Commonwealth Speakers:Fine Arts
This 1931 Post cover, Cramming, was painted by Norman Rockwell.
The Life and Work of Norman Rockwell
Donald and Phyllis Stoltz offer a narrative biography of Norman Rockwell, including descriptions of their visits with the artist and of the works they have collected for the Curtis Center of Norman Rockwell Art. The talk is illustrated by slides of Rockwell's most memorable Saturday Evening Post covers, story illustrations, and advertisements, and concludes with a recording of Frank Sinatra's "The House I Live In," with every line illustrated by a Norman Rockwell picture. Requirements: Screen. Microphone preferred.
Dr. Donald Stoltz, President, Norman Rockwell Museum and Phyllis Stoltz, Norman Rockwell Lecturer, Philadelphia
Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera: Definers of an Era or Politicos with Paintbrushes?
Admirers claim that they defined their era in Mexico. Detractors derided them as "politicos with paintbrushes." But to the public at large, Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera remain a riveting couple - dedicated to a cause, a country and to their individual artistic visions. With slides, Selby M. Doughty follows Frida and Diego from Mexico to New York and back to "The Blue House," and examines their work and the people who surrounded them.
Note: Take away enrichment materials are offered.
Requirements: Carousel slide projector and screen. Microphone preferred.
Selby M. Doughty, Independent Scholar, Camp Hill
The Wyeths: Pennsylvania's First Family of the Arts
Three generations of Wyeths - N.C., his son Andrew, and Andrew's son Jamie - have dominated the art scene in the Brandywine Valley and beyond for almost a century. Jim Curtis discusses how each of the three artists retained his own individuality while remaining true to family and regional traditions. Comparing N.C.'s dramatic illustrations with Andrew's enigmatic landscapes and Jamie's portraits of celebrities highlights the similarities and contrasts that we find among members of every family - even a family of geniuses. Requirements: Slide projector and screen.
James Curtis, Ph.D., Educational Consultant, Chadds Ford
Artists and Aging
As artists get older, they, like all of us, must adapt to the limitations of age. The pre-eminent fibre artist Lenore Tawney made room-size works, until she began to lose her sight in her eighties; she turned to smaller projects, which she could feel in their entirety, and adapted her technique to do so. Ninety-five-year-old Dorothea Tanning is no longer able to paint her large abstract and surreal canvases; instead, she has re-focused on poetry and also recently published a memoir and a novel. Annette Shandler Levitt will explain how for these artists and others like them, creativity adapts to circumstance. Audiences are encouraged to bring their own art and their stories of adapting to new challenges and strictures. Requirements: Slide projector and screen, with remote control for projector, as well as podium with light.
Annette Shandler Levitt, Professor of English, Drexel University, Philadelphia