Exclusive Exhibition: More than 150 Rarely Seen Works from Premier Private Collection
THE MCMULLEN MUSEUM OF ART AT BOSTON COLLEGE PRESENTS
Shadows and Light: Symbolist Art in Belgium; Works from the Hearn Family Trust
On View September 8 through December 6, 2026
CHESTNUT HILL, MA (August 2026) — The McMullen Museum of Art at Boston College will present the exclusive exhibition Shadows and Light: Symbolist Art in Belgium; Works from the Hearn Family Trust, on display from September 8 through December 6 in the Daley Family and Monan Galleries.
The exhibition showcases the most significant private collection of Belgian symbolist art in North America, assembled over more than four decades by Charles Hack, a New York-based real estate investor and prominent art collector.
In 2024, Hack donated 36 important Belgian landscapes to the McMullen, making the Museum the holder of one of the foremost collections of nineteenth-century Belgian landscapes in the world. Hack collaborated closely with Shadows and Light curator BC Art History Professor Emeritus Jeffery Howe as the exhibition developed, both on the selection of pieces from his collection and on new acquisitions.
The display features more than 150 major paintings, works on paper, and sculptures by Belgian and other European artists in their orbit. With 46 paintings by Léon Spilliaert, best known for his mysterious, symbolist compositions, the exhibition introduces North American audiences to one of Belgium’s most enigmatic and celebrated artists.
“Shadows and Light crowns a distinguished series of exhibitions the McMullen Museum has devoted to Belgian art,” said Inaugural Robert L. and Judith T. Winston Director of the McMullen Museum Nancy Netzer, a professor of art history at Boston College. “We are profoundly grateful to Charles Hack whose acumen and expertise built the Hearn Family Trust and to Professor Emeritus Jeffery Howe, whose generative partnership with Hack and decades of scholarship made this exhibition possible.
“Drawing on new research, this exhibition probes how Belgian artists explored psychological experience and the visible world, shaping the international symbolist movement during a formative period in the emergence of modern art,” she added.
Shadows and Light: Symbolist Art in Belgium; Works from the Hearn Family Trust
Presenting one of the premier collections of Belgian symbolist art in private hands, the exhibition “encompasses many dualities—the visible contrast of shadows and light suggests a world of dreams and stark realism, of modernism and tradition, of music and silence, and of mystery and revelation—all in the creation of works of uncommon beauty,” according to Howe. “It has been my great pleasure to work with Charles Hack, who has built this world-class collection of symbolist art.”
Together, these works offer a counterpoint to the sun-drenched landscapes of contemporary neo-impressionism, asserting a distinct and rival presence in Belgium.
New research illuminates the complex world of Belgian artists at the vanguard of the international symbolist movement of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries—a pivotal moment in the development of modern art.
Composed of 10 “movements,” the exhibition unfolds in the galleries as a visual symphony with artists engaging with vital issues of modern life, including questions of faith, social justice, historical identity, and psychological analysis. Building on the historic tradition of Belgian and Flemish art, the exhibition demonstrates how these artists’ works are innovative in style and personal vision, significantly expanding the language of art.
The final section, organizers note, is devoted to Spilliaert, who contributed to the development of symbolism in the visual arts in Belgium.
Other Belgian artists represented include Cécile Cauterman, William Degouve de Nuncques, Léon Frederic, Fernand Khnopff, Georges Le Brun, Xavier Mellery, Constantin Meunier, George Minne, and Armand Rassenfosse. Paintings by Gustave Moreau, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, František Kupka, and Koloman Moser elucidate the rich context of international symbolist art, in which Belgians played a leading role.
Exhibition loans are drawn from the Hearn Family Trust and Hearn Family Foundation collections, both owned by Charles Hack and his wife, Angella Hearn, complemented by several pieces in the McMullen Museum collection.
