MFA COURSES LECTURES AND MORE

MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON, ANNOUNCES FALL 2013 LECTURES, COURSES AND CONCERTS
BOSTON, MA (August 22, 2013)—Tickets are now on sale for a wide range of lectures, courses and concerts at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA) this fall. From watercolor workshops to evenings spent with leading global artists, the complete schedule of events is available at mfa.org/programs.
The Museum’s upcoming slate of activities is headlined by the Ruth and Carl J. Shapiro Celebrity Lecture series. Now in its 11th year, the acclaimed program welcomes photographer Shirin Neshat, musician Arlo Guthrie, author Dennis Lehane, performance artist Marina Abramović, poet Richard Blanco and fashion designers Kate and Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte.
A variety of events related to the exhibition John Singer Sargent Watercolors are available in the coming months. In October, Erica Hirshler (the MFA’s Croll Senior Curator of Paintings, Art of the Americas) and Richard Ormand, Sargent’s grandnephew, explore the people and places depicted in the watercolors on view, while MFA Director Malcolm Rogers discusses the fascinating story behind the American master’s ambitious portraits of young women in November. The Museum also offers multi-week Studio Art Classes on Watercolors in addition to one-night evening workshops, “Watercolor with Friends,” providing a relaxed environment to learn painting techniques while sipping wine or coffee.
The Museum offers lectures and forums on topics as diverse as New England furnishings, the Hindu god Shiva, Andy Warhol, Marcel Proust and the Monuments Men of WWII this fall. Also featured are academic courses corresponding to John Singer Sargent Watercolors and other current exhibitions, including Hippie Chic, She Who Tells a Story: Women Photographers from Iran and the Arab World and Sacred Pages: Conversations about the Qur’an. Additional programs include a free lecture on Latin American art with acclaimed curator and scholar Mari Carmen Ramírez, a daylong discussion with photographers from the exhibition She Who Tells a Story: Women Photographers from Iran and the Arab World and the music of the Boston Lyric Opera Signature Series. The MFA’s 2013 Fall Concert Series features performances from a diverse selection of artists, including Califone, Angel Olsen, The Blow and the NEC Millennium Gospel Choir.
For full details on the MFA’s upcoming lectures, courses, concerts and special events, see below or visit mfa.org/programs. LECTURES
Evenings with Creative Minds: The Ruth and Carl J. Shapiro Celebrity Lecture series
6:30 pm, Remis Auditorium
Tickets: Individual lectures: $32 (members), $39 (nonmembers), except for Arlo Gurthrie and family, $42 (members), $50
(nonmembers). For more information, visit mfa.org/programs/series/ruth-and-carl-j-shapiro-celebrity-lectures
 Shirin Neshat: Through the Lens: The Life and Work of an Iranian Artist
Wednesday, October 16 and Thursday, October 17−Book Signing Follows
Shirin Neshat, Iran’s best known photographer, filmmaker and video artist, discusses her artistic journey.

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 Arlo Guthrie: Stories as Told by Arlo and Family
Wednesday, November 6
Arlo Guthrie and his daughter, Annie Hays Guthrie, tell their stories and sing their music in this discussion.
 Richard Blanco: The Poetry of the American Dream
Wednesday, December 11 and Thursday, December 12−Book Signing Follows World-renowned poet Richard Blanco reads his poetry and talks about his fascinating life.
 Dennis Lehane: Lehane’s Boston on the Page and Big Screen
Wednesday, February 5
Dennis Lehane shares the story of going from waiting tables, parking cars and loading tractor-trailers in Dorchester to becoming a novelist and screenwriter.
 Rodarte: Rodarte: A California Art and Design Language
Thursday, March 13
Kate and Laura Mulleavy, the sisters behind the major fashion label Rodarte, tell their story of success accompanied by scenes from their runway shows.
 Marina Abramović: MAI: Marina Abramović Institute
Wednesday, April 2
Marina Abramović, the “Mother of Performance Art,” discusses the history and goals of her new institute, opening in 2014.
Experimental Crossroads in Latin America
Wednesday, October 2, 2013, 6:30 pm, Remis Auditorium
Free
Featuring: Mari Carmen Ramírez, Wortham Curator of Latin American Art, Director of International Center for the Arts of the Americas, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
For more information, visit mfa.org/programs/lecture/experimental-crossroads-latin-america
Acclaimed curator and scholar Mari Carmen Ramírez delivers the inaugural lecture of a new series of conversations on Latin American art. Ramírez, who redefined the field through her pioneering exhibitions and publications, focuses on a group of 20th-century avant- garde artists who contributed in significant ways to the history of Modernism. In discussing examples such as David Alfaro Siqueiros’ concept of the “cinematographic mural” or Carlos Cruz-Diez’s “color in space and time,” Ramírez underlines how their theoretical and artistic originality questioned prevailing canons and opened up exciting new artistic horizons. Reception will follow.
