The churches of Italy are renowned for their artistic treasures, from Giotto’s 14th-century frescoes in Florence, Padua, and Assisi to Giacomo Manzu’s great 20th-century bronze doors for St. Peter’s in Rome. In a splendidly illustrated seminar, art historian Sophia D’Addio of Columbia University explores churches that represent some of Italy’s greatest repositories of sacred art. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1 credit)
One of America's most innovative architects, Frank Lloyd Wright experimented with new ways to design homes and integrate them into nature. Fallingwater, Kentuck Knob, and the houses at Polymath Park offer prime examples of his organic architecture. Visit all three locations during an overnight tour to Pennsylvania’s scenic Laurel Highlands. Tour leader Bill Keene, a writer and lecturer on architecture, urban history, and city planning, has a special interest in Wright.
In the mid-20th century, America overtook Europe as the world’s foremost designer and producer of costume jewelry. What uniquely American social and historic trends propelled the demand for and design of mass-produced, affordable jewelry? Phyllis Gerstell, a decorative arts historian and costume jewelry expert and collector, joins curator Elizabeth Lay to explore the beauty and history of a now largely vanished American art form. This program is part of a fall Lunchtime with a Curator series. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)
Expressionism as an artistic movement developed in the early 20th century, a period in which new and influential explorations of psychology and human behavior were taking place. Artists began to look at the world more subjectively, often distorting its depictions to achieve an emotional effect in artworks that still hold a power to move and challenge viewers. Art historian Joseph Paul Cassar traces the movement’s roots, meaning, influences, and most notable practitioners. (World Art History Certificate core course, 1 credit)
When a bridge spanning the entrance to San Francisco Bay was proposed in the 1910s, some people called it “the bridge that couldn’t be built.” The Golden Gate Bridge was both a milestone of engineering and a monumental example of Art Deco architecture when completed in 1937. Historian John Martini discusses the design challenges, construction, and operational history of San Francisco's most famous landmark.
When in 1948 Eero Saarinen won the competition to design what became the Gateway Arch in Saint Louis, his fame was assured. But his story begins much earlier with his collaborations with his father, Eilel, a Finnish-born architect and city planner and his mother Loja, a textile artist and sculptor. Bill Keene explores the family’s creative history, as well as Eero Saarinen’s career, studded with a series of iconic and trendsetting projects. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)
For more than 40 years, wearing a creation by milliner Sara Sue Sherrill Waldbauer of Miller & Rhoads department store in Richmond was a mark of status and taste. Nichol Gabor, curator of costume and textiles at Richmond’s Valentine Museum, joins curator Elizabeth Lay to offer a delightful look at why Sara Sue’s signature confections defined the fashionable hat for the city’s ladies who lunched. This program is part of a fall Lunchtime with a Curator series. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)
The cultural and political upheavals of the 18th and 19th centuries are reflected in the diverse approaches that contemporary visual artists took toward their work and the codification of—and rebellion against—rules laid down by various royal academies of the fine arts. In a lavishly illustrated series, art historian Nancy G. Heller focuses on the principal European cultural movements of the 1700s and early 1800s—Rococo, Neoclassicism, Romanticism, and Realism—as reflected in paintings by masters of the period. (World Art History Certificate core course, 1 credit)
Step from the bustling sidewalks of the Left Bank in Paris into a veritable treasure house: the Cluny Museum. The remains of ancient Roman baths and the Gothic Paris residence of the abbots of Cluny provide the fairy-tale backdrop for marvels of medieval art. Barbara Drake Boehm, a curator emerita of The Met Cloisters, explores the museum, renovated and reopened last year. The masterpieces inside include the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries, sculpture from the Cathedral of Notre-Dame that was buried during the French Revolution, and a Jewish wedding ring hidden by its owner during the Black Death. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)
In a 2-session course for new and seasoned collectors alike, art critic and adviser Judy Pomeranz explores how to find your own collecting passion that also fits the dimensions of your pocketbook; where to find and buy art; how to manage, care for and protect works; and many more useful guidelines. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)
Since the 1860s, railroads like Union Pacific have played a pivotal role in the opening and then the settling and disruption of the American West. Using original photographs taken during the construction of the transcontinental railroad from the Union Pacific Historical Collection, its curator Patricia LaBounty explores the context and construction of the nation’s first transcontinental railroad and examines its role in building America.
