Comparing Across Time and Culture

Comparing Across Time and Culture is a four-session Looking Together program at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Led by Barbara T. Martin, Alfond Curator Emerita of Education, the program uses close looking and comparison to examine how artists, styles, historical periods, and cultures differ and connect.

The fall MFA exhibitions and installations provide the basis for discussions about clay and metal vessels and American beliefs from the Maya to the Jazz Age; painted depictions of the heroic stories of the Hindu Rama and the Greek Odysseus; and the relationship between abstraction and representation in 20th-century paintings and artists’ books.

When: Thursdays, November 5–December 3, 2026

Showtimes: 10:30 am–12:00 pm

Schedule: Sessions occur on November 5, November 12, November 19, and December 3. There is no session on November 26.

Venue: Jean S. and Frederic A. Sharf Visitor Center, 130.10, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Tickets: Members, $128; nonmembers, $160

Ticket requirement: Tickets are required and must be purchased before the first session. Individual sessions are not available.

Run time: Each session lasts approximately 90 minutes.

Instructor: Barbara T. Martin, Alfond Curator Emerita of Education

Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.

Ticket purchase: Tickets may be ordered by phone at 1-800-440-6975, with a $6 processing fee, or purchased in person at any MFA ticket desk.