Martin Johnson Heade, Passion Flowers and Hummingbirds , about 1870–83, oil on canvas, 15 ½ x 21 5/8 in, Courtesy of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Gift of Maxim Karolik for the M. and M. Karolik Collection of American Paintings.
Nature Illuminated: Landscapes and Still Lifes by Heade and his Contemporaries
February 6 – June 5, 2016
Martin Johnson Heade was one of the most varied and inventive painters of the late nineteenth century and unique in devoting equal time to landscape, marine, and still life subjects. Drawn from the Museum of Fine Arts Boston’s preeminent collection of Heade’s work, this exhibition will present the artist’s great creative range. Heade created evocative marsh scenes and powerful canvases of dramatic thunderstorms at sea that established him as a landscapist. At the same time, he produced scintillating Victorian flower still lifes and exquisite studies of South American hummingbirds, explorations that would culminate in the extraordinary, wholly original combination of the jewel-like birds with lush, tropical orchids.
A Tangled Plot: Works by Annie Blazejack and Geddes Levenson
July 12–October 5, 2025
The Summer 2025 exhibition at the VBMA will showcase 42 paintings and mixed media works by the collaborative duo Annie Blazejack and Geddes Levenson. Blazejack earned her MFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston at Tufts University, while Levenson received her MFA from the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. Their work spans various media and reflects their shared focus on the environment and their upbringing in Miami, Florida.
Timeless: Robert Farber’s Fashion Photography
February 10–August 31, 2025
The works featured in Timeless are drawn from two major bodies of work: Robert Farber’s Vintage Fashion series, captured during commercial shoots, and the Deterioration series, which consists of prints from his earlier fashion photography.