ARTISTS AND THEIR WORK – FALL 2024 VIDEOS
Lead Coordinator: Linda Downs
Artists and Their Work is an art history course that explores the lives and work of artists throughout the world.
NOTE: To view a video click on the link below its description. Once the video window comes up (in a new tab), click on the start button to begin.
ARTISTS AND THEIR WORK
Metropolitan Museum European Art Collection: Look Again
Presenter: Marian Friedmann
Presentation Date: September 10, 2024
The Metropolitan Museum of Art reopened 45 newly installed European Paintings Galleries on November 20, 2023, Galleries 600–644 following the completion of an extensive 5-year skylight renovation project that began in 2018.
Look Again: European Paintings 1300–1800 displays more than 700 works from the Museum’s world-famous holdings offering fresh dialogues and new thematic groupings. The stunning reconfigured galleries including recently acquired paintings and significant loans are displayed under new skylights. My talk will focus on the Gateway Gallery, 600, located at the top of the Great Hall staircase, featuring three monumental paintings by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, and room 601, with works from the early 14th century alongside the 20th-century work of Max Beckmann and Francis Bacon.
ARTISTS AND THEIR WORK
Dutch Painters of the 17th Century Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Others
Presenter: Lynnel Garabedian
Presentation Date: September 24, 2024
During the 17th Century, the Dutch nation became one of the wealthiest and most powerful in the world and experienced an enormous flowering of Dutch art, especially in the field of painting. Artists, studios, and patrons proliferated, and the appreciation of art led to ordinary Dutchmen valuing the ownership of paintings.
Among the many superb painters of this Dutch Golden Age, were Rembrandt van Rijn and Johannes Vermeer. Rembrandt became known especially for his portraiture and Vermeer for his sensitive depictions of Dutch indoor life. Both artists are still considered today among the world’s greatest painters.
ARTISTS AND THEIR WORK
The Art of Dutch Daily Life in the Golden Age
Presenter: Tamara Weinberg
Presentation Date: October 8, 2024
This week’s presentation will continue to explore painting during the Dutch Golden Age,
with a focus on scenes from everyday life created by artists including Frans Hals, Jan
Steen, Judith Leyster, and Peter Wtewael. In contrast to last week’s dignified portraits,
these lively genre paintings depict rosy-cheeked Dutch and Flemish folks engaging in
their daily activities and enjoying themselves. The paintings are rife with visual humor – is
the symbolism poking fun at lust and gluttony, or are the paintings meant as moralistic
warnings against the sins of overindulgence?
ARTISTS AND THEIR WORK
Spanish Artists of the 17th Century
Presenter: Sandy Gordon
Presentation Date: October 23, 2024
The 17th century in Europe was an age of great intellectual, scientific, artistic and cultural achievement. Politically, England and Scotland were united, Russia became more stable, Europe’s 30-year war ended in 1648, and the Dutch achieved independence. The Reformation, scientific discovery and Capitalism all impacted this era.
In Spain, the greatest impact of this century in art was with the movement away from religious church art, and the result was The Spanish Golden Age, birthing what would be called Baroque art. The art was dramatic, colorful, expressive imagery, intense use of light and shadow, movement, and no longer only church and royalty related. The major artists of this period were DeRibera, Zurbaran, and Murillo, whose visions and unique subjects and styles became the influence for what was called Baroque art in Europe. In Gallery 624 of the Met, their glory is celebrated!
ARTISTS AND THEIR WORK
Landscape Painting
Presenter: Ann Gored
Presentation Date: November 5, 2024
The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s renovated area called European Galleries now has three rooms that are devoted specifically to Landscape Painting. Needless to say, these are not the only galleries in the museum where one can find European, or other paintings, that feature landscapes. So what is special about the works chosen for these three galleries? Why is the first gallery named “Origins of Landscape” when its paintings are from the 16th and 17th centuries? Certainly we see landscapes in paintings dated much earlier than that period. Why is the next gallery named” Patriotic Landscapes,” and how do the paintings in this gallery differ from images of other landscapes that clearly reflect specific, recognizable sites? The third gallery, “Classical Landscapes,” sounds like a revival of the paintings from Greece and Rome. Is that what its paintings look like?
ARTISTS AND THEIR WORK
The Art of Titian, Tintoretto, and Veronese in 16th Century Venice
Presenter: Ellen Shapiro
Presentation Date: November 19, 2024
Imagine New York City and Paris merged together – then you have an idea of Venice, Italy in the 16th century. The largest and most vibrant of the cities of Europe, a center of trade between East and West, the center of publishing in Europe, Venice became home to vibrant, creative artists.
Titian developed innovative coloring, his tones so luscious that they make you want to touch them, especially in his depictions of human flesh. Tintoretto’s people hurtle through vast spaces. Veronese brought the calming influence of Central Italian art— think Raphael— mixed with a richness and majesty all his own.
Come look at some of the ground-breaking paintings of this vibrant city. Then go and see the originals in room 608 of our own Metropolitan Museum of Art.
ARTISTS AND THEIR WORK
Friendships, Rivalries, and Influences on Italian Renaissance Artists
Presenter: Susan Diehl
Presentation Date: December 10, 2024
Art is never created in a vacuum. All artists are influenced/inspired by fellow artists who came before as well as those who are contemporaries. Political, religious and environmental factors can either be supportive or disruptive to the creative process. We will take a look at some of the most significant factors that influenced the Italian renaissance artists of the 15th Century.