Does anyone have any information on obtaining tickets for this exhibition -- it is open to non-members at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts from May 23 - September 26. Would really like to go in early/mid August and prefer driving up, taking subway in rather than doing a hotel/ticket pkg.

Any websites with more info than the Museum's one? Are tickets obtainable? etc. etc.
Thanks.

Iwas just at MFA this past weekend, and while there were posters for the Sargeant show, there was no ticket sale information. By contrast, the Cassatt exhibition had timed ticket sales starting several months in advance. This probably means that Sargeant will not be a separate admission, though not a certainty.

As Sargeant is still open at the National Gallery, it is unlikely to open at MFA this weekend.

Marion,
I just recieved a mailing from the MFA regarding the Sargent exhibit. Admission will be by timed ticket only (just like the Cassatt exhibition). Unless you can buy advanced tickets in person, you must call NEXT Ticketing at (617) 542-4MFA (4632) which takes calls 24 hr. per day. It says the MFA can no take any mail or phone orders (only walk-ins). It says tickets will be issued for every hour and half hour only. It opens to the public on June 27th and runs through Sept. 26th, but there are preview days for members as well. I hope this helps you.

Here's what I found in my mailbox yesterday evening from MFA:

The exhibition opens June 27 and runs through September 26. Viewing hours are 10 a.m. - 3:30 p.m Monday and Tuesday; 10 a.m. - 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday; 10:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Admission, as Ann notes above, will be by timed ticket, with NEXT Ticketing handling orders at the number Ann cited.

If you are a member (and if you go to MFA more than twice a year, it makes sense to be a member), you're entitled to between two and six free tickets, and can see the exhbit in preview June 22 - 26. In addition, the 10-11 a.m. period on Friday is a members-only viewing time.

I saw the Sargent exhibit in Washington, and it is a knockout; MFA promises to add several other pieces that did not go to London or Washington and, of course, to add the vases that appear in "The Daughters of Edward Boit." The other draw specific to Boston is the restoration of Sargent's ceiling murals in the Old Rotunda of the museum.

The Cassatt exhibit sold out for weekends very quickly, my sense is that Sargent will do the same.

This is wonderful, just what I wanted to find out -- strange this info is not on the museum web site.

Thanks, again -- I posted this thank you yesterday also, but it didn't appear.

Marion

For all who are interested: I picked up tickets yesterday evening for the John Singer Sargent retrospective at MFA. The good news is that great tickets are available; I got 9 a.m. Saturday morning (an hour before the rest of the museum opens) for opening week and for a Sunday morning later in the show's run.

The bad news is price: $15 per ticket for weekdays, $17.50 for weekends for non-members. Because a dual membership at MFA is $80, the four free tickets you get as a member just about pay for the membership. (But, as the person behind the ticket counter told me, it's still cheaper and more fun than watching the Red Sox blow another season.)

I just wanted to add one thing to what Neal said about MFA memberships. This year, the MFA had 3 shows that required special tickets, so your $80 membership actually provided 4 tickets each to Monet, Cassatt, and Sargent. Definitely worthwhile!

I went to the Sargent exhibition last evening. Wow.

Superbly curated, intelligently hung. You don't need the headset to guide you, as virtually all of the paintings offer commentary, some of it quite lengthy.

The Boston venue appears to have added a few minor paintings and some outstanding watercolors that weren't in Washington; together with some preparatory sketches for the Boston Public Library murals (which add little to an appreciation of Sargent's genius). "Gassed", the massive World War I mural, has been placed much more dramatically than in Washington, so that it can be viewed from a sufficient distance to take in the entire work.

Curiously, the museum didn't add the massive Chinese vases to "The Daughters of Edward Darly Boit." It isn't like they don't have an elevator to bring them up from where ever they're being stored. (MFA, which owns both the painting and the vases, customarily brackets the painting with the vases.)

And Lady Agnew has never looked more beautiful. The show runs through September.

I also saw the exhibit this past weekend. I just wanted to add that for people who have tickets for a sunday, there is a free 1/2 hour slide show/lecture at 1:00 each sunday that we found very much worth seeing. The curator pointed out several things that really added to our enjoyment and appreciation of the exhibit.