All upcoming Art & Architecture programs

Quilting is a tradition that has transcended the limits of culture and eras. Throughout the centuries, styles and techniques evolved, but the common thread in the creation of quilts was often their makers: women. Led by Alden O’Brien, textile and costumes curator at the Daughters of the American Revolution Museum, visit three museums to explore the role quilting has played in our society, including how it has been used to express emotion and act as a force of social justice.

The age of the Baroque roughly coincides with the 17th century, one of the most transformational periods in European history. Despite the many variants of this style, its most salient features include emphasis on sensual richness, drama, movement, and emotional exuberance. Art historian Aneta Georgievska-Shine discusses the main currents of Baroque art in Italy, Spain, France, and Holland and how they reflected significant social and cultural developments sparked by forces including religion, government, global exploration, and science. (World Art History Certificate core course, 1 credit)

With a dynamic and far-reaching history that spans the Neolithic period to the modern age, Chinese civilization has given rise to some of the world’s most remarkable artistic creations. Art historian Robert DeCaroli explores that complex legacy by examining how shifts in China’s social, religious, and political life have influenced transformations in its material culture. (World Art History Certificate core course, 1 credit)

The history of art forgery is packed with stories of tricksters who, while more pranksters than gangsters, succeeded in fooling the art world and profiting while doing so. Art historian Noah Charney uncovers the "provenance trap," a methodology that has most often and most successfully led to forgers fooling experts. He illustrates with intriguing, quirky, and enlightening case studies involving five famous forgers. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

The Jefferson Pier on the National Mall.  A 170-year-old Japanese stone pagoda set among DC’s fabled cherry trees. A long-neglected fountain in the neighborhood once known as "Murder Bay." They’re among D.C.’s most unique, surprising and little-known monuments, memorials, and landmarks. Carolyn Muraskin, founder of DC Design Tours, knows their stories—and those of many more distinctive sites that visitors (and Washingtonians) often overlook.

The art of Impressionist-era creators is in the spotlight during a 2-day visit to three of Philadelphia’s outstanding collections led by art historian Ursula Rehn Wolfman. The Philadelphia Museum of Art exhibition “Mary Cassatt at Work” is devoted to the works of the Pennsylvania-born Impressionist, who challenged the conventional expectations of Philadelphia’s elite. “Matisse & Renoir: New Encounters at the Barnes” places masterpieces from the same period near each other and traces the development of these two artists. Showcased in an elegant Beaux-Arts–style building, the Rodin Museum’s collection of nearly 150 bronze, marble, and plaster sculptures represents every phase of Auguste Rodin’s career. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1 credit)

Auguste Rodin is considered the father of modern sculpture. Yet his works were deeply inspired by ancient classical and Renaissance art. Art historian Judy Scott Feldman explores how Rodin’s fascination, even obsession, with earlier figural traditions inspired his fusion of tradition and innovation in “The Kiss,” “The Gates of Hell,” and his powerful “Monument to Balzac.” (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

It has become increasingly common for Western museums to be portrayed not as sites of preservation and education but rather as homes of works stolen by imperialists. Historian Justin M. Jacobs challenges that perspective, providing an overview of the five primary channels through which Western museums acquired their artifacts. Only by better appreciating the historical context that informed the transfer of art and antiquities from the source country to a museum, Jacobs argues, can calls for cultural restitution be properly assessed.

Beginning in the early 20th century, French artist Marie Laurencin created a unique pictorial world that placed women at the center of modern art. With a painting style that defied categorization, Laurencin moved seamlessly between the male-dominated Cubist avant-garde, lesbian literary and artistic circles, and the realms of fashion, ballet, and decorative arts. Barnes Foundation docent Joe Caliva explores Laurencin’s career as he discusses “Marie Laurencin: Sapphic Paris,” an exhibition recently on view at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

Jacob Lawrence, one of America’s greatest painters of Black life, was known for his series paintings that documented important moments in global Black history. Art historian LaNitra M. Berger examines one of Lawrence’s best-known works, The Migration Series—which illustrates African Americans’ historic migration from the deep South to the North in the early 20th century—and discusses how it contributes to our knowledge of African American history and culture. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)