The Education of the Eyes: 150 Years of Art History at Harvard

In 1874, a letter was written that would quietly change the way art was taught in America. Charles Eliot Norton–writer, critic, and Harvard professor–addressed his colleague, President Charles William Eliot:

“My dear Charles, in a complete scheme of University studies the history of the Fine Arts in their relation to social progress, to general culture, and to literature, should find a place. Too much has been written concerning them from the purely aesthetic side; their more important relations to history and literature have been more or less disregarded. [...] We need to quicken the sense of connection between the present and the past, and see culture as the inheritance–material and moral–that we receive from our predecessors and which we are to transmit to our successors.”

This year, Harvard marks 150 years of teaching art history at the University–the first such program in America and among the earliest in the world. To commemorate this occasion, faculty and students of the Harvard Department of History of Art and Architecture, together with their colleagues in the Harvard Art Museums and the Harvard Fine Arts Library, are producing a documentary film that explores the continuing education of how we learn to see.

The Department of History of Art + Architecture would like to extend its sincere thanks to the following individuals, without whom this film would not have been possible: