A key feature of the Byzantine Empire’s visual culture was an orientation toward religious themes as shaped by Orthodox Christianity. They were explored in a remarkable variety of media, from wall frescoes to miniature mosaics to exquisitely carved ivories. Art historian Aneta Georgievska-Shine explores some of the most important aspects of the visual arts of this empire at the cultural crossroads of west and east. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1 credit)
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)
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)
A new century literally began as Ludwig van Beethoven completed his first symphony in the year 1800. Within the next quarter century his great cycle of nine symphonies was complete, taking its place as the measure for the entire symphonic repertoire that followed it. In a 5-part series, classical music and opera expert Saul Lilienstein uses audio and video recordings as he discusses each symphony, as well as examines Beethoven’s personal journey of creation against the backdrop of Viennese society.
Between the 6th and 11th centuries, Arabic was the native language of most of the Jewish population. Focusing on the writings of central thinkers and scholars during this critical era of Rabbinic Judaism, Miriam Goldstein of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem examines the sweeping linguistic and cultural transformations in Judeo-Arabic religious scholarship that shaped Judaism as we know it today.
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)
Giuseppe Verdi’s La traviata, Rigoletto, Aida, and Otello are treasured for their emotional, dramatic, and musical power. Using video recordings of performances staged at the world’s leading opera houses, musicologist Daniel E. Freeman offers a survey of Verdi’s most popular works with an emphasis on the ways in which they reflect the composer’s approach to musical setting and character development.
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)
He was an uncompromising modernist, a great chronicler of the American South, and an inspiration—as well as immovable obstacle—for the generations of writers who followed. William Faulkner stands as one of the greatest, and one of the most problematic figures in American literature. Michael Gorra, author of The Saddest Words: William Faulkner’s Civil War, focuses on a trio of Faulkner’s greatest novels in a reading series. This session focuses on the novel, Absalom, Absalom!
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.
A superb concerto performance is one of the great emotional highs of the concert experience. But how did this singularly theatrical art form evolve, and why does it remain as treasured as ever with audiences? Popular speaker and concert pianist Rachel Franklin returns to the fascinating topic of concertos, using her unique live piano demonstrations and both historic and contemporary video clips to explore the birth of the solo concerto, glory in its great masterpieces, and consider its role in more modern times.
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.
Explore more wonderful songs from the golden age of the Great American Songbook, and the stories behind their long and unexpected lives. This fall season, filmmaker and cultural historian Sara Lukinson takes up the work of George and Ira Gershwin, and some of their forever-familiar songs.
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.
Explore more wonderful songs from the golden age of the Great American Songbook, and the stories behind their long and unexpected lives. This fall season, filmmaker and cultural historian Sara Lukinson takes up the work of Rodgers and Hart, and some of their forever-familiar songs, where daydreams and romance, razzle-dazzle, and all our “where or whens” still live.
Chinese culture has a long, rich history. In this series, historian Justin M. Jacobs examines how it has been represented in Chinese silent films of the early 20th century.
Explore more wonderful songs from the golden age of the Great American Songbook, and the stories behind their long and unexpected lives. This fall season, filmmaker and cultural historian Sara Lukinson takes up the work of Kander and Ebb, and some of their forever-familiar songs, where daydreams and romance, razzle-dazzle, and all our “where or whens” still live.
From sleigh bells and sugarplums to the mystical beauties of the Nativity, every December our senses are filled with the music of Christmas. In a 2-session celebration of the festive season, popular speaker and concert pianist Rachel Franklin explores how classical Western composers created a canon of both secular and sacred experiences that are now deeply rooted in our collective seasonal expectations.
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.
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)
