Museum of Bad Art

10/25/2026

Medusa Fries Fish
Christine House
Oil on canvas, 42" x 36"
Donated by the artist
1990s

The preoccupied goddess downshifts as she ignores the symbolic swirl, the beckoning sky, and the flames licking her skirt. She has bigger fish to fry.

10/11/2026

Sonnet 18
R.C. Harris
Acrylic on canvas
Purchased at a second hand store in Quebec City
and donated by Exmuro
June 2026
Painting a portrait of his girlfriend, the artist may have been inspired by William Shakespeare to compare her to a summer's day.

09/26/2026

Jeopardy! champion Jamie Ding stopped by to visit MOBA last week. Here he is with Curator-in-Chief Michael Frank and Permanent Interim Acting Executive Director Louise Reilly Sacco.

09/13/2026

Waiting for the Clothing-Optional Elevated Train Artist Unknown
Oil on canvas, 48” x 45”
Purchased at an antique store in Warrensburg, NY
July 2025

There are eight million stories in the naked city. This may have been one of them.

09/06/2026

Sunday on the Pot with Martha
Signed illegibly lower right.
Acrylic on wood paneling, 24” x 13.75”
Purchased at the Last Chance Mercantile shop at the Pacific Grove, CA town dump and donated by Marie Gilmore
August 2026

At first glance, the MOBA curator incorrectly assumed this is a rear view of a big-butted woman. She is not facing the viewer, but is demurely looking down and to the right. Her face is difficult to discern, and brings to mind the profile of a crimson-colored poodle.

While dissimilar technically and visually, this is reminiscent of Sunday on the Pot with George - a classic painting in the MOBA Collection also depicting someone privately performing basic life functions.

08/30/2026

This is a very interesting essay about MOBA:

Some works capture our attention in seconds, and we cannot help but stand there, transfixed, looking at them for a stretch of time we stop measuring. Others barely hold our gaze for more than a few seconds. Some move us even when we cannot quite explain why, while others provoke the exact opposite:....

08/23/2026

Jack and Rose
Landon Stark, 2026
Acrylic on canvas board, 16” x 20"
Donated by the artist
August 2026

After their inauspicious experience with White Star, Jack and Rose decided to try the Carnival Cruise Line for their next high seas vacation.

08/14/2026

MOBA was featured on local TV (WCVB) this week.

08/09/2026

Worried Baby
Anonymous
Watercolor on paper, 10” x 8”
Purchased at a thrift store in Boston, MA
February 2005

The weight of the world rests on his little shoulders.

07/31/2026

Bill
Celine Karraker (1950s)
Oil on canvas, 16" x 12"
Donated by Sherry Karraker
July 2025

An ominous shadow passes over Bill's ample forehead. The artist said she was not confident in her ability to render eyes so she portrayed her husband reading. He may have simply fallen asleep.