Bowdoin College Museum of Art

Parmigianino. Italian, 1503–1540. The Entombment. etching. Gift of David P. Becker, Class of 1970, in honor of Katharine J. Watson (detail)

"We Never See Anything Clearly:" John Ruskin and Landscape Painting

In a New Light: American and European Masters

Making a Presence: F. Holland Day in Artistic Photography

In Dialogue: Art from Bowdoin and Colgate Collections

Current Exhibitions

Michelangelo: Art and Afterlife

December 6 - December 20, 2012
Zuckert Gallery

This student-organized exhibition highlights the influence of Michelangelo's art and the legend of his character in the years after his death. Reproductive prints by Renaissance artists, images of Michelangelo, and drawings that emulate his style comprise the show. Viewers are offered a pithy example of how Michelangelo made his mark on more than the Sistine Chapel.
Organized by students in Associate Professor of Art History Susan Wegner's seminar, AH 324: "Art and Life of Michelangelo."

Printmaking ABC: In Memoriam David P. Becker

November 15, 2012 - March 24, 2013

This selection of masterly prints from Albrecht Dürer and Rembrandt to David Hockney and Sol LeWitt is drawn from the collection of 1,500 prints given and bequeathed by Bowdoin alumnus David Becker. Becker, a former trustee of the College, was an internationally recognized print scholar whose expertise encompassed drawings, illustrated books, and writing manuals. Throughout his life, he collected with the intent to build a comprehensive teaching resource for his alma mater. This exhibition will introduce visitors to the techniques, themes, and stylistic developments of western printmaking since the Renaissance.

Fantastic Stories: The Supernatural in Nineteenth-century Japanese Prints

November 9, 2012 - March 3, 2013

Organized on the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of Asian Studies at Bowdoin College, this exhibition explores themes of the supernatural and otherworldly encounters in Japanese woodblock prints of the nineteenth-century. The show includes forty prints and books, all drawn from the private collection of Cornell University faculty member Dan McKee.

"We Never See Anything Clearly:" John Ruskin and Landscape Painting

October 30 - December 23, 2012
Becker Gallery

John Ruskin (1819-1900), a prominent English art critic of the Victorian era, discussed in his writings possibilities for the reconciliation of two adverse trends in British art of his time: the atmospheric effects that characterize art by J.M.W. Turner and his circle and the heightened detail cherished by the Pre-Raphaelites and their emulators. The exhibition, drawn from the permanent collection, features several of Ruskin's own drawings and those of English and American artists whose struggles with pictorial detail and effect echoed his own.

Simply Divine: Gods and Demigods in the Ancient Mediterranean

Walker Gallery
Opening July 31, 2012

This exhibition explores the nature of divinity in the Ancient Mediterranean, the relationships between gods and the realms they control. The installation organizes around select realms (Eros and Love, Fertility and Nature) and explores the myths and iconography that connect these spheres of divinity. On view are some of Bowdoin's finest examples of Ancient sculpture and pottery, not often seen.

The Renaissance & The Revival of Classical Antiquity

Opening August 1, 2012
Markell Gallery

The Renaissance & the Revival of Classical Antiquity recreates a period in artistic history, pairing the finest examples of Bowdoin's Renaissance holdings alongside classical artifacts.

In a New Light: American and European Masters

Opening August 28, 2012
Bowdoin Gallery

This reinstallation of collection highlights spans the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries, and brings together Bowdoin's famous colonial and federal portraits with the European masters that American patricians cherished.

In Dialogue: Art from Bowdoin and Colgate Collections

Opening August 21, 2012
Boyd Gallery

This installation combines loans from the Picker Art Gallery at Colgate University with key modern artworks from Bowdoin, giving new insight to the permanent collection.

Making a Presence: F. Holland Day in Artistic Photography

September 6 - December 23, 2012

Boston photographer F. Holland Day (1864–1933) first distinguished himself in literary circles as a critic, bibliophile, and co-founder of the progressive publishing firm Copeland and Day. By the turn of the century, he had established an international reputation as a leading Pictorialist photographer and strove to gain acceptance for photography as a fine art. Making a Presence explores the multifaceted persona that Day created in his own art and in photographs taken of him by his peers. Organized by the Addison Gallery of American Art.

Upcoming Exhibitions

Per Kirkeby: Paintings and Sculpture

March 26 - July 14, 2013

Maurice Prendergast: By the Sea

June 29 - October 13, 2013

more Upcoming Exhibitions

View other exhibitions:

News & Events

Museum News

October 18, 2012 NEWS - LECTURE

William Wegman in Conversation on October 18

August 6, 2012 NEWS - PRESS

Reviews and Media Coverage for 'William Wegman: Hello Nature'

July 28-29, 2012 NEWS - PRESS

Wegman Show's Local Flavor Has Global Appeal.

July 27, 2012 NEWS - PRESS

Multimedia: Visiting William Wegman's Maine (New York Times)

June, 2012 NEWS - PRESS

Lesley Vance exhibition reviewed by Art New England, May - June, 2012

April 24, 2012 NEWS - PRESS

Museum's 'Stroke of Luck' Hosting First Solo Lesley Vance Show (Portland Press Herald)

April 24, 2012 NEWS - PRESS

Lesley Vance exhibition reviewed in The Portland Phoenix.

March 2, 2012 NEWS - PRESS

Museum's Dowd, Salatino and Tuite Take New England Art Awards

December 27, 2011 NEWS - PRESS

The Boston Globe reviews After Atget: Todd Webb Photographs New York and Paris

more News

Featured Events

FALL EVENTS 2012

Download a printable Fall Events Schedule
or see the events listed below.

September 6, 2012 - EVENTS - LECTURE
4:30 p.m. - Kresge Auditorium, Visual Arts Center

A Roundtable on A River Lost & Found: The Androscoggin River in Time and Place

September 20, 2012 - EVENTS - LECTURE
7:00 p.m. - Beam Classroom, Visual Arts Center

F. Holland Day and William Wegman: An Unlikely Combination

October 4, 2012 - EVENTS - LECTURE
4:30 p.m. - Kresge Auditorium, Visual Arts Center

Wegman’s Weimaraners and Other Animals in Contemporary Art

October 18, 2012 - EVENTS - LECTURE
4:30 p.m. - Kresge Auditorium, Visual Arts Center

William Wegman in Conversation: Performance, Process, and Early Video Art

October 18, 2012 - EVENTS - OPEN HOUSE
5:30 - 7:00p.m. - Bowdoin College Museum of Art

Bowdoin College Museum of Art Fall Open House

November 15, 2012 - EVENTS - LECTURE
4:30 p.m. - Beam Classroom, Visual Arts Center

From Abject Horror to Witty Play: The Oscillating Modes of the Supernatural in Nineteenth Century Japan

Thursday, November 1, 2012 - EVENTS - LECTURE
4:15 p.m. - Beam Classroom, Visual Arts Center

Truth to Nature: John Ruskin and Landscape Painting 1840s-1870s

more Events

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Museum Hours

Tuesday - Saturday: 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Thursday: 10:00 a.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Sunday: 1:00 - 5:00 p.m.

For the Thanksgiving holiday the Museum will be closed on Wednesday, November 21 and Thursday, November 22. The Museum will reopen on Friday, November 23 at 10:00 a.m., when regular hours resume.

Closed on Mondays and national holidays.

The Bowdoin College Museum of Art is open to the public free of charge, although donations are welcome. The Museum is wheelchair accessible through the Pavilion entrance. Bowdoin College Museum of Art is a member of The Maine Art Museum Trail

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