National Gallery Of Art | Audio

November 2012 - David C. Ward, historian and deputy editor of the Charles Willson Peale Family Papers, National Portrait Gallery. When George Bellows died at the age of forty-two in 1925, he was hailed as one of the greatest artists America had yet produced. The exhibition George Bellows, on view at the National Gallery of Art from June 10 to October 8, 2012, provides the most complete account of his achievements to date. Bellows was a leading figure in the generation of artists who negotiated the transition from the Victorian to the early modern era in American culture. In this public symposium, held in conjunction with the exhibition on October 5-6, 2012, and coordinated with the Columbus Museum of Art, curators and scholars examine the remarkable scope of Bellows' career and assess his contributions to the first wave of twentieth-century American modernism.

November 2012 - Gregory Jecmen, associate curator of old master prints and drawings, National Gallery of Art With a storied past and a strong imperial presence, Augsburg enjoyed a golden age in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, fostering artists such as Hans Burgkmair, Erhard Ratdolt, Daniel Hopfer, Jörg Breu, and Hans Weiditz. The artists flourished from about 1475 as the effects of the Italian Renaissance were first being felt, through the social, political, and religious upheavals of the Reformation, which took hold in 1537 following 20 years of struggle. In this paired lecture recorded on October 21, 2012, Gregory Jecmen explains this rich and varied history through more than 100 works featured in Imperial Augsburg: Renaissance Prints and Drawings, 1475–1540. Focusing on drawings, prints, and illustrated books mostly from the Gallery's own extensive collection, the exhibition—the first of its kind in America—serves as an introduction to Augsburg, its artists, and its cultural history, during this pe

November 2012 - Sydney J. Freedberg, Arthur Kingsley Porter Professor of Fine Arts, Harvard University In this lecture recorded on May 16, 1976, at the National Gallery of Art, Sydney J. Freedberg sought to clarify the art-historical terms of mannerism and maniera, which had become confused in the relatively new investigation by scholars into this period of 16th-century Italian art. High Renaissance art, dating from the early 16th century, recalled the substantiality of classical art and expressed order, serenity, and ideal beauty. Mannerism, emerging in the 1520s, was seen as a deliberate revolt against such classicism. The human figure was distorted and elongated, portraying an excessive emotionalism. Freedberg hoped to rescue mannerism from this perceived difference in character of form and quality of expression. In the process, he distinguished mannerism from maniera, the reigning style in Central Italy during the second half of the century.

November 2012 - Joel Shapiro, artist On October 28, 2012 at the National Gallery of Art, Joel Shapiro presents a lecture on his nearly 50-year career as part of the Diamonstein-Spielvogel Lecture Series. Born in 1941 in New York City, Shapiro received BA and MA degrees from New York University. Since his first exhibition in 1970, Shapiro has become one of the most widely exhibited American sculptors and the subject of many solo exhibitions and retrospectives, and his work can now be found in numerous public collections in the United States and abroad. His work, from early minimal objects to increasingly expansive and complex forms, has always dealt with such central issues of the sculptural tradition as size and scale, balance and imbalance, figuration and abstraction. He believes that all sculpture is a projection of thought into the world, and he strives to create intimacy and vitality in all his projects. Shapiro lives and works in New York City. The Gallery owns 16 works by the artist, including drawings,

November 2012 - Wendy A. Cooper, Lois F. and Henry S. McNeil Senior Curator of Furniture, Winterthur Museum, University of Delaware. Curator Wendy A. Cooper celebrated the landmark installation of early American furniture and related decorative arts at the National Gallery of Art in this lecture recorded on October 28, 2012. The Kaufman Collection is one of the largest and most refined collections of early American furniture in private hands, acquired with great connoisseurship over five decades by George M. (1932–2001) and Linda H. Kaufman (born 1938). The collection, a gift promised to the Gallery in October 2010, comprises more than 200 works of art including American furniture, paintings, and works on paper. These fine examples of American decorative arts in the Kaufman Collection will be complemented by outstanding American paintings from the Gallery's own collection, including portraits by artists such as John Wollaston (active 1742/1775), Ralph Earl (1751–1801), and Gilbert Stuart (1755–1828). Located

