The Intersection of Art and Literature: Walker Evans and James Agee

The notion that a picture is worth a thousand words is meant to convey the power of imagery. But what of the power of words—if they are personal interpretations of art that mix fact and fiction such as Giorgio Vasari’s Lives, or the writings of Dante and Shakespeare that inspired Auguste Rodin, or Émile Zola’s written defense of his great friend Édouard Manet’s work and the portrait it inspired. 

Explore the alchemy that occurs at the intersection of art and literature in this fascinating Sunday afternoon series with David Gariff, senior lecturer at the National Gallery of Art.

Session Information

Walker Evans and James Agee

In 1936, photographer Walker Evans (1903–1975) took a leave of absence from the Farm Security Administration to accept a summer assignment with Fortune magazine. Evans and the writer James Agee (1909–1955) spent several weeks among sharecropper families in Hale County, Alabama. The article they produced documented in words and images the lives of poor Southern farmers afflicted by the Great Depression. Their story was published in book form as Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, now recognized as a masterpiece of the art of photojournalism.

World Art History Certificate elective: Earn 1/2 credit*

Additional Sessions of this Series

• July 23: William Blake: Poet and Painter
• August 27: Pablo Picasso and Gertrude Stein

General Information

• View Common FAQs and Policies about our Online Programs on Zoom.

*Enrolled participants in the World Art History Certificate Program receive 1/2 elective credit. Not yet enrolled? Learn about the program, its benefits, and how to register here.