Curators

Stephen J. Campbell, Henry and Elizabeth Wiesenfeld Professor of Art History, Johns Hopkins University. In this lecture, presented on November 4, 2018, Stephen J. Campbell addresses the conflicted reception of the Venetian painter Titian outside his home city during a crucial phase in the formation of his reputation—his achievement of celebrity as a Hapsburg court painter and his inclusion in an emerging canon of Venetian and central Italian artists. While Titian’s production for Hapsburg patrons in Spain and other non-Italian destinations shows him performing as the quintessential artist of the Italian "modern manner," by the mid-sixteenth century his work for sites in Italy pursued a different course: artistic and critical reaction suggests that it was found to be inscrutable or alienating. Campbell’s lecture proposes that this reception resulted from a tacit disavowal on Titian's part of contemporary critical accounts—by Lodovico Dolce, Pietro Aretino, and Giorgio Vasari—that increasingly sought to define his work.

Stephen J. Campbell, Henry and Elizabeth Wiesenfeld Professor of Art History, Johns Hopkins University. In this lecture, presented on November 4, 2018, Stephen J. Campbell addresses the conflicted reception of the Venetian painter Titian outside his home city during a crucial phase in the formation of his reputation—his achievement of celebrity as a Hapsburg court painter and his inclusion in an emerging canon of Venetian and central Italian artists. While Titian’s production for Hapsburg patrons in Spain and other non-Italian destinations shows him performing as the quintessential artist of the Italian "modern manner," by the mid-sixteenth century his work for sites in Italy pursued a different course: artistic and critical reaction suggests that it was found to be inscrutable or alienating. Campbell’s lecture proposes that this reception resulted from a tacit disavowal on Titian's part of contemporary critical accounts—by Lodovico Dolce, Pietro Aretino, and Giorgio Vasari—that increasingly sought to define his work.

Beverly Louise Brown, Fellow, The Warburg Institute. In this lecture, presented on November 19, 2017, Beverly Louise Brown discusses Titian’s portrait of Clarice Strozzi. A popular nineteenth-century nursery rhyme tells us that little boys are made of snips and snails and puppy dog tails while little girls are filled with sugar and spice and all things nice. And who could be nicer than two-year-old Clarice Strozzi, who in Titian’s portrait so sweetly shares a ring-shaped biscuit with her toy spaniel? Today, Instagram abounds in similar snapshots eagerly sent by adoring parents to family and friends. Such images would seem to embody the essence of childhood by celebrating their subjects’ natural spontaneity. They are lasting reminders of the days of childhood innocence. It is in this spirit that we might assume Clarice Strozzi’s parents commissioned her portrait in 1542. But if we look more carefully at Titian’s charming portrayal of a little girl and her dog, we soon discover that it is unlikely to have been a mere celebration of sugar and spice and all things nice.

Ruth Fine, curator (1972-2012), National Gallery of Art, and curator and catalog editor, Procession: The Art of Norman Lewis, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia. Procession: The Art of Norman Lewis is the first comprehensive museum overview of the work of this influential artist. Norman Lewis (1909-1979) became committed to issues of abstraction at the start of his career and continued to explore them over its entire trajectory. His art derived inspiration from music (jazz and classical) and nature (seasonal changes, plant forms, and the sea). Also central to his work were the dramatic confrontations of the civil rights movement, in which he was an active participant alongside fellow members of the New York art scene. Bridging the Harlem Renaissance, abstract expressionism, and other movements, Lewis is a crucial figure in American art whose reinsertion into the discourse further opens the field for recognition of the contributions of artists of color. Procession was organized by the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, and brings together works from major public and private collections. In this lecture, recorded on February 14, 2016, at the National Gallery of Art, exhibition curator Ruth Fine presents an overview of the approximately 130 paintings, unique works on paper, objects, and prints dating from the early 1930s through the late 1970s featured in both the Procession exhibition and its companion show Stone and Metal: Lithographs and Etchings by Norman Lewis. Bringing much-needed attention to Lewis’s output and significance in the history of American art, the multiauthor exhibition catalog—edited by Fine, who wrote the key overview essay—is a milestone in Lewis scholarship and a vital resource for future study of the artist and abstraction in his period.

