MFA DIRECTOR HONORED AS KNIGHT-COMMANDER IN MADRID

Malcolm Rogers, Ann and Graham Gund Director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, will be honored as a Knight-Commander in the Order of Isabella the Catholic (Encomienda de la Orden de Isabel la Católica) this evening at a special ceremony at the Museo Nacional del Prado in Madrid. The recognition, one of Spain’s highest civil honors, will be bestowed on behalf of King Juan Carlos I of Spain by Plácido Arango, president of the royal board of trustees at the Prado. Guests expected at the ceremony will include the honorable Alan D. Solomont, ambassador Susan Solomont, and the director of the Prado, Miguel Zugaza.

Created in 1815, the award recognizes those who have demonstrated extraordinary civil character and accomplishments that have benefited Spain, notably in the field of culture and the arts. The MFA has had a long and fruitful relationship with the Prado and other cultural institutions in Spain, which has resulted in the exchange of numerous works of art across the Atlantic. The MFA is currently lending one of its greatest masterpiece paintings, John Singer Sargent’s The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit, 1882, to the Prado, where it is on view from March 16 through May 30 as part of the prestigious series “The Invited Work.” Rogers is in Madrid to attend the opening of the installation, which juxtaposes the MFA’s celebrated portrait with the Prado’s masterpiece Las Meninas, 1656, by Diego Velázquez to illustrate how Sargent drew inspiration from the iconic Spanish painting.