New Thoughts on Old Things: Four Centuries of Furnishing the Northeast
Friday, October 4, 10 am–5:30 pm, Alfond Auditorium
Free
Featuring: Glenn Adamson, Head of Research, V&A Museum; author, Furniture History: The View from Old England; Tania Batley, E. W. Vaill Patent Chair Manufacturer, Worcester, Massachusetts; Nicole Belolan, Aunt Patty’s Furniture: Adult Cradles and the History of Physical Mobility Impairment in Early America; Louisa Brouwer, “Vanishable Antiques”: The Story of Israel Sack, Inc., and the Building of an American Industry; Ben Colman, Between Memory and Antiquity: The Circulation of Seventeenth-Century Furniture in Eighteenth-Century Plymouth; Philippe Halbert, Noblessein New France: Furnishing the Hôtel de Vaudreuil and the Chateau Saint- Louis 1725-1760; Marissa S. Hershon, The Egyptian Revival in the 1870’s: The Reception Room at Cedar Hill, Warwick, Rhode Island and Jennifer N. Johnson, Patterns of Gentility: Pictorial Needlework Upholstery of Eighteenth-Century Newport
For more information, visit mfa.org/programs/lecture/new-thoughts-old-things-four-centuries-furnishing-northeast
The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Colonial Society of Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Historical Society will co-sponsor a day-long symposium devoted to new scholarly research on the design, production, and circulation of furnishings in New England. Keynote speaker Glenn Adamson, Head of Research at the V&A in London, will be joined by a select group of emerging scholars. This day-long symposium will coincide with the Four Centuries of Massachusetts Furniture—a collaborative of eleven institutions celebrating furniture and furniture-making in Massachusetts.

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Voices of the Qur’an
Wednesday, October 9, 7 pm, Remis Auditorium
Tickets: $15 (members); $18 (nonmembers)
Featuring: Kecia Ali, associate professor, Religion, Boston University; Hiam Alsawalhi, Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center, Roxbury; Mohiuddin Khan, Islamic Center of Boston, Wayland; Kamal Youcef-Toumi, professor, Mechanical Engineering, MIT; and Laura Weinstein, Ananda Coomaraswamy Curator of South Asian and Islamic Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
For more information, visit mfa.org/programs/lecture/voices-quran
Many perceive the Qur’an as a written text, but in fact it has always been primarily a recited oral scripture. After a brief look at the religious and historical background of Qur’anic recitation with professor Kecia Ali of Boston University, three accomplished reciters from the Boston area will give voice to selected passages from the sacred text of Islam.
In Sargent’s Footsteps
Wednesday, October 23, 6:30 pm, Remis Auditorium
Tickets: $15 (members); $18 (nonmembers)
Featuring: Erica Hirshler, Croll Senior Curator of American Paintings, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and Richard Ormond, deputy director, National Portrait Gallery, London—director, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich; author, John Singer Sargent
For more information, visit mfa.org/programs/lecture/sargents-footsteps-conversation
This lecture offers a personal look at John Singer Sargent’s life and art. Richard Ormond, Sargent’s grandnephew and one of the
foremost authorities on the painter and the man, joins the MFA’s Erica Hirshler, co-curator of John Singer Sargent a conversation about Sargent’s watercolors and the people and places they depict.
Shiva, Lord of the Dance: An Ancient Image Born and Re-Born
Wednesday, October 30, 6:30 pm, Remis Auditorium
Tickets: $15 (members); $18 (nonmembers)
Featuring: Richard Blurton, curator, Department of Asia, British Museum
For more information, visit mfa.org/programs/lecture/shiva-lord-dance-ancient-image-born-and-re-born
Watercolors, for
The image of the Hindu god Shvia dancing in a ring of flames is one of the most widely recognized symbols of India. This lecture explains its origins in ancient sculpture and its religious, political and cultural meanings. Today, dancing Shiva has come to stand for India, appearing everywhere from the walls of Hindu temples to the stage of India’s version of Dancing with the Stars.
