Rose Art Museum

Can’t beat the price for visiting this interesting collection of very modern art. Yep, there was a Lichtenstein and a Warhol, but the rest are artists I am not yet familiar with. Some of the art is quite, uh, minimalistic. I’m not sure what to think of a lit fluorescent light bulb in a plastic bucket when the caption exclaims that it «[alludes] in particular to the dominance of male artists in this field.» So there’s that.
At the moment, there is also on display «1724 Birth of the [see you next Tuesday]» and yes, the title is the actual word that would get my review removed from Unilocal.«This edition groups together 1,724 English synonyms for female genitalia in the form of a glossary.» Um. Okay.
But hey, it’s free and it is certainly interesting.
When you enter Brandeis, turn left.

A nice, albeit small, modern art museum that is definitely worth a visit if you’re in the area. The price is right and they rotate exhibits often enough to keep you coming back every so often.

I am not an art person.
But I like art museums geared towards the general population. I can even say that I am emotionally moved by certain paintings regardless of who paints them.
This art sucks.
And there’s not a lot of it, so it’s a good thing since I only had to walk around the place for 15 minutes to see all the crappy art, but a bad thing since if they had more art, there would be a higher probability that they would have something I like.
Go here if you like art called «Blue and White» where there are two blue half circles on a white background painted on canvas. Or if you like art created by a computer that involves plaster. Just plaster. Globbed at the bottom of a canvas. Go here if you have nothing better on a Saturday afternoon and end up on Brandies’s campus with 15 minutes to burn and need to laugh at silly art that are probably worth thousands (or millions?!).
Two stars because it’s FREE. As it should be.
P. S. One of the two rooms was closed off. I –may– give this place another go and update if it turns out they keep all their good stuff in that room for some reason.

I am so glad that I took the time to visit the Rose Art Museum. I wish that I could have spent more time. This museum is just a gem. Fantastic collection– the abstract expressionism (my personal favorite part of the collection) is just stunning. The photography and the contemproary works are also marvelous. There is just no adequate way to describe what a wonderful museum this is. The building is also beautiful, and they have done a thoughtful and sensitive job organizing and displaying the collection. I can’t wait to go back with my family.

Hans Hoffman collection is quite amazing. Within the time span of a few years you can see his experimentation with various styles — some Kandinsky, Braque, Picasso, Pissaro influences.
The permanent collection is also quite awesome. The Elvis video across 4 screens was fun. My favorite is the piece where the paint is cracking and the curtains are falling out. Reminded me and my friend of old ladies and reflections of life.
I was really quite amazed at the breadth of the collection, especially for a gallery affiliated with a small college. Not quite Yale’s gallery, but not far behind. A little bit of everything for everyone, from oldschool to newschool, modern, abstract, performance, and traditional ‘art.’

great, great! amazing collection!
and yes, anyone may make an appointment if the contact the registrar

I really like the Rose. They get some really cool contemporary exhibits. I recently saw a video installation, which corresponded with the university’s academic examination of surveillance. It included a Warhol piece and some lesser known video artists. Sure, video art can seem a little snobby and full of itself, but I find it interesting. They also invited a curator from the Whitney to give a talk about the exhibit. I felt like I learned something! And i don’t think I care if it’s full of itself, I guess I like contemporary art.
Even if you have no affiliation with Brandeis, you should check out the Rose. It’s got quite a respectable permanent collection and keep an eye on their website for the special exhibitions, some truly amazing pieces visit here. They often have artists and academics give talks on the works as well, which is really beneficial for me, since I don’t always «get it.»

Up until recently, The Rose was New England’s best kept secret. Having hosted brilliant collaborative shows, featuring some of the biggest names and brightest up-​and-​comers, the museum was something students could feel proud about. However, unfortunately due to a massive change in administration, the playful zeal that once infused the gallery has dissipated. The departure of The Rose’s curator has left this season’s exhibitions boring and uninspired. Pretentious video art has been intermittently plaguing the Lee and Foster galleries, courtesy of the current director. It seems as if, for the time being, the powers that be have chosen to erm, focus their demographic. And boy, has it been focused.
One can only hope (and with good reason) that a sophorific reign of pseudo-​curatorial tyranny can only last for so long. So if you’re on the Brandeis campus, there’s no harm in peeking in. You’ll find a beautiful space with oodles of potential begging to be rediscovered.

