Janet Knott

250 Years of American Art at the MFA

by Janet Knott

After 3 years of planning, the MFA reconfigured 8 galleries to pay homage to 250 years of American Art. The process involved many stakeholders, from community activists to curators and others. Many items were on view, from paintings to sculptures, furniture, and silver, just to name a few. This exhibit will be a blockbuster.

A burgundy gallery hung salon-style with American portraits in the reinstalled Art of the Americas wing at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Visitors at the entrance to the Art of the Americas, 1750 to 1800 galleries at the MFA in Boston.
A dramatic early American painting of men in a boat reaching for a swimmer as a shark nears, at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
A grand equestrian portrait of a figure on a pale horse in the American art galleries at the MFA, Boston.
A white marble reclining sculpture on a plinth in a red-walled American art gallery at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
A glass case of early American silver platters and decorative objects at the MFA, Boston.
An ornate black-and-gold japanned high chest against floral wallpaper at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
A brightly painted, patterned American cabinet in the galleries at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
A close view of an elaborately gilded carved object in the American art galleries at the MFA, Boston.
A gilded American folk-art weathervane in the shape of a draped figure at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
A vitrine of period American garments, an embroidered jacket and skirt, at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
A blue-wallpapered gallery with an American chest and framed portraits at the MFA, Boston.
A gallery lined with red-framed works on red walls at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
A visitor leaning in to study a newly hung painting in the reinstalled galleries at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Three of the curators and stakeholders behind the reinstallation, in a new American art gallery at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.