Discover how visual art can inspire creative writing and how writing can offer a powerful way to experience art. Join Mary Hall Surface, the founding instructor of the National Gallery of Art’s popular Writing Salon, for three online workshops that spotlight a diverse range of visual art chosen to inspire writers of all experience levels to deepen their process and practice. This writing session is inspired by María Berrío’s collage, A Sunburst Restrained.
For those aligning themselves with the Patriot cause, shoes became an unexpected signifier of political allegiance in the decades leading up to the American Revolution. Kimberly Alexander, director of museum studies at the University of New Hampshire, joins curator Elizabeth Lay to examine how the choice of footwear came to represent colonial economic independence and symbolized a break from the yoke of trade with Great Britain. This program is part of a fall Lunchtime with a Curator series. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)
Discover how visual art can inspire creative writing and how writing can offer a powerful way to experience art. Join Mary Hall Surface, the founding instructor of the National Gallery of Art’s popular Writing Salon, for three online workshops that spotlight a diverse range of visual art chosen to inspire writers of all experience levels to deepen their process and practice. This writing session is inspired by Thomas Cole’s four-painting series, The Voyage of Life.
Get a crystal-clear view of the history, art, and science of making glass at the Corning Museum of Glass. A four-day trip led by Bill Keene offers participants a true insider’s experience and includes a live demonstration of glassmaking, curator-conducted sessions and tours (even going behind the scenes), and the opportunity to try your hand at glassmaking.
The story of the Medici's expansion of power in 15th and early-16th century Florence is well-known and documented. Less familiar is that of the wives, daughters, and sisters who bolstered the family's rise and furthered its interests. Art historian Elaine Ruffolo highlights the influential and fascinating Medici women and examines their contributions as patrons of the architectural, religious, and literary arts. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)
With the advent of the Jazz Age, the art world searched for modern forms and decorative motifs to reflect this exciting new era. Drawing on a variety of historical sources, including ancient Egypt, the classical world, and Asian art, Art Deco soon reflected modern living, the machine age, and the skyscraper. Art historian Bonita Billman discusses this vibrant movement, highlighting examples of Art Deco in architecture, furniture, interiors, fashions, advertisements, and films. (World Art History Certificate elective,1 credit)
Explore the highlights and secrets of Georgetown, home to palatial mansions, elegant cemeteries, stately churches, and a world-class university. Join Carolyn Muraskin, founder of DC Design Tours, for a walk through the neighborhood.
Manhattan is one of the most exciting art centers in the world and it’s also home to some of the greatest art museums. Art critic and adviser Judy Pomeranz looks at some of the institutions—from large and comprehensive to small, focused gems—examining their histories and exploring the objects that help define the museums’ distinctive personalities and are not to be missed when you’re visiting. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)
Discover how visual art can inspire creative writing and how writing can offer a powerful way to experience art. Join Mary Hall Surface, the founding instructor of the National Gallery of Art’s popular Writing Salon, for three online workshops that spotlight a diverse range of visual art chosen to inspire writers of all experience levels to deepen their process and practice. This writing session is inspired by Lois Mailou Jones’ The Green Door.
Chinese culture has a long, rich history. In this series, historian Justin M. Jacobs examines how it has been embodied in 3,000 years of architecture.
Anatolia’s colorful history has left a windfall of riches—ancient ruins, ornate Byzantine churches, supremely elegant mosques, and splendid Ottoman palaces. In an illustrated series, Serif Yenen, a Turkish-born tour guide and author, highlights the heritage and splendor of ancient Turkey through an examination of some of its cultural gems.