Woohooo Rose Art! I definitely did not spend enough time here, and I’m pretty much sure I spent more time here than most people at the Deis. What a great spot with some great art. Also, little known secret: because they have so little room for their collection, if you want to see a specific painting or three, you can make an appointment and they’ll pull them out for you to look at! How cool is that???
And of course the student rental bit, as Arnab pointed out… except I didn’t live on campus much and couldn’t take advantage!

I tend to like museums even though I cannot spend hours on end in one, but «The Rose» has a special place in my heart because it is at Brandeis and I walked by it a handful of times everyday on my way to and from classes and other college endeavors. For one, it is one of the prettier buildings on campus, and they have some pretty cool exhibits every so often, and have an excellent collection of art, most of which is not on display because they don’t have the space. That’s why they have this AWESOME deal where students living on campus could «rent» a painting from the Rose for $ 10/​academic year (i.e. fall through spring) for their rooms. Obviously not all their art was up for renting but a pretty good selection of it was. They also opened it up to social events involving alcohol and hors d’œuvre which was always fun. Extra, extra points for the curator to lend us the main gallery at the Rose for the South Asian Students Association’s cultural show (Mela) after-​party when I was the president of the club, in 2004, and did it rock or what!!! If I ever get my arse back at Brandeis, I’ll be sure to drop by…

Everything in the rotating exhibits at the Rose is of a high quality. The collection, which we don’t get to see a whole lot of, contains some great 20^th century American art. It’s a very small, but pretty slick museum, and you can easily digest its contents in an hour or two. There’s going to be a renovation and expansion soon.

I may be a little biased, as a Brandeis alum, in favor of the Rose Art Museum. Still, it’s regarded as one of the best modern art museums in New England even by non-​Brandeisians, so you should probably check it out. The three small gallery spaces host a variety of rotating contemporary art exhibits, typically changing at least once a semester, so you can keep coming back.
The Rose Art collection features thousands of pieces by both up-​and-​coming new artists and old famous dudes like Rembrandt and Andy Warhol. Of the exhibits we saw this weekend, one was a feature of works from the Rose collection designed by the museum curators, and another was part of the «Paper Trail» series, in which a modern artist designs an exhibit of both their own work and a selection of the Rose’s collected works on paper. I can’t say I was impressed by Margaret Evangeline’s heel-​marks on styrofoam, but she chose nice pieces from the archive.
The best of the three, however, was Clare Rojas’s «Hope Springs Eternal» installation. The upper floor of the museum has a grand mural of her work, and the lower floor of the gallery features many small paintings plus sculpture of… um… little penises peeing into the museum’s fountain pool. Rojas has a lot of male nudes in her work, prompting the Rose to issue a little warning sign outside the museum about the nudity contained within the current exhibit. This is pretty lame when you realize that a comparable amount of female nudity probably wouldn’t have raised any eyebrows in the art world. I was thoroughly entertained by the whimisical nudes with their drooping genitals and bristling facial hair. This exhibit runs through April 1, 2007.
If you’re in Waltham and have a spare hour for art appreciation, definitely pay the Rose a visit.

Ok, yes i used to work here, yrs ago, but i can still review it — can’t i? this is a small museum, but very well regarded nonetheless. the exhibits are continually rotating within their 3 (i think 3 with the addition) galleries. it’s free, so that’s great. they have some of their own art and then have special artist exhibitions come in. all contemporary and modern art. going here (before i even worked there) helped give me a love for modern art. this is located on the brandeis university campus, but is a real museum and you need to see it.

I was forced to come here on two occasions for classes at Brandeis. I was glad each time. I’m open to modern art but sometimes, I just cringe. The Rose Art Museum seems to have captured modern art well, in a tasteful and comprehensive manner. They have many pieces from the 50’s and the 60’s. When I visited there was an exhibition by an artist using traditional Chinese styles of painting to display the tragedies the 3 Gorges Dam will bring upon completion. I also saw a compelling video of sketches done in the most creative way of continually sketching and erasing each frame about the AIDS epidemic in South Africa. They are continually rotating their exhibits which is refreshing for Brandeis students and faculty for whom admission is free. I definitely recommend popping into this tiny museum for a charismatic splash of contemporary modern art.