The special exhibition A Feast for the Eyes features some of the most beautiful still life, landscape, and banquet scenes of the “Golden Age.” The works reflect the growing power of the middle class in this time period, the impact of maritime trade, the desire to capture images of luxury and abundance in art, and the emergence of the art market, along with a number of subtle “hidden” symbolic meanings to be discovered.  This lecture, hosted by the MFA’s Collectors Circle, will bring new light to the splendid banquet pieces in the special exhibition.

Dr. Yao-Fen You is Senior Curator and Head of Product Design and Decorative Arts at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. Prior to joining the Cooper Hewitt in February of this year, she was Associate Curator of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts at the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA). Her exhibition credits include “Bitter Sweet: Coffee, Tea & Chocolate” (2016)-the DIA’s first exhibition to engage all five senses- and “Designed for Convenience: Tableware from the DIA (2011). A frequent author and invited speaker, Dr. You’s publications and lectures reflect her diverse expertise in European polychrome sculpture, the history of collecting and art markets, the art of dining, and Northern European decorative arts.

Free with Museum Admission

Image Credit:  Floris Claesz. van Dyck, Dutch, 1575-1651,  Banquet Still Life, Oil on oak panel, Grasset Collection