Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester

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Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester A visit to the Memorial Art Gallery is a journey through more than 5,000 years of world art. Join us for art, education, and community!
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mag.rochester.edu/about/privacy-policy/ MAG’s permanent collection of more than 12,000 objects has been called “the best balanced in the state outside of metropolitan New York City.” In addition to its collection, the museum offers a year-round schedule of temporary exhibitions, lectures, concerts, tours, and family activities.

10/23/2026

part 7

10/23/2026

part 6

10/23/2026

part 5

10/23/2026

part 4

10/23/2026

part 3

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part 2

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part 1

10/23/2026

Closing this weekend!

An unlikely series of chain reactions where mundane objects roll, tip, and spin hurtling into each other and triggering fires—"The Way Things Go" an iconic 1987 art film, engages viewers with humor and suspense.

Celebrated Swiss artist duo of Peter Fischli and David Weiss constructed the cinematic sequences over a period of two years, painstakingly removing any signs of human involvement to create a sense of spontaneous continual movement.

Peter Fischli (b. 1952) and David Weiss (1946–2012) collaborated on works spanning sculpture, film, and photography for over thirty-three years. Using invention, whimsy, and absurdity, they created works of wonder that reveled in the space between “high art” and the everyday.

Come see this work on view in our Media Arts Watch Gallery now through October 25!

🎥Icarus Films

This painting is an example of the vanitas genre, a type of still life in which artists arrange and illustrate symbolic ...
10/22/2026

This painting is an example of the vanitas genre, a type of still life in which artists arrange and illustrate symbolic objects to remind us of the transience of earthly life.

In MAG’s painting, the extinguished oil lamp and the hourglass run empty manifest the passage of time leading to mortality, symbolized by the gap-toothed skulls. The bubble, delicately resting in a shell, is a metaphor for the fragility of life—it can burst and disappear at a moment’s notice.

The artist includes a piece of paper to deliver a more direct message:
“MEMENTO MORI,” Latin for “Remember you must die.”

The genre was first developed around the Dutch city of Leiden in the early 1500s and remained popular through the mid-1600s. Many vanitas paintings were designed by the artist for a particular type of patron-someone educated, well read, and connected to the social fabric of the time.

Come see it in person today! We're open from 11 am-8 pm with half-priced museum admission starting at 5 pm.

See you soon👻

🖼️Vanitas Still Life
🕰️1636
🖌️Dutch, School of Leiden
🏛️Lockhart Gallery, First floor of the Museum

Join us on Sunday, November 22 from 12-4 pm for Haudenosaunee Heritage Celebration Day, in collaboration with Friends of...
10/20/2026

Join us on Sunday, November 22 from 12-4 pm for Haudenosaunee Heritage Celebration Day, in collaboration with Friends of Ganondagan State Historic Site Program Director Jeanette Jemison (Mohawk, Snipe Clan)!

Enjoy free museum admission, live dances and demonstrations with the Allegany River Seneca Dancers led by Bill Crouse (Seneca, Hawk Clan), storytelling with Ronnie Reitter (Seneca, Wolf Clan), display tables, history, culture, celebration, and more.
Schedule to come!

https://mag.rochester.edu/.../haudenosaunee-heritage.../

Address

500 University Avenue
Rochester, NY
14607

Opening Hours

Wednesday 11am - 5pm
Thursday 11am - 8pm
Friday 11am - 5pm
Saturday 11am - 5pm
Sunday 11am - 5pm

Telephone

+15852768900

Website

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