Dear Friends,

I am pleased to share the Museum’s online Annual Report highlighting our accomplishments in the 2017–18 fiscal year. It was our first year implementing our Strategic Plan. At its center, this plan encourages us to be outward facing—to invite new collaborations and welcome new voices. It challenges us to think of the familiar in new ways.

We round out our 2018 exhibitions with a fresh look at one of America’s most acclaimed landscape artists in “Ansel Adams in Our Time.” On view through February 24, the exhibition not only highlights some of Adams’ most renowned photographs, it looks forward and back in time, connecting his passion for the environment and the land to his 19th-century predecessors and to contemporary photographers who engage with these issues today. It is no surprise that the exhibition has drawn nationwide attention for considering the legacy of an iconic photographer in our time.

On rare occasions, there are gifts to museums that have the ability to transform collections. In December, we were honored to receive the largest, most significant gift of Chinese paintings and calligraphy in the Museum’s history: the Wan-go H. C. Weng Collection. Representing a range of artworks—183 objects that include dynamically painted landscapes and flowers; depictions of great and legendary figures from Chinese history; and expressive, poetic works of calligraphy—acquired by and passed down through six generations of a single family, this remarkable gift beautifully complements the MFA’s existing masterpieces. We are exceptionally grateful to Mr. Weng, and are committed to sharing his extraordinary collection with future generations.

Thank you for your generosity of spirit this year; together we create community, meaning, and new understanding in our world.

Matthew Teitelbaum
Ann and Graham Gund Director