Sarah Kennel, associate curator, department of photography, National Gallery of Art. In this lecture, delivered on June 29, 2015 as part of the Works in Progress series, Sarah Kennel explores one of the most curious landmarks in the history of photography, Duchenne de Boulogne’s 1862 publication Mechanism of Human Facial Expression, a copy of which the National Gallery of Art acquired in early 2015. A pioneering  neurologist, Duchenne de Boulogne began experimenting in the 1830s with the application of electricity to stimulate facial muscles in order to invoke a wide range of expressions—or, as he put it, “to speak the language of the emotions.” He then recorded these artificially induced expressions through photographs. By harnessing two relatively new technologies, applied electricity and photography, Duchenne brought scientific rigor to a field of study that had previously relied on the imperfect observations of the eye and notations of the hand. Shaped by emerging conventions of photographic portraiture and shifting ideas about theatricality, realism, and mimesis, Duchenne’s photographs complicate as much as clarify the supposed transparency between the expressive surface of the face and the interior world of its bearer. As such, they raise provocative questions about the relationship between photography as an instrument of knowledge and the visual culture of both theater and medicine in the 19th century.

Peter M. Lukehart, associate dean, Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art. The publication of Torquato Tasso’s Gerusalemme Liberata in 1581 occasioned a host of responses from artists, literati, and musicians that lasted well into the eighteenth century. In this lecture recorded on February 25, 2015, Peter Lukehart focuses on the rich corpus of drawings, paintings, and prints created during the first decades after the epic became part of the shared culture of Italy. From lavishly illustrated editions of Tasso’s poem to handsomely decorated interiors, the text provided a rich source of narrative material for painters, draftsmen, and printmakers. The lecture concludes with an introduction to Claudio Monteverdi’s 1624 musical representation of a famous scene from Gerusalemme, Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda, in which the intersection of love and war has tragic consequences.

Al Acres, associate professor of art and art history, Georgetown University. Countless Renaissance images of Christ’s infancy allude either to his sacrifice or to evil, and sometimes to both. Each represents a kind of absence in the moment pictured: the ultimate death of the infant and an intangible menace resisted by his coming. Although both occur widely in European work of the period and are familiar to modern observers of Renaissance art, they have never been systematically addressed. In this lecture recorded on January 25, 2015, based on his new book, Al Acres offers some suggestions about why this might be and examines the extraordinary variety of ways in which artists sought to convey these related ideas. In the challenge of representing two oblique presences, artists as diverse as Bosch, Botticelli, Bruegel, Gossaert, Leonardo, and Michelangelo (among many others) recognized a rich opportunity to cultivate new and deeply absorbing kinds of visual ingenuity.

Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., curator of northern baroque paintings, National Gallery of Art. At the end of the 19th century, Johannes Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring sold for a pittance, an unknown work by an artist who was only beginning to achieve recognition. Today it is revered as a great masterpiece, so famous that it is recognizable by its title alone, with the name of its maker being almost superfluous. In this lecture recorded on June 1, 2014, at the National Gallery of Art, curator Arthur Wheelock examines the reasons why this image resonates so profoundly with contemporary audiences.

On May 6, the National Gallery of Art hosted a press preview for Degas/Cassatt—an exhibition that explores for the first time the complex and dynamic artistic relationship between Edgar Degas and Mary Cassatt. Speakers include (pictured left to right) the Gallery’s director, Earl A. Powell III, its associate curator of French paintings, Kimberly A. Jones, and chairman and CEO of Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., Ralph W. Shrader.

