This program will explore the practice of masking as it appears across the vast and culturally diverse Congolese region of Central Africa, where masks function as performance objects, works of art, educational tools, and ritual objects of devotion. Utilizing selected objects from VMFA’s Congo Masks: Masterpieces from Central Africa exhibition, masks will be examined and…
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Archived Lectures. Some no longer available. Please visit the Statewide Faculty page for up-to-date listings.
VMFA Speakers on the Arts lectures are an excellent complement to programming at partner sites. They can also introduce new areas of art to Partner audiences and enhance community events and celebrations. A wide selection of topics and speakers is available for VMFA Statewide Partners. See Booking Speakers on the Arts for information about requesting a lecture.
Spirit Photos, Fairy Photos and the Comfort of Belief
“The series of incidents set forth…represent either the most elaborate and ingenious hoax ever played upon the public, or else they constitute an event in human history which may in future appear to have been epoch-making in its character.” This quote by Arthur Conan Doyle could just as easily apply to the spirit photographs of…
Request ProgramPencil and Powder: Combat Artists of the Civil War
“A total disregard for personal safety and comfort; an owl-like propensity to sit up all night; and a hawky style of vigilance during the day.” These were the qualities possessed by the Special Artists of the “Bohemian Brigade.” During the Civil War, the art of photography was still in its infancy. The long exposure times…
Request ProgramCollecting for the Commonwealth, Preserving for the Nation: A Century of Art Patronage at VMFA
In 1919, John Barton Payne made a gift of artworks to the Commonwealth of Virginia. His vision: a public art museum that could educate and unite a disparate people. A hundred years on, VMFA has emerged a leading repository of great world art. That success is due to the passion and persistence of a century…
Request ProgramOf Glitter and Grit: American Art from the McGlothlin Collection
From the early investment in landscape as the mythological source of America’s manifest destiny, to the closing of the frontier and the rise of a gilded empire, to the disaffection caused by rapid economic, social and political change: the development of the United States finds visual voice in the American art of the McGlothlin Collection.…
Request ProgramReligious 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.…
Request ProgramMapas 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…
Request ProgramAncient 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…
Request ProgramTurquoise, 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,…
Request ProgramThe Fabergé Obsession: Romance, Revolution, and Russian Decorative Arts
Why are so many people fascinated with Fabergé’s creations and the last days of the Russian empire? The imperial eggs are worth millions and the craftsmanship of Fabergé’s creations is remarkable, but perhaps the stories of opulence, revolution, and death associated with these works are the hooks that best catch our interest. This PowerPoint talk…
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