Boston Flora

Tag: Museum of Fine Arts Boston

  • Sunday, March 15 – Sunday, June 28 – Framing Nature: Gardens and Imagination

    A plot of land, a relaxing retreat, a formal landscape, a place of constant labor: gardens can carry a range of associations, especially in the world of art. Framing Nature: Gardens and Imagination brings together art from across the MFA’s global collection to explore striking similarities and differences across time and place.

    Visitors can see both beloved favorites and previously unseen masterpieces, all centering the garden as a fertile place for human creativity and imaginative possibility. Works ranging from wall-sized tapestries and intricately detailed Chinese scrolls give the illusion of garden spaces. Modern and contemporary prints, drawings, photographs, and paintings bring visitors on an immersive journey through a variety of cultivated and natural worlds. Visitors can look at how we relate to the outdoors, shape garden spaces through cultivation, care, and labor, and express this universal human impulse through art.

    Framing Nature coincides with the 50th anniversary of Art in Bloom—a beloved tradition that takes place at the MFA every spring. Reserve tickets at https://www.mfa.org/exhibition/framing-nature-gardens-and-imagination

  • Now through Sunday, December 7 – Rachel Ruysch Exhibit

    At the intersection of art and science, the still life paintings of Rachel Ruysch (1664–1750) present an extraordinary variety of plants, reptiles, and insects. Though she achieved great success in her lifetime, Ruysch’s work was largely overlooked in the centuries following her death and has not been the subject of a major exhibition—until now. Rachel Ruysch: Artist, Naturalist, and Pioneer at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), is the first-ever retrospective dedicated to the artist, tracing the full arc of her seven-decade career.

    The exhibition presents 35 of Ruysch’s finest paintings—some being shown to the public for the first time— alongside plant and insect specimens from Harvard University’s Herbarium and Museum of Comparative Zoology. Ruysch’s paintings of species imported from Dutch colonial territories revolutionized the genre of still lifes while reflecting the intertwined histories of exploitation, resource extraction, and colonial expansion. The exhibition also includes works by other women artists including her sister Anna Ruysch, Maria Sibylla Merian, and Alida Withoos. Together, these works reveal how women advanced scientific knowledge in Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries.

    The exhibition was curated by Anna Knaap, Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Curator of Paintings, Art of Europe, with guidance for the scientific content from Charles Davis, Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University and Curator of Vascular Plants in the Harvard University Herbaria.

    For complete information, and to reserve tickets, visit https://www.mfa.org/press-release/rachel-ruysch-artist-naturalist-and-pioneer. The show closes December 7, so plan now.

  • Friday, May 2 – Sunday, May 4 – Art in Bloom 2025

    Celebrate spring’s arrival with Art in Bloom at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston! This beloved event showcases the expertise of New England garden clubs, professional designers, and MFA floral volunteers, who create interpretive arrangements inspired by artworks from the collection. Enjoy dozens of bold arrangements throughout the building, along with special events, guided tours, dining, and shopping. This year’s event takes place May 2 – May 4 during Museum hours. Specific lectures and workshops may be found at https://www.mfa.org/event/special-event/art-in-bloom. Highlights include Sandra Sigman Master Classes on Saturday, May 3 at 10:30 am and 1:30 pm (members $300, nonmembers $325), a Member Night on Saturday May 3 from 6 – 10, and a community installation with Jimmy Guzman all weekend, which allows visitors to assist him as he builds botanical pieces in Gallery 168.

  • Friday, April 26 – Sunday, April 28 – Art in Bloom

    We are thrilled to announce that Art in Bloom returns to the MFA’s galleries on Friday, April 26, 2024! You won’t want to miss these beautiful interpretive floral arrangements of 45 artworks. Enjoy the creativity of many talented volunteer and professional floral designers. Preview Day is Thursday, April 25. Tickets and group tour reservations are available now at https://www.mfa.org/event/special-event/art-in-bloom

  • Saturday, September 16, 11:00 am – Floral Design: Essentials for Arranging

    Join Lorraine Walsh and Mary Lou Ashur from Artistry Floral at the Massachusetts Horticultural Society Gardens at Elm Bank on September 16 at 11 am to create your own floral display to take home or give away.

    Do you want to see your rooms featured in Elle Décor or House Beautiful magazines? The “essentials for arranging” is for you. Together we will look at some of the characteristics of American Tradition Design and explore how the Elements of Design dictate patterns and shapes.  This class is good for beginners with no flower experience necessary but will also allow the experienced arranger a deeper exploration into naturalistic forms and patterns.