Sargent’s Sibling Rivalry
Wednesday, November 13, 7 pm, Remis Auditorium
Tickets: $10 (members); $13 (nonmembers)
Featuring: Malcolm Rogers, Ann and Graham Gund Director, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston For more information, visit mfa.org/programs/lecture/sargents-sibling-rivalry
From murals to watercolors, Boston boasts some of Sargent’s greatest masterpieces. Malcolm Rogers tells the story behind the artist’s most ambitious portraits of young women: the Boits, innocent, sheltered and psychologically ambiguous; and the Wyndhams, sophisticated, socially prominent and sexually emancipated. Rogers explores Sargent’s career, his ambitions and frustrations and poses the question: Is Boston’s beloved Boit daughters the greater portrait?
The Monuments Men
two of
Wednesday, November 20, 6:30 pm, Remis Auditorium
Tickets: $15 (members); $18 (nonmembers)
Featuring: Robert Edsel, president and founder, Monuments Men Foundation for the Preservation of Art; author, The Monuments Men and Saving Italy, and Victoria Reed, Monica S. Sadler Curator for Provenance, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
For more information, visit mfa.org/programs/lecture/monuments-men
Monuments men and women, such as James Plaut and Ardelia Hall, began their careers at the Museum of Fine Arts, now a leading institution in World War II-era provenance research. This lecture will feature Robert Edsel, author of The Monuments Men, which is currently being adapted for film by George Clooney and scheduled to release in December 2013.

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Who Is Andy Warhol and Why Is He So Important?
Wednesday, December 4, 7 pm, Remis Auditorium
Tickets: $15 (members); $18 (nonmembers)
Featuring: Joseph D. Ketner, Henry and Lois Foster Chari in Contemporary Art, distinguished curator-in-residence, Emerson College; author
For more information, visit mfa.org/programs/gallery-activities-and-tours/who-andy-warhol-and-why-he-so-important
Joseph D. Ketner, author of three books on Warhol and creator of several Warhol exhibitions, addresses the paradoxical personality of the artist and the essence of his contribution to American art.
Looking Together lectures
Tickets: Four sessions: $100 (members), $125 (nonmembers)
Tickets may be purchased online.
Classes convene at Sharf Visitor Center.
More information available at mfa.org/programs/series/looking-together-0
Visitors see, hear and breathe in new artistic experiences while engaging with the MFA’s galleries and experts. Each seminar-like section is led by a knowledgeable, enthusiastic instructor who guides participants in dialogues about the Museum’s collections and exhibitions.
COURSES
The Middle East: A Mosaic of History, Art and Culture – Afternoon Semester Course
This 10-week journey focuses on the urban centers of the Islamic world and explores the recent cultural history of Cairo, Alexandria, Damascus and more.
 Wednesday, October 3–December 12, except November 27, 1–2:30 pm, Remis Auditorium Tickets: Ten-session course: $200 (members), $250 (nonmembers)
Individual sessions: $25 (members), $30 (nonmembers)
More information available at mfa.org/programs/series/middle-east-mosaic-history-art-and-culture
Remember Flower Power? – Morning or Evening Course
Celebrate the exhibition Hippie Chic by traveling back fifty years to the time when people were feeling groovy and chanting, “Power to the people.” This course covers the politics, art, science and fashion of the time when things were changing—fast.
 Tuesday, October 1–October 22, 10:30 am–Noon, Remis Auditorium or Thursday, October 3–October 24, 7–8:30 pm, Alfond Auditorium Tickets: Four-session course: $100 (members), $120 (nonmembers) Individual sessions: $25 (members), $30 (nonmembers)
More information available at mfa.org/programs/series/remember-flower-power
John Singer Sargent: A Fresh Look – Morning or Evening Course
This three-session course with experts introduces new revelations and ways of looking at the artist’s broad talents, travels and techniques.
 Tuesday, November 5–November 19, 10:30 am–Noon, Remis Auditorium or Thursday, November 7–November 21, 7–8:30 pm, Alfond Auditorium Tickets: Four-session course: $60 (members), $75 (nonmembers) Individual sessions: $25 (members), $30 (nonmembers)
More information available at mfa.org/programs/series/john-singer-sargent-fresh-look CONCERTS
7:30 pm, Remis Auditorium
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Califone
Friday, September 20
Tickets: $16 (members), $20 (nonmembers)
Visit mfa.org/programs/music/califone for more information
Califone visits the MFA with a thick spectrum of sound and great songs. With special guest Richard Buckner.