From the middle of the 1800s until the 1960s, young women dressed like their mothers, striving to look curvaceous and ultra-feminine. Then influences such as Betty Friedan’s Feminine Mystique, the Rolling Stones, the civil rights movement, and antiestablishment creeds resulted in huge shifts in fashion. Join design historian and curator Elizabeth Lay for a delightfully illustrated look at the youthquake that shook the world of fashion.
Arts journalist Richard Selden offers a delightful exploration of the largest of New York’s outer boroughs. The itinerary includes Flushing Meadows Corona Park, site of the 1939 and 1964 World’s Fairs; the Museum of the Moving Image; the Noguchi Museum; the Louis Armstrong House Museum; and meals that highlight the borough’s international cuisine. Accommodations spotlight the newest jewel: The TWA Hotel, Eero Saarinen’s landmark 1962 TWA Flight Center at JFK Airport, now reimagined as a hotel that celebrates the Jet Age glamour of the 1960s.
Experience the power of reflective writing guided by the founding instructor of the National Gallery of Art’s popular Writing Salon, Mary Hall Surface. Inspired by works of art by Hudson River landscape painter Jasper Francis Cropsey and poetry by Mary Oliver, explore the lessons that the season of autumn offers us when we slow down, look closely, and reflect. Designed for writers of all levels, the workshop invites you to look outwardly at paintings and poetry and to look inwardly through writing.
The Sistine Chapel is the most famous of the Vatican Museums, but the collection also includes an array of antiquities; paintings and sculptures by artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, and Caravaggio; and breathtaking architecture and decorative halls. Renaissance art expert Rocky Ruggiero unveils the museums’ treasures. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)
In 1482, Leonardo da Vinci left his native Florence to seek his fortune at the ducal court of Milan. It was a bold move that profoundly transformed Leonardo’s career and personal life. Art historian Laura Morelli explores Milan through the eyes of Leonardo, offering a unique perspective on the enduring legacy of a Renaissance giant. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)
Surrealism opened the door to the exploration of the unconscious and the creation of art based on inner reality. Freud’s dream research liberated Surrealist artists to see the truth of who we really are, and in their work, dreams became equivalent to imagination itself. Art historian Joseph Cassar explores the origins of Surrealism, its widespread influence, and many of its most prominent 20th-century artists. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)
Ideas about the American West, both in popular culture and in commonly accepted historical narratives, are often based on a past that never was, and fail to consider important events that occurred. A new exhibition at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, "Many Wests: Artists Shape an American Idea," examines the perspectives of 48 modern and contemporary artists who offer a broader and more inclusive view of this region, which too often has been dominated by romanticized myths and Euro-American historical accounts. Anne Hyland, the Art Bridges Initiative curatorial coordinator at the American Art Museum, provides an overview of the exhibition. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)
The Met Cloisters, the branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art devoted to the art of medieval Europe, presents extraordinary works of art from the 8th to the 16th centuries in a stunning setting at the tip of Manhattan. In a virtual visit, Barbara Drake Boehm, Paul and Jill Ruddock curator emerita of The Cloisters, highlights works from Paris to Prague, Canterbury to Cordoba, that attest to the skill and imagination of medieval artists and the beauty they imparted to the world. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)
Pablo Picasso still looms large in our world. Art historian Nancy G. Heller discusses Picasso's relationship to both earlier and later art history, the sociopolitical cultural contexts in which his work was produced, and Picasso's current place in popular culture. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)
Over nearly 250 years, the National Mall has evolved as the center stage of the nation’s capital. Carolyn Muraskin of DC Design Tours traces the Mall’s transition from pasture lands to military training grounds and from mud flats to grand monuments, sharing the tumultuous and lesser-known history of our most enduring national landmarks. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)
Situated between India, Persia, and the Greco-Roman world, the region of greater Gandhara (stretching through parts of modern-day Pakistan and Afghanistan) produced artwork that blended influences and ideas from many cultures. Art historian Robert DeCaroli examines the origins of the region’s material culture, explores the ways imperial and religious power were displayed, and traces the role of trade in the exchange of ideas. (World Art History Certificate core course, 1 credit)
Experience the power of reflective writing guided by the founding instructor of the National Gallery of Art’s popular Writing Salon, Mary Hall Surface. Explore new ways to contemplate the gifts of winter inspired by the vibrant Winter Landscape by Wassily Kandinsky, an artist who embraced the transcendent power of color. Designed for writers of all levels, and for the curious, the workshop invites you to look outwardly at art and to look inwardly through writing.