    In 2016, Lorraine Walsh and Mary Lou Ashur met as floral associates at the Museum of Fine Arts, in Boston. There, studying fundamentals of floristry and working in teams, they designed and executed a variety of art-inspired floral arrangements for certain museum locations as well as restaurants, special events, and holiday installations. Now in the marketplace, they are committed to producing artistic floral creations, using only the highest quality flowers and plants, from local growers and flower producers around the world.

    They are also focused on sustainable floral design and eco-friendly floral purchases from wearables to table arrangements, bouquets, and large installations They are inspired to produce arrangements that are unique and designed to honor their clients’ significant events respecting their individual styles while sourcing seasonal flowers and respecting the environment. 

    Please bring floral scissors and a bucket or box to carry home your arrangement. $75. Register at www.masshort.org

  • Wednesday, April 26, 6:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Muddy River Restoration Project Annual Meeting

    Join the MMOC and the Muddy River Cabinet for Public Oversight Reimagined on Wednesday evening, April 26th. This Annual Meeting will coincide with the near completion of the historic Restoration Project—and the birthday of visionary landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted. Venue: The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. For details email info@muddyrivermmoc.org or click HERE.

  • Wednesday, April 29 and Wednesday, May 6, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm – The Garden in Art and Art in the Garden

    Gardens have been important to us since ancient times, so it isn’t surprising that artists have represented gardens in many symbolic ways. Exploring representations in both western and eastern art, this two-session Museum of Fine Arts Looking Together on April 29 and May 6 from 1 – 2:30 pm considers the symbiosis of art and gardens over time. Led by adjunct instructor Deborah Stein, tickets are $64 for MFA members and $80 for nonmembers, and must be purchased in advance at www.mfa.org, or by phone at 1-800-440-6975 (additional $6 processing fee), or at the ticket desk at the Museum. We are posting this announcement early because spaces are limited and tend to sell out quickly.

  • Sunday, November 17, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Laura Dowling: Inspiring Holiday Decor

    As chief floral designer at the White House for six years under President Barack Obama, Laura Dowling was a creative mastermind behind the lavish White House holiday season, working with First Lady Michelle Obama and an extraordinary group of volunteers to create holiday magic. In this November 17 Museum of Fine Arts Boston lecture and floral demonstration, Dowling shares her tips, techniques, and inspiration for creating her favorite White House holiday designs—from Thanksgiving table settings to festive wreaths, trees, and garlands.

    The lecture, in the Remis Auditorium, begins at 1 pm. Book signing to follow in the MFA Bookstore.  $48 MFA members, $60 nonmembers. To order tickets by phone, call 1-800-440-6975 ($6 processing fee applies); to order in person, visit any MFA ticket desk. To order on line, visit www.mfa.org.

    This event is presented in partnership with the MFA Associates. 

  • Friday, April 26, 3:00 pm – 10:00 pm, and Saturday, April 27 – Monday, April 29, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm – Art in Bloom

    Celebrate the return of spring with Art in Bloom, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston’s annual festival of fine art and flowers.

    Enjoy art from across the MFA’s collection paired with magnificent floral interpretations. Daily events include tours of arrangements throughout the galleries; flower-arranging demonstrations; informal dining among European paintings at the Art in Bloom Café; and outdoor walking tours.

    Art in Bloom launches with a Preview of freshly installed arrangements on Friday, April 26 from 3 to 10 pm. The popular Member Night is Saturday, April 27, and Community Day with children’s activities is Sunday, April 28.

    Browse the MFA Art in Bloom Market and Garden Cart for unique gifts and treasures.

    Special guest speaker Remco van Vliet demonstrates creative techniques for designing spectacular arrangements from classic to contemporary. Tickets and reservations for lecture, classes, and group tours go on sale February 28, 2019.

    Art in Bloom is sponsored by Wilmington Trust. Supporting Sponsor is Fitch Law Partners. Art in Bloom Community Day is sponsored by Arbella Insurance Foundation.

  • Through February 24 – Ansel Adams in Our Time

    Ansel Adams in Our Time traces the iconic visual legacy of Ansel Adams (1902–1984), presenting some of his most celebrated prints, from a symphonic view of snow-dusted peaks in The Tetons and Snake River, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming (1942) to an aerial shot of a knotted roadway in Freeway Interchange, Los Angeles (1967). The Museum of Fine Arts exhibition looks both backward and forward in time: his black-and-white photographs are displayed alongside prints by several of the 19th-century government survey photographers who greatly influenced Adams, as well as work by contemporary artists whose modern-day concerns centered on the environment, land rights, and the use and misuse of natural resources point directly to Adams’ legacy. For complete information visit https://www.mfa.org/exhibitions/ansel-adams-in-our-time