Commonwealth Speakers:Fine Arts
The Barnes Foundation was established in 1922 by Dr.Albert C. Barnes to promote the advancement of education and the appreciation of the fine arts.
Beyond Impressionism: The Barnes Foundation
For most people, The Barnes Foundation immediately calls to
mind Renoir, Matisse, Cézanne, and Picasso. But that is not really
what The Barnes Foundation is about. Find out why the words
that should come to mind are "line, light, color, and space." And
what does all this have to do with democracy? Kimberly Camp
will show how these teaching collections, spanning 5,000 years
and five continents, including many of Pennsylvania origin, are
used to promote critical thinking and how Dr. Barnes explored
these ideas through his correspondence with many of the leading
thinkers of the day.
Slide projector and screen required.
Kimberly Camp, Executive Director and CEO, The Barnes Foundation, Merion
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.
Slide projector and screen required.
James Curtis, Ph.D., Educational Consultant, Chadds Ford
The term "art" no longer refers only to work which can be hung on a wall or placed on a pedestal. René Marquez examines some "unconventional " art forms: performance art, video, and installation art. In what ways do these genres differ from theater, popular entertainment, or even decoration? Do these distinctions even matter? We will look at what motivates some artists to make this kind of work and what the work means to them and to viewers.
Slide projector and screen required.
René J. Marquez, Assistant Professor, Department of Art, University
of Delaware (resides in Landenberg, PA)
Pablo Picasso was a revolutionary artist, an international celebrity, a self-made multimillionaire, a neglectful father, a controlling husband and lover, and an enduring symbol of creative genius. In this slide-illustrated presentation, Myron Tomb traces the life of this complex man from his humble beginnings through his rise to become the most famous artist in the world.
Slide projector, screen, and easel required.
Myron Hay Tomb, Esquire, Indiana
His admirers claim that he defined an age. His detractors deride him as a mere opportunist. But to the general public, Andy Warhol remains an enigma, his image indistinct, elusive, and contradictory. In this slide-illustrated presentation, Selby Doughty follows Warhol from Pittsburgh to New York and examines Warhol's work and the friends that so famously surrounded him.
Slide projector and screen required.
Selby M. Doughty, Independent Scholar, Camp Hill
Just before the American war for independence, colonial Pennsylvanians underwent another revolution that changed the way they saw the world around them. Using slides, George Boudreau explores late 18th-century Pennsylvanians' changing ideas about art and architecture. He discusses the elite colonists who could afford to travel to Europe and become connoisseurs of the fine arts as well as the effects of the new aesthetics on colonists of other social classes and how politically charged the fine arts became after American independence.
Slide projector and screen required.
George W. Boudreau, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of History and American
Studies, PSU - Harrisburg (resides in Philadelphia)
For some people, sculpture is what they back into when they are trying to get a better view of a painting. Leslie Kaufman turns viewers around to examine contemporary sculpture in Pennsylvania by exploring the depth and variety of work being produced by sculptors today. Learn to see the world through the eyes of a sculptor!
Slide projector and screen required.
Leslie Kaufman, Artist, Writer, and President, Philadelphia Sculptors
Heather Arnet engages the audience in a lively discussion about the role that the arts take in their lives and their communities post-September 11. She shows slides of artwork created in reaction to 9/11 and talks about the role that theatre, the visual arts, and literature play in recording those reactions. She asks the audience to consider the role that fine art played at other times of war and conflict and challenges them to consider whether they look to the arts for comfort, entertainment, and escape, or for interpretation, social critique, and a global perspective.
Slide projector and screen required. TV and VCR preferred but not required.
Heather S. Arnet, Theatre Director, Pittsburgh
Impressionism is perhaps the best-known modern art movement. We see Impressionist images all around us on coffee mugs, umbrellas, and T-shirts. Jennifer Zarro gives a historical overview of Impressionism, with an emphasis on the science behind the technical innovations used by Impressionists, how the advent of photography and the renovations to the city of Paris influenced them,how Impressionist art differed from the mainstream art of its day, and why Impressionism is so popular today.
