Religious Art and Architecture in Colonial Latin America

The hybridization of indigenous and European arts in the colonial Americas can best be viewed through the lens of religious art and architecture from the Viceroyalties of New Spain and Peru. The fusion of European and indigenous beliefs and aesthetics, and how these melded into a new style, can be viewed in architecture, retablos (altarpieces), oratorios (oratories), and paintings.…

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Mapas and Codices: Manuscripts in Ancient and Colonial Mexico

Writing has a long history in Mesoamerica from the early writing system of the Formative Period Olmec culture to the Aztec manuscripts of the early Colonial period. Less than 100 Mixtec and Aztec manuscripts are known from the pre-Hispanic and early Colonial periods that indicate the role of writing both before, during, and after the…

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Ancient American Empires: The Art of the Inka and Aztec

In the early sixteenth century, the Spanish conquistadors arrived in Mesoamerica and South America in search of wealth and fame. What they found, though, were the highly complex empires of the Mexica (now known as the Aztec) of Mesoamerica and the Inka of South America. Through their sensationalized writings, the Spanish left a legacy of…

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Turquoise, Jade, Shell, and Feathers (oh my!): Materiality in the Ancient Americas

For Ancient American cultures, such as the Maya and the Inka, the materiality of the artwork held important significance. Materials like jade, turquoise, feathers, spondylus, gold, silver, and textiles were highly prized because of their association with life-giving forces, such as water, the sky, the sun, and the moon. Using examples from the VMFA’s collection,…

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The Cloth Unfolded 1: Linen, Laundry, and Laundresses in 19th-Century Still Life

(45 minute illustrated lecture – PowerPoint)  Using images from the VMFA permanent collections, Mary Prevo, art historian and museum educator, will discuss her project: the carefully laundered linen table covering in nineteenth-century still life and its function as a measure of middle-class status.  In the hands of artists like Fantin-Latour, Manet, Cezanne and Gauguin cool,…

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Modern Art: Native American Style

Mid-century modern art is exemplified by an abstract aesthetic that emphasizes the materiality of the work. Numerous Native American artists, such as Kay Walkingstick, engaged with the rhetoric surrounding modern art but their self-identity as a Native American has overshadowed their contribution to modern art. This talk will examine the way mid-century Native American modern…

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Soft Pastel Painting Workshop

Fall in love with the velvety richness, the sparkling color, and the direct touch with which pastel has been enchanting artists for centuries! You’ll be ready to capture the world with delightful colors of after participating in this fun, informative workshop. Designed for artists, art teachers and high school students, the maximum class size of…

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“Hail Columbia!” Personifications of America from the Colonial Era through World War I

This lecture traces the evolution of personifications of America from the beginning of European exploration through the emergence of the United States as a modern international superpower. Across this timeframe, artists symbolized America in a range of guises, including as a Native American princess, the classicized goddess Columbia, the personification of Liberty, and Uncle Sam.…

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A Brief History of African American Art through the Civil Rights Era

African American artists occupy an important, though often overlooked place in the history of American art. This lecture surveys the creative work of African American artists from the colonial period through the 1960s—artists including Joshua Johnson, Robert Duncanson, Henry Ossawa Tanner, Aaron Douglas, Meta Warrick Fuller, Jacob Lawrence, Elizabeth Catlett, Beauford Delaney, and Norman Lewis,…

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Picturing Modern Womanhood: Suffragettes, Flappers, and Other New Women in American Art, 1910-1940

The early decades of the twentieth century witnessed dramatic changes in American society in general and women’s lives in particular. Many women gained new educational, occupational, and political opportunities, while also enjoying unprecedented social and sexual freedoms. Their experiences challenged traditional gender hierarchies and long-held assumptions about female nature. The so-called New Woman embodied modern…

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