Photopost: A Visit to the MFA, part nine: Matisse, McCloskey, & Botticelli

On my latest visit to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, I visited three special exhibitions of art by three very different artists: Henri Matisse, Robert McCloskey, and Sandro Botticelli.

The Matisse exhibit paired many objects from his studio featured in his art with the art that captured the moods, shapes, and colors of those objects.  The McCloskey exhibit is small but features delightful studies and sketched of illustrations for books such as Make Way for Ducklings, Blueberries for Sal, and Burt Dow: Deep Water Man. The Botticelli exhibit brings together many works of art rarely seen outside of Europe while in charming parochial way also celebrating “Boston Botticelli” by bringing in works from the MFA, Gardner Museum, and Harvard Art Museums.  The exhibit also includes works by Filippo Lippi (Botticelli’s teacher) and Filippino Lippi (Filippo’s son and Botticelli’s student).

Here are some of my favorite works.

Bouquet of flowers in a chocolate pot, 1902

A nude sculpture in front of four studies of a nude

Three sculptures: Head of Jeanette I, Head of Jeanette III, and Head of Jeanette V

Odalisque on a Turkish Chair, 1928

Interior with Egyptian Curtain, 1943

Mimosa, 1949-51

Sal and bear cub (studies for Blueberries of Sal), about 1948

Study for Make Way for Ducklings

Virgin and Child (Madonna of the Book), about 1478-80

Minerva and the Centaur, about 1482

Christ Crucified, about 1488

Virgin and Child with Saint John the Baptist, about 1500

Previous visits:

• part one
• part two
• part three
• part four
• part five
• part six
• part seven
• part eight