October 2012 - Faya Causey, head of academic programs, National Gallery of Art. Amber, a tree resin that has metamorphosed over millions of years into a hard, transparent polymer, has captivated mankind since the Paleolithic era. It has been treasured in both its raw and carved state. In this lecture, recorded on May 13, 2012, at the National Gallery of Art, Faya Causey presents the myths and legends woven around amber and explored in her new book, Amber and the Ancient World. Causey explains its employment in magic and medicine, its transport and carving, and its incorporation into jewelry, amulets, and other objects of prestige. The book showcases remarkable amber carvings in the J. Paul Getty Museum and masterpieces from other collections. Causey also discusses the launch of the accompanying online catalogue, Ancient Carved Amber in the J. Paul Getty Museum— a first-of-its-kind publication.

October 2012 - Harry Cooper, curator and head, department of modern and contemporary art, National Gallery of Art. Harry Cooper, the Gallery's consulting curator for Roy Lichtenstein: A Retrospective—on view from October 14, 2012 to January 13, 2013—presents an overview of the first major exhibition of the artist's work since his death in 1997. In this opening-day lecture recorded on October 14, 2012, at the National Gallery of Art, Cooper reviews some of the 136 works in the exhibition, including Lichtenstein's greatest paintings from all periods of his career, as well as drawings and sculptures. The retrospective presents Lichtenstein's expansive legacy—the classic early pop paintings based on advertisements, comic-book treatments of war and romance, versions of paintings by the modern masters, and series including Brushstrokes, Mirrors, Artist's Studios, Nudes, and Chinese Landscapes.

October 2012 - Rebecca Zurier, associate professor of the history of art, University of Michigan. When George Bellows died at the age of forty-two in 1925, he was hailed as one of the greatest artists America had yet produced. The exhibition George Bellows, on view at the National Gallery of Art from June 10 to October 8, 2012, provides the most complete account of his achievements to date. Bellows was a leading figure in the generation of artists who negotiated the transition from the Victorian to the early modern era in American culture. In this public symposium, held in conjunction with the exhibition on October 5-6, 2012, and coordinated with the Columbus Museum of Art, curators and scholars examine the remarkable scope of Bellows' career and assess his contributions to the first wave of twentieth-century American modernism.

October 2012 - Sean Wilentz, George Henry Davis 1886 Professor of American History, Princeton University. When George Bellows died at the age of forty-two in 1925, he was hailed as one of the greatest artists America had yet produced. The exhibition George Bellows, on view at the National Gallery of Art from June 10 to October 8, 2012, provides the most complete account of his achievements to date. Bellows was a leading figure in the generation of artists who negotiated the transition from the Victorian to the early modern era in American culture. In this public symposium, held in conjunction with the exhibition on October 5-6, 2012, and coordinated with the Columbus Museum of Art, curators and scholars examine the remarkable scope of Bellows' career and assess his contributions to the first wave of twentieth-century American modernism.

October 2012 - Harry Cooper, curator and head, department of modern and contemporary art, National Gallery of Art. Prior to the exhibition opening of In the Tower: Barnett Newman on June 10, 2012, Harry Cooper discussed the 26-work installation by Barnett Newman (1905–1970) in this lecture recorded on June 4, 2012, as part of the Works in Progress series at the National Gallery of Art. Cooper describes Newman's childhood, artistic techniques, and evolution as an artist that ultimately led him to paint the 14 canvases of The Stations of the Cross, considered by many to be Newman's greatest achievement. This is the fifth show in a series installed in the Tower Gallery that focuses on developments in art since the mid-20th century. The centerpiece of the exhibition, Newman's famed Stations of the Cross, is brought to new light in the vaulting, self-contained space of the I. M. Pei–designed tower. In the Tower: Barnett Newman will be on view through February 24, 2013.