In celebration of the recent gift of Andrew Wyeth’s Wind from the Sea (1947)—one of the artist’s most important paintings—the National Gallery of Art presents an exhibition focused on Wyeth’s first full realization in tempera of the window as a recurring subject in his art. Andrew Wyeth: Looking Out, Looking In presents some 60 watercolors, drawings, and tempera paintings completed after Wind from the Sea. In honor of the exhibition opening on May 4, 2014, curators Nancy K. Anderson and Charles Brock discuss Wyeth’s fascination with windows. During his long and productive career, the artist created more than 300 remarkable works that explore the formal and conceptual aspects of looking both in and out of windows. Spare, elegant, and abstract, these paintings are free of the narrative element inevitably associated with his better-known figural compositions. In the exhibition, works are grouped in suites of related images, illustrating the disciplined process of reduction and simplification that Wyeth consistently used in creating his window paintings. The resulting images are often rigorous in their formal construction but deeply personal in subject. The exhibition, organized by the National Gallery of Art, will be on view only in Washington through November 30, 2014.

George T. M. Shackelford, deputy director, Kimbell Art Museum. In this lecture recorded on February 2, 2014, at the National Gallery of Art, George Shackelford discusses Vincent van Gogh's remarkable portraits of himself and others—beginning with his earliest drawings from 1880 after his move to Brussels to his last paintings, completed in 1889. Using Van Gogh’s letters in context, Shackelford describes the artist’s desire to analyze and fix his own image. He argues that Van Gogh put more of himself, his feelings, and his thoughts into his work than any other artist of the 19th century. Ultimately, Shackelford concludes that Van Gogh’s “whole art is that mirror on himself.”

Arthur J. Wheelock Jr., curator of northern baroque paintings, National Gallery of Art In 1975 Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. was appointed curator of northern baroque paintings at the National Gallery of Art. During his nearly 40 years in the position, Wheelock has cared for, cultivated, and strengthened the Dutch and Flemish paintings collection. He has also fostered an impressive exhibition program, including Anthony van Dyck (1990), Johannes Vermeer: The Art of Painting (1999), Rembrandt’s Late Religious Portraits (2005), Jan Lievens: A Dutch Master Rediscovered (2008), and Judith Leyster (1609-1660) (2009). In this lecture recorded on December 15, 2013, Wheelock shares the history of the Dutch and Flemish collection and special exhibitions while looking toward the future of curatorial responsibility.

Shelley Rice, arts professor, department of photography and imaging and department of art history, New York University. Organized in conjunction with Charles Marville: Photographer of Paris, this symposium held on December 6, 2013, at the National Gallery of Art offers new perspectives on art and urbanism in 19th-century Paris. An international panel of art, architectural, and literary historians address the transformation of 19th-century Paris in papers that focus on diverse topics including the representation of Parisian quarries in 19th-century photography, painting, and literature; the formative role of architect Gabriel Davioud in reshaping Paris; the use of photography to map the changing city; new modes of transportation that shape the experience and representations of the city;  the impact of 19th-century photography of Paris on 20th-century film;  and the relationship between Marville’s urban documentation and contemporary photographic practice. Charles Marville: Photographer of Paris is on view at the Gallery through January 5, 2014.

Masha Belenky, associate professor of French and acting chair, department of Romance, German, and Slavic Languages and Literatures, The George Washington University. Organized in conjunction with Charles Marville: Photographer of Paris, this symposium held on December 6, 2013, at the National Gallery of Art offers new perspectives on art and urbanism in 19th-century Paris. An international panel of art, architectural, and literary historians address the transformation of 19th-century Paris in papers that focus on diverse topics including the representation of Parisian quarries in 19th-century photography, painting, and literature; the formative role of architect Gabriel Davioud in reshaping Paris; the use of photography to map the changing city; new modes of transportation that shape the experience and representations of the city;  the impact of 19th-century photography of Paris on 20th-century film;  and the relationship between Marville’s urban documentation and contemporary photographic practice. Charles Marville: Photographer of Paris is on view at the Gallery through January 5, 2014.

