One hour’s drive southwest of Paris, Chartres Cathedral stands as a magnificently complete example of Gothic architecture, sculpture, and stained glass. But what looks like a unified design is really the result of several extended building campaigns that lasted for years and required the work of many skilled craft persons. Every level of the huge building is accessible through passageways in the thickness of the buttresses. This talk is richly illustrated by the speaker’s images of Chartres Cathedral.
This program has been organized by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and is funded, in part, by the Jean Stafford Camp Memorial Fund.
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Program Categories: European Art: Byzantine through 1950
Faculty Members: Mary Prevo
This illustrated talk investigates the dramatic changes in the 17th-century technology and philosophy that set the stage for the modern world. Works of art, including portraits, prints, sculptures, and textiles from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, illustrate the shifts in international alliances, economic competition, and world view that are characteristic to this traditional age.
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Program Categories: European Art: Byzantine through 1950
Faculty Members: Twyla Kitts
Jun’ichirō Tanizaki’s seminal text, In Praise of Shadows (1933), discusses Eastern, specifically Japanese, ideals of beauty. Contrary to the Western framework of thinking, Japanese aesthetics favors the in-between, typically discarded or overlooked places of beauty: the grey shadows, the tea ceremony, and even a toilet seat. By looking at examples of Japanese fine and decorative arts, we will discuss Tanizaki’s major ideas concerning Eastern Aesthetics and then apply his understanding to the works in the VMFA permanent collection.
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Program Categories: East Asian
Faculty Members: Amanda Dalla Villa Moorefield
This lecture explores Shinto and Buddhism, two of the major religions of Japan. The overview includes a discussion of how they developed, their places of worship, their sources, aesthetic principles, and how they are applied to life and art in Japan.
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Program Categories: East Asian
The Edo Period was the time of shoguns, samurai, Kabuki, and the famous ukiyo-e prints. This lecture provides the context for these elements and discusses the subjects, techniques, and aesthetic principles of the ukiyo-e woodblock prints of Japan.
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Program Categories: East Asian
Trace the development of the Korean collection at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts from the first Korean artwork of a 8th-century gilt bronze Buddha that entered the collection in 1969 to the recent purchase of a 19th-century lacquer box. Explore how the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts’ Korean art collection has grown through public donations and museum purchases. The speaker will also introduce the Museum’s first Korean gallery built through the generous support of the Korea Foundation in Seoul.
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Program Categories: East Asian
Faculty Members: Li Jian
Since the 1890s, the name Cartier has been synonymous with sparkle, glamour, and opulence. But behind the iridescent jewels lies a tale of multiple inventions, famous clients, cutting-edge design, and a love affair with material, color, and fashion. In this lecture, you’ll explore these tales and see examples of the various styles Cartier popularized from 1900 to the 1950s.
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Program Categories: Decorative Arts & Design: Fabergé, Art Nouveau, Art Deco
Faculty Members: Celeste Fetta
We encounter ancient sculptures thousands of years after they were created and can readily imagine the complete form of these statues, despite missing parts and broken bits. But it is much harder to imagine something we hardly ever glimpse — color! Ancient statues were painted, often with bright, gaudy pigments. This lecture explores the color of ancient statues and how modern researchers are discovering surviving traces of those colors in order to recreate sculpture’s original appearance.
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Program Categories: Ancient Art (Greek, Roman, Egyptian)
Faculty Members: Peter Schertz, PhD
Many of us first encounter the art of the ancient Greeks through their vases. Though familiar to us, these apparently simple, functional objects often mystify and even baffle both the young and the old. In this lecture, Peter Schertz demystifies Greek vases by exploring how they were made and used, who made them and the significance of both their shapes and their decoration.
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Program Categories: Ancient Art (Greek, Roman, Egyptian)
Faculty Members: Peter Schertz, PhD
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.
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Program Categories: Ancient Art (Greek, Roman, Egyptian) and Film
Faculty Members: Trent Nicholas