Pop Art brought mass consumerist culture into museums and galleries in the early 1960s radically changing the course of art by eliminating the boundary between “high” culture and everyday life. Part of what paved the way was that it was the first major art movement with a sense of humor. This talk, using images of…
Welles was perhaps the most fascinating filmmaking maverick in Hollywood who was, in the words of Martin Scorsese, “responsible for inspiring more people to be film directors than anyone else in history of the cinema.” This presentation shows images from his career plus focusses a complex story of his ill-fated attempts to make an anthology…
Early French silent filmmaker Georges Melies made delightful, humorous short films at the birth of cinema in the 1890s and early 1900s. He almost single-handedly invented movie special effects in his largely fantasy-type films. All filmmakers today owe him so much. Enjoy excerpts from his films, some in color, with this presentation.
United through their art, this talk with images explores the connections between three vastly different artists: France’s Henri Rousseau, Belgium’s René Magritte, and U.S.A.’s Joseph Cornell. Surrealism, a literary and visual artistic movement which began in the 1920s, experimented with new modes of expression. Rousseau, pre-dating Surrealism, was a naive “involuntary” Surrealist and was adored…
American movie directors D.W. Griffith and Edwin Porter developed the artistry of cinema in the early 20th century. Griffith even used the paintings of Jean Francois Millet to design his film A Corner in Wheat (1909). This presentation highlights the art of movies as Griffith and Porter created it. Excerpts from their films also shown.
The movies have loved Abraham Lincoln and helped form his legend. He is the U.S. president who has appeared as a character in more movies and TV shows than any other, over 300 documented works. This presentation focuses on and includes images from Hollywood movies and of many famous and not-as-famous actors who have portrayed…
Our current era of art and society is considered Postmodern. This talk will define Postmodernism and show its evolution throughout history with examples from art and architecture. Postmodernism is not necessarily the new; it is often a process of recovering popular motifs of the past. Sometimes Postmodernism is perceived as puzzling and avant garde but…
Our current era of art and society, which is now commonly referred to as the “Postmodern,” has been foreshadowed in avant-garde films and videos since the 1920s. This talk will explain and define Postmodernism and show short filmic examples to illustrate, such as works by Man Ray, Joseph Cornell, and Andy Warhol.
Ancient Egypt and specifically mummies have offered highly creative inspiration for feature movies. This presentation will provide film history background on the art and characteristics of this sub-genre and attitudes regarding “exotic” views of Ancient Egyptian culture. 1932’s The Mummy (79 min) with Boris Karloff will be shown with lecture.
An extra fee applies to this two-hour program. Please contact Jeffrey Allison for details.