October 2012 - Alan Shestack, deputy director and chief curator; Philip Conisbee, senior curator of European paintings; John O. Hand, curator of Northern Renaissance paintings, Kimberly Jones, assistant curator of French paintings, National Gallery of Art. In honor of the publication of National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection, contributing authors share highlights from this new survey of the Gallery's European and American paintings collection. Despite the Gallery's short history, opening to the public in 1941, its collection spans 600 years, from middle ages to the present, and includes some of the greatest masterpieces in Western art history. Most of the masterpieces were given by the Founding Benefactors and their families. It has been the Gallery's mission to supplement these gifts with acquisitions that present Western paintings in as broad and comprehensive a manner as possible. The first collection survey was published by then-director John Walker in 1975, which was revised and re

October 2012 - Sarah Kennel, associate curator, department of photographs, National Gallery of Art, and Ksenya Gurshtein, Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Curatorial Fellow, National Gallery of Art. To celebrate the opening of The Serial Portrait: Photography and Identity in the Last One Hundred Years at the National Gallery of Art on September 30, 2012, Sarah Kennel and Ksenya Gurshtein explored the role of seriality in 20th-century and contemporary photographic portraiture. On view through December 31, 2012, the exhibition features some 150 works by 20 photographers who transcend the limits of the single image by photographing the same subjects—"primarily friends, family, and themselves"—over the course of days, months, years, and even decades.

September 2012 - Judith Brodie, curator and head, department of modern prints and drawings, National Gallery of Art. In 1909 F. T. Marinetti's futurist manifesto appeared on the front page of Le Figaro; less than four years, later Pablo Picasso incorporated a fragment of real newspaper into a work of art. The modern mass-media newspaper had colonized fine art. The exhibition Shock of the News examines the many manifestations of the "newspaper phenomenon" from 1909 to 2009, a century during which major artists engaged in a vibrant and multifaceted relationship with the printed news by co-opting, mimicking, defusing, memorializing, and rewriting newspapers. In this podcast recorded on September 23, 2012, at the National Gallery of Art for the exhibition opening, Judith Brodie presents work by more than 60 European and American artists from Marinetti, Picasso, and Man Ray to Adrian Piper, Robert Gober, and Mario Merz.

September 2012 - Mary Morton, curator and head of the department of French paintings, National Gallery of Art. Revisiting the theme of the exhibition The Spectacular Art of Jean-Léon Gérôme, on view at the J. Paul Getty Museum from June 15 through September 12, 2010, curator Mary Morton shares revelations from the exhibition and since its closing two years ago. In this lecture recorded on September 16, 2012, at the National Gallery of Art, Morton explains the complexity of Jean-Léon Gérôme's work, career, and reception. During his life Gérôme (1824–1904) attained a high degree of professional and financial success, but his artistic reputation suffered due to alleged commercialism and his resistance to the avant-garde impressionist and post-impressionist movements. Morton reviews works from Gérôme's entire career—the early "Néo-Grec" paintings with references to classical antiquity, historical scenes, Orientalist genre paintings, and his late focus on sculpture—to make the case for his spectacular art.

September 2012 - Wendy A. Cooper, Lois D. and Henry S. McNeil Senior Curator of Furniture, Winterthur Museum, University of Delaware. In honor of the 50th anniversary of the Winterthur Museum, Garden, and Library, 296 objects from the museum collection—including furniture, textiles, paintings, watercolors, ceramics, glass, needlework, and metalwork, all made or used in America between 1640 and 1860—were presented in the exhibition An American Vision: Henry Francis du Pontˈs Winterthur Museum, which was on view at the National Gallery of Art from May 5– to October 6, 2002. In this lecture recorded on June 9, 2002, exhibition curator Wendy A. Cooper gives an overview of the Winterthur estate, surrounding lands, and the evolution of Francis du Pont's collection before highlighting some of the standout pieces in the exhibition. This lecture touched on five thematic elements: Early Settlement and Sophistication; Passion for Rococo; East Meets West; Arts of the Pennsylvania Germans; and American Classicism.

