Art Review: Peabody Essex Museum Summer Exhibits

On my way back home from Mount Desert Island in Maine a few weeks ago, I spent an afternoon at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem on the North Shore of Massachusetts. I hadn’t visited in a couple of years. Salem’s known for the 1692 witchcraft trials, but, in happier days, it was the hub for the China trade. The Peabody Essex Museum’s (PEM) first-rate collection of maritime art and Asian art springs from this era, but there’s so much more.

It was still peak season but, as peak-season exhibitions go, the soufflé fizzled into triviality and fads when it should have expanded into grandeur. This happens sometimes. I’ve seen plenty of great shows there. I’ll write about its summer exhibitions today before cold weather makes summer seem passé. In a few weeks, I’ll write about the museum’s history, collection, and new strategic plan.

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Brian T. Allen

Brian T. Allen is National Review’s art critic.

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On my way back home from Mount Desert Island in Maine a few weeks ago, I spent an afternoon at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem on the North Shore of Massachusetts. I hadn’t visited in a couple of years. Salem’s known for the 1692 witchcraft trials, but, in happier days, it was the hub for the China trade. The Peabody Essex Museum’s (PEM) first-rate collection of maritime art and Asian art springs from this era, but there’s so much more.

It was still peak season but, as peak-season exhibitions go, the soufflé fizzled into triviality and fads when it should have expanded into grandeur. This happens sometimes. I’ve seen plenty of great shows there. I’ll write about its summer exhibitions today before cold weather makes summer seem passé. In a few weeks, I’ll write about the museum’s history, collection, and new strategic plan.