Angel Olsen
Friday, October 4
Tickets: $13 (members), $16 (nonmembers)
Visit mfa.org/programs/music/angel-olsen for more information
Angel Olsen visits the MFA for an evening with her unforgettable voice. “Her palette is a mixture of the great, lost singer Connie Converse…Bill Callahan’s terrific and unsettling ability to shift between dourness and comfort and Nina Nastasia’s graceful lope”— Pitchfork.
The Blow
Thursday, October 10
Tickets: $16 (members), $20 (nonmembers)
Visit mfa.org/programs/music/blow for more information
This spectacular electronic pop duo returns to the MFA after a long-awaited return to recording and performing.
NEC Millennium Gospel Choir
Friday, December 21
Saturday, December 22, 2 pm
Tickets: $20 (members), $25 (nonmembers)
Visit mfa.org/programs/music/nec-millennium-gospel-choir or mfa.org/programs/music/nec-millennium-gospel-choir-0 for more information
200 voices embody the holiday spirit with their “ability to sound reverent, even tender…riveting”—The Boston Globe.
SPECIAL EVENTS
Museum of Fine Arts—Boston Lyric Opera Signature Series
The Magic Flute Variations
Sunday, September 22, 2 pm, Remis Auditorium
Tickets: BLO subscribers, MFA members, seniors and students $18; nonmembers $22. Bravo reception with BLO presenters: add $50 per person. Attendees save 15 percent on tickets to BLO’s shows.
For more information, visit mfa.org/programs/music/magic-flute-variations
Mozart’s The Magic Flute has been popular since its raucous premier in 1791, inspiring numerous plays, novels, poems, films, and parodies over the years. The popular tale has been set in Alaska, outer space and the trenches of WWI. Sample excerpts from the original opera and its variations, and renew your pleasure in Mozart’s most truly magical work. Featuring performances by Jennifer Ellis, Patrick Shea and BLO artists.
Lizzie Borden Took an Axe
Sunday, November 3, 2 pm, Remis Auditorium
Tickets: BLO subscribers, MFA members, seniors, and students $18; nonmembers $22. Bravo reception with BLO presenters: add $50 per person. Attendees save 15 percent on tickets to BLO’s shows.
For more information, visit mfa.org/programs/music/lizzie-borden-took-axe

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On a stifling, hot August day in 1892, Fall River became the site of the most sensational and controversial crime scene in U.S. history. Viewers experience a dramatic re-creation and re-telling drawn from trial testimony, newspaper accounts, personal recollections and music excerpted from Jack Beeson’s charged and theatrically vivid operatic evocation of the murderous Lizzie. Featuring performances by Will Lebow and BLO artists.
She Who Tells a Story
A Discussion with Artists
Sunday, September 29, 10:30 am–4 pm, Remis Auditorium
Tickets: $35 (members), $44 (nonmembers)
For more information, visit mfa.org/programs/lecture/she-who-tells-story
This daylong discussion explores contemporary photography in Iran and the Arab world. Estrellita Karsh introduces distinguished speaker Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan, followed by a day of conversations with some of the region’s outstanding women photographers. Their work, on view in the exhibition She Who Tells a Story, continues to gain recognition internationally and ranges from engaging contemporary portraiture to new documentary.
Hear from the artists themselves, who come from Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Morocco, East Jerusalem, and Yemen. These photographers share insights into their powerful, provocative works and speak about their backgrounds, experiences and their approach to photography in the dynamic, fast-changing worlds they have documented.
This remarkable day ends by exploring the exhibition and speaking with the artists about their work. Participants include: Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan, Kristen Gresh, Estrellita and Yousuf Karsh Assistant Curator of Photographs, Jananne Al-Ani, Boushra Almutawakel, Gohar Dashti, Rana El Nemr, Shadi Ghadirian, Rula Halawani, Nermine Hammam, Rania Matar and Newsha Tavakolian.
An Afternoon with Proust
Sunday, November 10, 1:30–4 pm, Remis Auditorium
Tickets for both programs: $31 (members), $38 (nonmembers)
For more information, visit mfa.org/programs/series/afternoon-proust
This day is spent immersed in the world of Marcel Proust. Lecture—The Art in Proust, 1:30 pm
Tickets: $15 (members), $18 (nonmembers)
Performance—The Music in Proust: The Search for Vinteuil, 3 pm
Tickets: $18 (members), $22 (nonmembers)
Madeleines available for purchase at Taste Cafe and Wine Bar, 11 am-4:30 pm.
