David Alfaro Siqueiros

Autorretrato con espejo (Self-Portrait with Mirror)

1937
Cellulose nitrate paint on board coated with phenolic resin

This visionary self-portrait, which boldly transgresses national and artistic boundaries, is the first painting by Siqueiros to enter the MFA’s collection. The most politically radical of the Mexican muralists and the founder of an experimental art workshop in New York, Siqueiros rejected the conventional medium of oil on canvas. Here, his distinctly modern materials—industrial paint airbrushed onto a reflective panel—echo the mirror that he holds. Carving through layers of paint and sculpting every crease of his hand, the artist summons influences from ancient Maya masks to Surrealist paintings.

Charles H. Bayley Picture and Paintings Fund, Sophie M. Friedman Fund, Ernest Wadsworth Longfellow Fund, Tompkins Collection—Arthur Gordon Tompkins Fund, William Francis Warden Fund, and Gift of Jessie H. Wilkinson—Jessie H. Wilkinson Fund
© 2018 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/SOMAAP, Mexico City

Emilio Baz Viaud

Painter George Hutzler, Age 28, with His Pet Bimba

1949
Opaque and transparent watercolor over graphite with wax resist on Glarco watercolor board

This magnetic portrait of an American painter and department store heir was made in Mexico during the artistic renaissance that followed the Mexican Revolution. Baz Viaud is best known today for his compelling portraits depicting young men, some of them active in the gay communities of New York and Mexico City. Working in a dry medium with such precision that his subjects become almost surreal, Baz Viaud consciously adopted the motifs of Northern Renaissance art, including the symbolic flower and the note tacked to the wall in the background.

Emily L. Ainsley Fund

Graciela Iturbide

Casa de la Muerte, Ciudad de México (House of Death, Mexico City)

1975
Gelatin silver print

The MFA acquired an important group of 37 photographs by Graciela Iturbide, one of the most influential photographers working in Latin America today. This group of photographs—35 purchased by the Museum and two donated by the artist—portray Mexico through Iturbide’s eyes, highlighting the country’s beauty, rituals, challenges, and contradictions. In Casa de la Muerte, Ciudad de México, a man sits in front of a large mural of a skeleton dressed as a bride while a couple walking arm in arm appear like ghostly figures emerging from the right, evoking love, life, and death, and all that lies between.

Museum purchase with funds donated by John and Cynthia Reed, Charles H. Bayley Picture and Painting Fund, Barbara M. Marshall Fund, Lucy Dalbiac Luard Fund, Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Fund for Photography, Francis Welch Fund, and Jane M. Rabb Fund for Film and Photography
© Graciela Iturbide

Philipp Otto Runge

Times of Day (Morning, Day, Evening, Night)

1803–5
Set of four etchings

A metaphor for the stages of life, this hallucinatory and symbolic set of etchings is now regarded as the pinnacle of German printmaking in the years around 1800. Runge conceived the series in the linear “outline” style then fashionable in Europe, but added a mystical, otherworldly character to that style’s chilly, neoclassical elegance. The great German writer and philosopher Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said of the series, “Just look at it: it’s enough to drive you crazy—beautiful and mad at the same time."

Katherine E. Bullard Fund in memory of Francis Bullard

Philipp Otto Runge

Times of Day (Morning)

1803–5
Etching

Philipp Otto Runge

Times of Day (Morning, Day, Evening, Night)

1803–5
Set of four etchings

A metaphor for the stages of life, this hallucinatory and symbolic set of etchings is now regarded as the pinnacle of German printmaking in the years around 1800. Runge conceived the series in the linear “outline” style then fashionable in Europe, but added a mystical, otherworldly character to that style’s chilly, neoclassical elegance. The great German writer and philosopher Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said of the series, “Just look at it: it’s enough to drive you crazy—beautiful and mad at the same time."

