| Article Index |
|---|
| The Essence of Ecstasy |
| Fogg Art Museum |
| Eternal Idol by Auguste Rodin |
| All Pages |
Fogg Art Museum
Harvard University Art Museums
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA 02138
The Fogg Museum, where you will find the Rodin sculpture shown here, is one of a number of museums associated with Harvard University and one of the gems of Cambridge and Metro Boston that is not as much visited nor as popular as the other more publicized museums in the Metro Boston area. 
If you ever come to Boston though, make sure to visit the Fogg Museum and the Busch-Reisinger Museum also in the same building. Actually, if you are not connected with Harvard, a single ticket would get you to all the museums associated wtih Harvard. I guarantee you, a day is not enough to visit all of them, if you take the time to really look and enjoy what you are viewing.
If you cannot afford the entrance fee of $9 for adults, they have free visiting hours on Saturdays if you come between 10am-12noon. Of course, you can stay until closing time that day. Personally, it is best to take art in small doses, and take the time to enjoy viewing and reading the bits of information provided, if any.
There is such a thing "art fatigue", ie., viewing too much beauty in a single dose -- as I have experienced when I was at the Louvre. I visited it twice in two summers that I have been there, and in both occasion, it just got overwhelming -- there is too much to see in a day.
Take pictures of the art that you like, then go to the nearby Harvard Bookstore (not associated with Harvard), browse and read more about art from the books available. The staff won't bother you***; and in fact, they encourage it by actually unwrapping these expensive coffee table books to entice their customers to read and sample things. The variety and scope of the subjects presented excel over what are offered by the national chain bookstores, e.g., Barnes and Nobles, Borders, have to offer -- at least the ones I have seen locally, in New York, or the ones I visited during breaks in my trips in Europe.
After this, if you wish to know more, go home check the internet to get more information about the art or artist you discovered What you will realize is that if you truly love art, you will not get tired viewing the original work again. In fact, you will come to love it more, the second time around, or the succeeding visits in the future.
You and the artist have become intimate friends, sharing the work of art as a common bond.
At least, that was how I learned to appreciate many works of art, even if I did not have any formal art education. I especially like a work of art more after I have learned more about the artist -- to understand what he was striving for, his vision and his own life. What you will find is they are not much different from us. Except perhaps that each is driven by a greater desire to share a vision with the world, each has their strengths as well as weaknesses, some even with skeletons -- a human being.
Cornelio
N.B.
***As a result, Harvard Bookstore has many loyal customers that earned the Harvard Bookstrore the National Bookstore commendation by the independent bookstore association or something. Because of its loyal customers, Harvard Bookstore has thrived, while many independent bookstores have failed including many in the Harvard Square area that used to have at least 17 bookstores in the small area around Harvard.