Up Close Tour: Artists as Inventors, Inventors as Artists at Boston Athenaeum

Up Close Tour: Artists as Inventors, Inventors as Artists

Up Close Tours encourage visitors to look closely at materials from the Athenæum’s rich collections and consider them within a particular context.

Samuel Morse, the artist who painted the Athenæum’s portrait of James Monroe, invented the electric telegraph. George M. Dexter, one of the architects of the Boston Athenæum’s home at 10½ Beacon Street, invented a new way to heat building. Boston Athenæum Docent Scott Guthery will explore the interaction of art and science as illustrated in patents granted to Athenæum artists and members during this 30-minute tour.