Katherine E. Bullard Fund in memory of Francis Bullard

Philipp Otto Runge

Times of Day (Day)

1803–5
Etching

Philipp Otto Runge

Times of Day (Morning, Day, Evening, Night)

1803–5
Set of four etchings

A metaphor for the stages of life, this hallucinatory and symbolic set of etchings is now regarded as the pinnacle of German printmaking in the years around 1800. Runge conceived the series in the linear “outline” style then fashionable in Europe, but added a mystical, otherworldly character to that style’s chilly, neoclassical elegance. The great German writer and philosopher Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said of the series, “Just look at it: it's enough to drive you crazy—beautiful and mad at the same time."

Katherine E. Bullard Fund in memory of Francis Bullard

Philipp Otto Runge

Times of Day (Evening)

1803–5
Etching

Philipp Otto Runge

Times of Day (Morning, Day, Evening, Night)

1803–5
Set of four etchings

A metaphor for the stages of life, this hallucinatory and symbolic set of etchings is now regarded as the pinnacle of German printmaking in the years around 1800. Runge conceived the series in the linear “outline” style then fashionable in Europe, but added a mystical, otherworldly character to that style’s chilly, neoclassical elegance. The great German writer and philosopher Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said of the series, “Just look at it: it’s enough to drive you crazy—beautiful and mad at the same time."

Katherine E. Bullard Fund in memory of Francis Bullard

Philipp Otto Runge

Times of Day (Night)

1803–5
Etching

Kawada Kikuji

The Map

Heisei era, 2017
Pair of six-panel folding screens; photograph, platinum print on handmade Japanese Tosa paper

Kawada Kikuji first published raw black-and-white images of the ravaged walls and ceiling of the Atomic Bomb Dome in his celebrated photobook The Map in 1965. For these works Kawada returned to that powerful imagery to force us to confront the aftermath of the bomb by mounting the photographs in the traditional screen format, which projects into the surrounding space and envelops the viewer. The acquisition of these screens was made possible by Edward A. Studzinski to commemorate his long-time friend and mentor, Frederic A. Sharf.

Museum purchase with funds donated by Edward A. Studzinski in memory of Frederic A. Sharf
© Copyright Kawada Kikuji, Courtesy of L. Parker Stephenson Photographs

Kawada Kikuji

The Map

Heisei era, 2017
Pair of six-panel folding screens; photograph, platinum print on handmade Japanese Tosa paper

Kawada Kikuji first published raw black-and-white images of the ravaged walls and ceiling of the Atomic Bomb Dome in his celebrated photobook The Map in 1965. For these works Kawada returned to that powerful imagery to force us to confront the aftermath of the bomb by mounting the photographs in the traditional screen format, which projects into the surrounding space and envelops the viewer. The acquisition of these screens was made possible by Edward A. Studzinski to commemorate his long-time friend and mentor, Frederic A. Sharf.

Museum purchase with funds donated by Edward A. Studzinski in memory of Frederic A. Sharf
© Copyright Kawada Kikuji, Courtesy of L. Parker Stephenson Photographs

Edward Steichen

Gloria Swanson

1937
Gelatin silver print

This transformational addition to our collection includes works ranging from this evocative 1924 portrait of Gloria Swanson by Edward Steichen to Dorothea Lange’s Depression-era Migrant Mother to wartime photographs taken for Life magazine. It also introduces more than 80 major photographers to our holdings, enabling us to tell more stories about photography as an art form as well as a social, cultural, and political force.

The Howard Greenberg Collection—Museum purchase with funds donated by the Phillip Leonian and Edith Rosenbaum Leonian Charitable Trust
© 2018 The Estate of Edward Steichen / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Ludolf Bakhuizen

Ships in a Gale on the IJ before the City of Amsterdam

1666
Oil on canvas

As his large output attests, Ludolf Bakhuizen was primarily a marine painter. Ships in a Gale on the IJ before the City of Amsterdam was executed shortly after the Amsterdam burgomasters commissioned the artist to paint a large view of Amsterdam to be presented as a gift to Louis XIV’s foreign minister, the Marquis de Lionne. Rather than repeating the panoramic composition of that painting (now in the Louvre), this smaller work conveys the impression of actually being on the water.

