use your hands each day?

In an ongoing series that spans six decades, Naoko Matsubara explores a wide vocabulary of touch, language, and movement embodied by hands across ages, activities, and cultures.

Matsubara began making these works after the birth of her son in 1973, when she found that her hands—until then used most significantly for making art—took on a newfound importance as she used them to care for her child 🫶

We're celebrating the artist's storied career in our exhibition "Naoko Matsubara’s Woodblock Worlds," now on view.

🖼️: "Fruit" (1974). Woodcut print; ink on paper.

🖼️: "Kneading and Throwing a Pot" (2011). Woodcut print; ink on paper.

🖼️: "The Present" (2020). Woodcut print; ink on paper.

🖼️: "Dancer" (1974). Woodcut print; ink on paper.

🖼️: "Cat’s Cradle A" (1974). Woodcut print; ink on paper.

10/02/2026

We love kids who grow up in museums ❤️

Percy and Della are no strangers to the MFA—they’ve been visiting their mom Kristen Hoskins, our Director of Public Programs, at work since they were born.

Take this as a sign to bring your own family to the MFA to see “Maverick Kings: Three Visionary Pharaohs of Egypt’s Golden Age,” which features kids’ labels for select objects as well as a hands-on station where you can learn to write in hieroglyphics.