Slide projector and screen required. PowerPoint preferred.
Jennifer Zarro, Art Historian, Philadelphia
James Carroll shares samples from his collection of slides from museum and gallery exhibitions and his documentaries of visual, literary, and performing artists to explore how an understanding of the art of today offers insight into the art of tomorrow.
TV,VCR or DVD player, and screen required.
James Carroll,, Artist and Director, New Arts Program, Kutztown
Dogs have played an important role in the domestic life of many cultures. In several respects, the roles dogs play reflect the culture in which they live. Artist René Marquez offers a historical perspective on dogs and their people, examines dogs' place in contemporary art and culture, and discusses the role that dogs have played in his own work as a painter.
Slide projector and screen required.
René J. Marquez, Assistant Professor, Department of Art, University
of Delaware (resides in Landenberg, PA)
Incorporating slides and music, Donald and Phyllis Stoltz discuss the history of the magazine industry from 1776 to the present and examine some of the most famous Saturday Evening Post covers and the artists, like Norman Rockwell, N.C.Wyeth, John Falter, and Stevan Dohanos, who created them.
Projection screen required.
Dr. Donald Stoltz, President, Norman Rockwell Museum, and Phyllis
Stoltz, Norman Rockwell Lecturer, Philadelphia
What is the relationship between popular entertainment and the fine arts today? Are quality and value assessed differently in the two areas? In this audio and slide-illustrated presentation, Thaddeus Squire proposes that in the 21st century, the fine and performing arts are becoming direct participants in the brand-driven, consumer-oriented economy that has long dominated the popular and entertainment arts. Now more than ever, consumer value (the degree to which art satisfies a consumer's personal identity, image, or interests) is becoming more relevant to arts audiences than quality, or the nature of the artwork itself.
Slide projector, screen, and CD/cassette player required.
Thaddeus A. Squire, Artistic and Executive Director, Relâche Ensemble,
Philadelphia
In the past 30 years, many artists and craftspersons have made northeastern Pennsylvania their home. Using slides of studios, artwork, and artists such as sculptor Karl Mikolas of Allentown, potter Jordan Taylor of Union Dale, and portrait artist MaryLouise Chibirka of Dalton, Robert Stark discusses the development of artist's studios and their influence and effect on their surrounding communities.
Slide projector and screen required.
Robert Stark, Director, The Art Exchange at Susquehanna Studio, Union Dale
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.
Projection screen required.
Dr. Donald Stoltz, President, Norman Rockwell Museum, and Phyllis
Stoltz, Norman Rockwell Lecturer, Philadelphia
American artists flocked to France at the end of the 19th and the early 20th centuries to see the great art collections of Europe, study with master teachers, join a community of artists, and exhibit their work at the salons. Judith Hansen O'Toole discusses those Pennsylvania artists, starting with Benjamin West in the early 19th century and continuing through the Impressionists and,later, the Realists,who studied in France and then brought their skills back to their native state.
Slide projector and screen required.
Judith H. O'Toole, Director/CEO, Westmoreland Museum of American Art,
Greensburg
How does the artist fit into our consumerist society? What are the roles and responsibilities of the critic, the dealer, the patron, the collector, the museum gallery, and arts education? Using visual and textual aids, James Carroll explores the relationship between the artist, the arts, and society and examines the responsibilities of managing both the business and the creative aspects of art.
Projection screen required.
James Carroll, Artist and Director, New Arts Program, Kutztown
Judith Hansen O'Toole discusses western Pennsylvania artists of the late 19th- and early 20th centuries who painted both the area's disappearing pastoral landscapes and the industrial power that was replacing them. George Hetzel, leader of the Scalp Level School of landscape painting, and his colleagues who painted the valleys, mountains, and streams of western Pennsylvania are compared to impressionistic painter Aaron Harry Gorson, who chose instead to paint the steel mills along Pittsburgh's river banks.
Slide projector and screen required.
Judith H. O'Toole, Director/CEO, Westmoreland Museum of American Art,
Greensburg
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