Gift of Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo in support of the Center for Netherlandish Art

Salomon de Bray

Study of a Young Woman in Profile

1636
Oil on panel

Salomon de Bray’s Study of a Young Woman in Profile, a relatively rare example of a 17th-century Dutch profile portrait, is probably a study made from life. It has annotations on the back that indicate the place of the work in the artist’s oeuvre (#46) and the date of 14 April 1636. Salomon de Bray was primarily a history painter, and the small oval may be related to the painting Judith with the Head of Holofernes, in the Prado, which bears the number 47 on the verso and the date of 25 April 1636.

Gift of Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo in support of the Center for Netherlandish Art

Balthasar van der Ast

Flower Bouquet on a Ledge, Together with a Shell and a Grasshopper, A Panoramic Landscape Behind

1624
Oil on copper

Balthasar van der Ast was trained by his brother-in-law, Ambrosius Bosschaert, “an excellent painter of flowers and fruit.” Their paintings share many characteristics, including their small size, the copper support that enhances their jewel like brilliance, the expansive landscape, and the symmetrically composed bouquets, too heavy for the glasses that hold them. Shell collecting was something of a passion in 17th-century Holland; the inclusion of exotic specimens signaled the erudition of painter and patron as well as Holland’s global prowess.

Gift of Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo in support of the Center for Netherlandish Art

Hans Bol

View of Amsterdam from the South

1589
Gouache, heightened with gold, on vellum laid down on panel

This delicate view is by Hans Bol, a refugee from the southern Netherlands who formed an important link between Flemish art and that of the northern Netherlands. View of Amsterdam from the South is one of the earliest known profiles of the city, captured from across the Amstel River. Replete with details of daily life, it combines elements and qualities from the earlier tradition of manuscript illumination with a new observational clarity. It was probably conceived as a “cabinet miniature,” to be kept and displayed in a Wunderkammer.

Gift of Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo in support of the Center for Netherlandish Art

Serape

Unknown artist, Diné (Navajo)

About 1875
Wool tapestry

This serape adds an important dimension to the MFA’s collection of Navajo textiles. One of two serapes acquired by John D. Rockefeller Jr. in 1926 from American painter Joseph Henry Sharp, founding member of the Taos Society of Artists, it speaks to a period of time when the Southwest became accessible to more Americans of European descent. Traveling by railroad from the East and West Coasts, they were attracted to the traditional architecture and decorative arts they found in places like Taos, especially to Native American geometric handwoven blankets.

Gift of the Estate of David Rockefeller from the Collection of David and Peggy Rockefeller

Crazy City Quilt

C. Winne
American, 1885
Printed cotton plain weave, pieced, appliquéd, and quilted

This extraordinary quilt captures many of the salient features of American quilt making in the late 19th century. The artist arranged the composition with a crazy (seemingly random) quilt section in the center surrounded by house forms, pinwheels, stars, and other geometric designs that speak to the breadth of quilt patterns in this period. The identity of “C. Winne” has yet to be discovered, but it is a surname common in the Hudson River Valley. While it might indicate the name of the artist, it could also indicate the recipient or a male family member to whom the quilt was dedicated.

Gift of Joyce Linde in honor of Gerald E. Roy

2018.445

Civil War Zouave Quilt

American, 1880s
Wool, pieced, and appliquéd; cotton plain weave; leather

This unique quilt was made from uniform cloth of Union and Zouave troops. While the materials date to the Civil War, the design and construction of the quilt suggest a later date in the 1880s. The appliquéd and embroidered figures on the quilt offer many avenues of enquiry. The significance of the date 1864 (which appears twice) may relate to Ulysses S. Grant’s appointment as commander of the Union Army on May 2 of that year. In addition, the top center scene could depict the Battle of the Wilderness, during which General Grant rallied the troops on his most famous warhorse, Cincinnati. The last quarter of the 19th century saw a groundswell of Civil War commemoration, much of it linked to Ulysses S. Grant, who died in 1885.