Made in the Shade: Sargent’s Watercolors of Italian Villa Gardens
Sunday, December 8, 2 pm, Remis Auditorium
Tickets: $10 (members), $13 (nonmembers)
For more information, visit mfa.org/programs/lecture/made-shade-sargents-watercolors-italian-villa-gardens
Teresa Carbone, co-curator of John Singer Sargent Watercolors, follows Sargent’s footsteps through some of Italy’s most beautiful and renowned Renaissance and Baroque gardens. She explains how the artist selected his subjects, where he stood when painting them and what he chose to edit out.
Watercolor Beginner, Adult Studio Art Classes
Wednesday, September 25–December 4 (excluding November 27), 10:15 am–12:45 pm, 3rd floor studios More information available at mfa.org/programs/studio-art-class/w2-f-watercolor-beginner-adult-1
Tickets: $240 (members), $285 (nonmembers)

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This adult studio art class explores the expressive potential of the medium: study color, composition, form and transparency, and techniques such as washes, wet-in-wet, dry brush and color mixing. The class includes gallery visits, group discussions and guidance in developing personal imagery.
Watercolor All Levels, Adult Studio Art Classes
Wednesday, September 25–December 4 (excluding November 27), 6:30–9 pm, 3rd floor studios More information available at mfa.org/programs/studio-art-class/w3-f-watercolor-all-levels-adult-1 Tickets: $240 (members), $285 (nonmembers)
This adult studio art class allows students to discover the potential of the medium while exploring color, composition, form and light. Advanced students work from still life, landscape and personal imagery.
Five-Week Intro to Watercolor, Adult Studio Art Classes
Thursday, September 26–October 24, 6:30–9 pm, 3rd floor studios
More information available at mfa.org/programs/studio-art-class/w4-f-new-five-week-intro-watercolor-adult Thursday, October 31–December 5 (excluding November 28), 6:30–9 pm, 3rd floor studios
More information available at mfa.org/programs/studio-art-class/w5-f-new-five-week-intro-watercolor-adult Tickets: $140 (members), $175 (nonmembers)
The course teaches the fundamental skills for painting in watercolor, starting with beginner’s techniques and developing essential skills in this beginner class. Participants explore the expressive potential of the medium: study color, composition, form and transparency, and learn techniques such as washes, wet-in-wet, dry brush and color mixing.
Watercolor with Friends: One-night Workshop, Adult Studio Art Classes
Thursday, October 17, 2013, 6:30–9 pm, Druker Family Pavilion
More information available at mfa.org/programs/studio-art-class/wk1-f-watercolor-friends-one-night-workshop-adult Thursday, October 31, 2013, 6:30–9 pm, Druker Family Pavilion
More information available at mfa.org/programs/studio-art-class/wk2-f-watercolor-friends-one-night-workshop-adult Thursday, November 14, 2013, 6:30–9 pm, Druker Family Pavilion
More information available at mfa.org/programs/studio-art-class/wk3-fwatercolor-friends-one-night-workshop-adult Tickets: $35 (members), $50 (nonmembers)
This evening workshop begins with a visit to the exhibition John Singer Sargent Watercolors then offers visitors the chance to try this artistic medium. The instructor discusses Sargent’s unconventional approach to watercolor, focusing on how he combined delicate washes of color and bold, dense strokes of the brush to create his dazzling effects. The second hour features a watercolor demonstration.
The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), is recognized for the quality and scope of its encyclopedic collection, which includes an estimated 450,000 objects. The Museum’s collection is made up of: Art of the Americas; Art of Europe; Contemporary Art; Art of Asia, Oceania, and Africa; Art of the Ancient World; Prints, Drawings, and Photographs; Textile and Fashion Arts; and Musical Instruments. Open seven days a week, the MFA’s hours are Saturday through Tuesday, 10 a.m. – 4:45 p.m.; and Wednesday through Friday, 10 a.m. – 9:45 p.m. Admission (which includes one repeat visit within 10 days) is $25 for adults and $23 for seniors and students age 18 and older, and includes entry to all galleries and special exhibitions. Admission is free for University Members and youths age 17 and younger on weekdays after 3 p.m., weekends, and Boston Public Schools holidays; otherwise $10. Wednesday nights after 4 p.m. admission is by voluntary contribution (suggested donation $25). MFA Members are always admitted for free. The Museum is closed on New Year’s Day, Patriots’ Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. For more information, visit www.mfa.org or call 617.267.9300. The MFA is located on the Avenue of the Arts at 465 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115.