by The Harvard Art Museums are located in a single building that feels like one museum. However, there are actually three museums under one roof: the Fogg Museum established in 1895, the Busch-Reisinger Museum established in 1903, and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum established in 1985. The three separate entities, each with their own area of collecting focus, were integrated under one name and location between 2006 and 2014.
The collection includes about 250,000 objects, and has within it many famous names. The museum doesn’t take long to get through, but it packs a punch if you happen to love the Impressionists, like I do.
One famous name is on the outside: I was surprised to see the museum still carrying the Sackler family name as we approached the building. The Sackler family is solidly associated with the Opioid epidemic, especially given their dishonorable marketing practices, and many museums have removed the name from galleries and wings. Apparently Harvard took renaming under consideration but ultimately decided to keep it and “contextualize it.” Uh-huh. (For an excellent and horrifying book on this topic, read Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe. Affiliate link.)
The cover photo is Red Boats, Argenteuil, 1875, Claude Monet.
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