Edwin E. Jack Fund, William Francis Warden Fund, Marshall H. Gould Fund, Susan Cornelia Warren Fund and Harriet Otis Cruft Fund

2018.8

Scenes of American Life

Possibly made by Mrs. Cecil White
American (Hartford, Connecticut), about 1925
Cotton plain weave, twill, and compound weave; silk plain weave, pieced and applied top tied to backing

A masterwork of vernacular art, this quilt features 55 appliquéd scenes of American life enclosed within a border of trains and 1920s automobiles. The subjects range from intimate domestic vignettes to street scenes and other pastimes such as football, tennis, boxing, swimming, and dancing. Some images reflect urban life, a lunch counter or streetcar, while others depict rural subjects. Particularly notable are the images of African Americans, Native Americans, and Asian Americans, some of which reveal contemporary racial stereotypes, while others are more enigmatic.

Helen and Alice Colburn Fund, Elizabeth M. and John F. Paramino Fund in memory of John F. Paramino, Boston Sculptor, Frank B. Bemis Fund, and John H. and Ernestine A. Payne Fund

2018.119

Candice Breitz

Love Story

2016
7-channel installation

Love Story draws attention to individual experiences of the worldwide refugee crisis and weighs them against the power of celebrity appeal. Actors Alec Baldwin and Julianne Moore perform narratives drawn from interviews that Breitz conducted with six refugees from different countries. Making its US debut at the MFA, Love Story builds on Breitz’s long-term investigation of the “attention economy” in our media-saturated culture, raising questions about how and where our attention is focused. The work suspends viewers between the firsthand accounts of individuals who would typically remain nameless and two actors who are the very embodiment of visibility.

Jointly owned by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the artist—Museum purchase with funds donated by Lizbeth and George Krupp
Reproduced with permission

2017.4181

Candice Breitz

Love Story

2016
7-channel installation

Love Story draws attention to individual experiences of the worldwide refugee crisis and weighs them against the power of celebrity appeal. Actors Alec Baldwin and Julianne Moore perform narratives drawn from interviews that Breitz conducted with six refugees from different countries. Making its US debut at the MFA, Love Story builds on Breitz’s long-term investigation of the “attention economy” in our media-saturated culture, raising questions about how and where our attention is focused. The work suspends viewers between the firsthand accounts of individuals who would typically remain nameless and two actors who are the very embodiment of visibility.

Jointly owned by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the artist—Museum purchase with funds donated by Lizbeth and George Krupp
Reproduced with permission

2017.4181

Rei Kawakubo for Comme des Garçons

Dress
Hinomaru (Rising Sun) Collection, Spring–Summer 2007
Silk and cotton

Most people involved in the fashion world consider Rei Kawakubo to be the most important designer of the turn of the 20th century. She is certainly among the most intellectual and influential designers working today. Throughout her career she has redefined traditional Western tailoring and questioned the relationship of clothing to the body. This dress is from one of her more overtly Japanese collections, which featured the “rising sun” motif on many of the designs—a reference to the Japanese flag. The collection featured garments that had been deconstructed and reconstructed again incorporating new fabric and ideas, not dissimilar to Japan during the post-World War II period when Kawakubo was born and grew up.