September 2012 - Jenny Lin, pianist, and Roger Reynolds, University Professor, University of California, San Diego. For this multimedia creation conceived for the National Gallery of Art on the occasion of the John Cage Centennial Festival Washington, DC, Roger Reynolds discusses American poet John Cage as a composer, writer, philosopher, visual artist, and performer. Recorded on September 9, 2012, the presentation offers a personalized perspective on (and around) Cage and his work. Passages recorded from a 1985 conversation between Cage and Reynolds are included, as well as some of the signature one-minute Indeterminacy stories as recorded by Cage. The live and recorded readings interpenetrate each other and coexist with projected images and videos. Guest pianist Jenny Lin performs Cage's Seasons (excerpts), Quest, and ONE, which intermingle and overlap with other elements in the presentation.

September 2012 - Ellen G. Miles, curator of painting and sculpture, National Portrait Gallery. Gilbert Stuart (1755–1828) was the most successful portraitist of early America. Known for his renderings of the most famous American men and women of the era, including George Washington and John Adams, Stuart painted nearly 1,000 portraits over the course of his 50-year career. In this lecture recorded on April 3, 2005, Ellen G. Miles, cocurator of the exhibition Gilbert Stuart, illustrates the artistˈs career through documents of his sitters and business partners. The exhibition, which was on view from March 27 to July 31, 2005, presented 91 exceptional works that showcase Stuart's mastery of 18th-century English portraiture, revealing the paintingsˈ elegant, refined beauty and historical importance. Of the Galleryˈs unequaled collection of 43 paintings by Stuart, 16 were conserved in 2012 through a Bank of America Art Conservation Project Grant.

September 2012 - Jaume Reus, art historian and curator . Catalan painter Joan Miró (1893–1983), celebrated as one of the greatest modern artists, combined abstract art with surrealist fantasy to create his lithographs, murals, tapestries, and sculptures for public spaces. Held on June 1 and 2, 2012, at the National Gallery of Art, this public symposium explored Joan Miró—his personal life, politics, art, and the impact that he had on other artists. This program was held in conjunction with the exhibition Joan Miró: The Ladder of Escape on view at the Gallery from May 6 to August 12, 2012, and was coordinated with and supported by the Institut Ramon Llull.

September 2012 - John Wilmerding, Christopher Binyon Sarofim '86 Professor of American Art in the Department of Art and Archaeology, Princeton University, and visiting curator, department of American art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art John Wilmerding, former senior curator and deputy director at the National Gallery of Art, discusses his book Signs of the Artist: Signatures and Self-Expression in American Paintings in this lecture recorded on October 19, 2003. Wilmerding explores unconventional use of signatures in paintings, focusing on American artists who have placed their signature within the pictorial space of the canvas. With this act, Wilmerding argues, the artist may be making a metaphorical, and often biographical, association with the setting or situation depicted. Wilmerding discusses artists from the 18th through 20th centuries, including John Singleton Copley, Winslow Homer, Thomas Eakins, Jasper Johns, Andrew Wyeth, and Richard Estes.

August 2012 - Maria Luisa Lax, curator and head of collections, Fundació Pilar i Joan Miró a Mallorca. Catalan painter Joan Miró (1893–1983), celebrated as one of the greatest modern artists, combined abstract art with surrealist fantasy to create his lithographs, murals, tapestries, and sculptures for public spaces. Held on June 1 and 2, 2012, at the National Gallery of Art, this public symposium explored Joan Miró—his personal life, politics, art, and the impact that he had on other artists. This program was held in conjunction with the exhibition Joan Miró: The Ladder of Escape on view at the Gallery from May 6 to August 12, 2012, and was coordinated with and supported by the Institut Ramon Llull.