Bologna is home to some of Italy’s most important art, including works by Michelangelo, Annibale Carracci, Lavinia Fontana, Domenichino, and Guercino. Rocky Ruggiero, an expert in Renaissance art, explores the city’s artistic treasures and great artists. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)
While shooting for his book Working the Water, photographer Jay Fleming traveled up and down the Chesapeake documenting all facets of the region’s commercial fisheries and the people and businesses that depend on the harvest. Join him for a vividly illustrated program that brings the bay's iconic seafood industry into focus.
Coleen Christian Burke, a former White House design partner and author of Christmas with the First Ladies, examines how modern first ladies have combined the shimmer of holiday magic with meaningful reflection, creating a celebration narrative for all Americans.
Brutalism, an architectural style emphasizing clarity in presentation of materials, emerged during the 1950s, played a key role in the rebuilding of devastated European cities in the wake of WWII, and remained influential globally into the 1970s. With hallmarks including raw, unpainted concrete; exposed brick and steel; and glass employed in new and unconventional ways, Brutalist buildings appeared striking and arresting to some but soulless monstrosities to others. Bill Keene traces the spread of the style and examines its many facets, including some surprising twists to stereotypical structures and a recent revival of interest in the style. (World History Art Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)
In January 1939, Pablo Picasso was renowned in Europe but disdained by many in the United States. One year later, the public clamored to view the groundbreaking exhibition Picasso: Forty Years of His Art, which launched Picasso in America and defined the Museum of Modern Art as we know it. Author and senior editor at Foreign Affairs Hugh Eakin reveals how a single exhibition irrevocably changed American taste, and in doing so saved dozens of the 20th century’s most enduring artworks from the Nazis. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)
The Smithsonian Institution has shaped the character of the National Mall since 1855. Washington’s most beloved museums offer a panorama of American architecture, with each unique building a study all its own. Carolyn Muraskin of DC Design Tours investigates the style, design, controversy, construction, and fascinating backstory behind these celebrated museums. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)
The Christmas story has inspired some of the most affectionate, gentle, and intimate images in the history of Western art. How the biblical narrative was portrayed in Renaissance art dramatically evolved over time, mirroring changes in society and shifts in religious attitude. Moving from a narrow, sacred vision of mother and child to a full-blown cast of humans and animals, Renaissance art historian Elaine Ruffolo offers a lavishly illustrated exploration of the Christmas story as told through painting. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)
Chinese culture has a long, rich history. In this series, historian Justin M. Jacobs delves into the sweeping changes enacted in the realms of gender, language, education, and architecture during the Mao years.
Art historian Ursula Rehn Wolfman leads an art-filled weekend escape to Manhattan that highlights early 20th-century Modernist artists and their works. You’ll have plenty of time to take in several of the most intriguing exhibitions at three cultural powerhouses—and a night on the town to enjoy as you like. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1 credit)
The ability to derive meaning from what we see is an essential skill in a culture saturated with images. Once you understand this visual language, reading images, particularly art, is not only simpler but infinitely more gratifying. Using works from the history of art and from popular culture, art historian Nancy G. Heller focuses on how art communicates, how to analyze and interpret it, and how we can see it as a cultural product that reveals something about the society that produced it. (World Art History Certificate core course, 1 credit)