Frank B. Bemis Fund, William E. Nickerson Fund, Otis Norcross Fund, Frederick Brown Fund, Helen and Alice Colburn Fund, and Alice M. Barlett Fund

Monteith

Marked by unidentified “TA,” London
1687–88
Silver

The notched rim of a monteith, a silver shape first introduced around 1680, held the stems of wine glasses as they rinsed in water. This bowl is decorated in a distinctive chinoiserie style that was popular in England between about 1680 and 1690. Such ornament was inspired by a variety of Asian and European sources, such as prints, wallpaper, Indian printed cottons, Japanese lacquer screens, Chinese porcelain, and even stage set designs. The decoration on this monteith is exceptionally bold and well preserved, with large figures striking dramatic poses in exotic costumes and set among plants, birds, and architectural ruins.

Theodora Wilbour Fund in memory of Charlotte Beebe Wilbour and partial gift of Anne H. and Frederick Vogel III

Tall case clock

Nathan Lumbard, Sturbridge or Sutton, Massachusetts
About 1800
Cherrywood, mahogany, light and dark inlays, painted clock face, brass, clockworks

Made in the early years of the new republic in a prosperous rural town in central Massachusetts, this eye-catching clock is a tour de force of skilled craftsmanship and an idiosyncratic interpretation of the neoclassical style. To create its inlaid decoration, cabinetmaker Nathan Lumbard carved out individual recesses in the wood, filling those recesses with woods of different colors to make patterns and pictures. Rather than buying standard, pre-made inlays, Lumbard made them all on his own—which accounts for the playful, somewhat quirky, but certainly engaging personal expression of this masterpiece.

Museum purchase with funds donated by Victoria and David Croll, Deborah and William Elfers, Barbara and Amos Hostetter, an anonymous donor, Jean Schinto and Robert Frishman, and from the Frank B. Bemis Fund, Mary S. and Edward J. Holmes Fund, Howard Johnson for American Clocks or Scientific Instruments Fund, Elizabeth M. and John F. Paramino Fund in memory of John F. Paramino, Boston Sculptor, Marshall H. Gould Fund, Edwin E. Jack Fund, Mary E. Moore Gift, Jane Marsland and Judith A. Marsland Fund, Morris and Louise Rosenthal Fund, Helen B. Sweeney Fund, and Seth K. Sweetser Fund

Philip Taaffe

Tsuba Forest

1995–96
Mixed media on canvas

In the 1980s, Philip Taaffe gained international recognition for his abstracted paintings, incorporating appropriated images and designs. In the early 1990s, he added shapes drawn from nature such as plants and aquatic life, to his visual vocabulary. These colorful, flattened forms are inspired by illustrations, rather than direct observation, creating a suggestion of the natural world as opposed to mimicking nature itself. The resulting works are often highly decorative, large-scale compositions made with Taaffe’s signature stamping technique.

Gift of Joan and Michael Salke
© 1995–1996, Philip Taaffe

Relief plaque showing two officials with raised swords

Royal Brass-Casting Guild (Igun Eronmwon)
About 1550–70
Copper alloy

The plaque, depicting high-ranking courtiers holding court swords aloft, is one of the strongest pieces in the group of 850 plaques that were once installed on the pillars surrounding the Oba’s audience court. The plaques demonstrated the power and wealth of the Benin king and the grandeur of the courtiers who served him. This plaque was likely completed during the reign of Oba Orhogbua (1550s–1570s) and is an extraordinarily fine example. The courtiers’ extended arms and swords, finely detailed clothing, and direct gazes combine to a striking effect.

Robert Owen Lehman Collection

2018.223

Pendant showing an Oba (King) and two enobore (high-ranking courtiers)

Royal Brass-Casting Guild (Igun Eronmwon)
18th–19th century
Copper alloy

This small pendant was a personal ornament for a member of the Benin court. It depicts the Oba, wearing a bead of rule on his chest, with two high-ranking supporters called enobore. This triad of the ruler and enobore, who dress like the king and support his arms during public appearances, is a complex symbol of the people’s fealty to the king and the strength the king gains from his people. The original owner would have worn this piece attached to his waistband, demonstrating his own loyalty to the Oba.

Robert Owen Lehman Collection

2018.222