Shadows and Light is the sixth McMullen Museum exhibition Howe has curated to feature modern Belgian art, preceded by: Fernand Khnopff: Inner Visions and Landscapes (2004); A New Key: Modern Belgian Art from the Simon Collection (2007); Courbet: Mapping Realism; Paintings from the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium and American Collections (2013); Nature’s Mirror: Reality and Symbol in Belgian Landscape (2017); and A Fresh Vision: Landscape Painting in Belgium after Romanticism; The School of Tervuren in an International Context (2025). The two most recent exhibitions drew extensively from the Hack collection, with A Fresh Vision celebrating the Hearn Family Trust’s gift to the McMullen.
Accompanying Catalogue and Exhibition Support
Shadows and Light is accompanied by a catalogue edited by Howe, with essays by American and Belgian scholars Anne Adriaens-Pannier, previously director of the Spillaert Huis and curator at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium; Claude Cernuschi, former BC professor of art history; Edouard Derom, co-director of the Patrick Derom Gallery (Brussels); Alison Hokanson, curator for European painting at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Howe; and Oliver Wunsch, BC associate professor of art history. They provide contextual background to the time period and the Belgian avant-garde, and offer fresh examinations of Khnopff, Minne, and Spilliaert.
Organized by the McMullen Museum, Shadows and Light is underwritten by Boston College with major support from the Patrons of the McMullen Museum and Mary Ann ’67 and Vincent Q. Giffuni ’65, P’94.
McMullen Museum of Art
The McMullen Museum aims to cultivate learning, celebrate artistic excellence, explore the visual traditions of diverse cultures, and inspire transdisciplinary faculty and student research based on the visual arts. The McMullen offers exhibition-related programs and resources for diverse audiences of all ages on campus, in the Greater Boston area, and beyond.
The Museum mounts exhibitions of international scholarly importance from all periods and cultures of the history of art. In keeping with the University’s central teaching mission, exhibitions are accompanied by academic catalogues and related public programs. The McMullen Museum of Art was named in 1996 for the late BC benefactor, trustee, and art collector John J. McMullen and his wife Jacqueline McMullen. In 2005, the McMullen Family Foundation provided a lead gift to renovate and build an addition to the Museum’s new venue at 2101 Commonwealth Avenue. Designed in 1927 in the Roman Renaissance Revival style by architects Maginnis and Walsh, it originally served as the home of Boston’s cardinal archbishops. The renovation was completed in spring 2016 and opened to the public on September 12, 2016.
Accompanying Free, Public Events
In-person and virtual public programming is planned for the general public and museum Members. For information, and to sign up for those events that require advance registration, please visit the McMullen Museum Events Calendar. More events will be added leading up to this exhibition; visit the McMullen website and subscribe to the McMullen mailing list for updates.
- In-person docent tours of the Carolyn A. and Peter S. Lynch Collection begin Sunday, September 20 (every Sunday, 3–4 p.m.)
- In-person docent tours of Shadows and Light begin Sunday, September 27 (every Sunday, 2–3 p.m.)
- Virtual Members’ lecture by curator Jeffery Howe: Sunday, September 13, 11 a.m.
- Walk & Talk with curator Jeffery Howe: Friday, September 18, noon
- Holiday Celebration: Saturday, December 5, noon–4 pm
A forthcoming series of in-person and virtual events includes: Publication Highlights by BC and guest scholars, Into the Collection presentations on works from the McMullen’s permanent collection, Members’ Crash Courses on art historical movements, and Museum Current lectures with museum leaders and researchers.
[Media Note: Selection of press images and captions are available here. Please email Kate Shugert with questions]
Additional Digital Resources
Visit McMullen From Home for recordings of all lectures as well as an archive of virtual walkthroughs, digital exhibition catalogues, podcasts, interactive spotlights, and more.
McMullen Museum Hours and Tours
Admission is free; wheelchair accessible. Located at 2101 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02135, on BC’s Brighton Campus. Hours during this exhibition: Monday–Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday–Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.; the Museum will be closed: October 12 and November 26–27, 2026. Contact: artmuseum@bc.edu, 617.552.8587. All events are free. For directions, parking, and program information, visit mcmullenmuseum.bc.edu.