Sarah Kennel, associate curator, department of photographs, National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art’s exhibition Charles Marville: Photographer of Paris, on view from September 29, 2013, through January 5, 2014, is the first retrospective exhibition in the United States on the renowned 19th-century French photographer Charles Marville (1813–1879). In this opening day lecture, Sarah Kennel discusses some of the 100 featured photographs that cover the arc of Marville's career, from his city scenes and landscape and architectural studies of Europe in the early 1850s to his compelling photographs of Paris and its environs in the late 1870s. The exhibition presents recent groundbreaking discoveries informing Marville’s art and biography, including the versatility of his photographic talents and his true identity, background, and family life.

Sarah Greenough, senior curator and head of the department of photographs, National Gallery of Art; Nancy Anderson, curator and head of the department of American and British paintings, National Gallery of Art; Lindsay Harris, research associate, department of photographs, National Gallery of Art; Renée Ater, associate professor of art history and director of academic programs, University of Maryland, College Park. To celebrate the exhibition opening of Tell It with Pride: The 54th Massachusetts Regiment and Augustus Saint-Gaudens' Shaw Memorial on September 15, 2013, the curators and catalogue authors discuss the individual stories and photographic portraits of the soldiers in the 54th Massachusetts Regiment, as well as those of the men and women who recruited, nursed, taught, and guided them. On view through January 20, 2014, the exhibition considers the legacy of the 54th and the Battle of Fort Wagner in art, examining nineteenth century efforts to memorialize those who fought, including early works by African American artists Edward Bannister and Edmonia Lewis in addition to Saint-Gaudens’ development of the Shaw Memorial itself. The lecture concludes with the continuing inspiration that the 54th, its defining battle, and the Shaw Memorial have been for twentieth and twenty-first century artists as diverse as Richard Benson, Ed Hamilton, Lewis Hine, Carrie Mae Weems, and William Earle Williams.

Sarah Kennel, associate curator, department of photographs, National Gallery of Art. Sarah Kennel, National Gallery of Art curator behind the exhibit Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes, 1909–1929: When Art Danced with Music, discusses the critical reaction to the Rite of Spring at its 1913 Paris premiere in this lecture recorded on July 21, 2013. Kennel explores possible connections between the ballet’s choreography and contemporary dance practices that transformed popular culture in the first two decades of the twentieth century. Though on the surface the avant-garde choreography for the Rite of Spring seems wholly antithetical to the forms of popular dance, critics repeatedly invoked the same terms to describe the bodily movement in both dance styles. Furthermore, a choreographic analysis of the Rite of Spring reveals several moments in which Nijinsky appears to have “poached” certain movements from popular dancing, as well as from other movement traditions, including classical ballet, suggesting that the Rite of Spring’s modernism was partly shaped by a dialogue with mass culture.

Lynn Garafola, professor of dance, Barnard College, Columbia University. Bronislava Nijinska, the sister of famed ballet dancer and choreographer Vaslav Nijinsky, was a pioneer of the modern tradition of ballet. In spring 2013, Lynn Garafola was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship to support her research on Nijinska. In this lecture recorded on July 7, 2013, at the National Gallery of Art, Garafola shares her latest research and thoughts about how Nijinska's life and work not only illuminated modern ballet history, but 20th century culture as a whole. In 1913 Nijinska was evicted from her brother's production The Rite of Spring for getting married, an act that he perceived as a betrayal. Afterward, although she was no longer dancing for her brother, Nijinska still played a crucial role in the dissemination of modernism. The longevity of her career eclipsed that of her brother’s, and her work influenced numerous dancers and choreographers. Held in conjunction with the exhibition Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes, 1909–1929: When Art Danced with Music, on view at the Gallery from May 12 to October 6, 2013, this lecture was supported in loving memory of Shirley Casstevens.

Kerry James Marshall in conversation with James Meyer, associate curator of modern art, National Gallery of Art. Kerry James Marshall has exhibited widely in both the United States and abroad and is the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, among other honors. His work often explores the experiences of African Americans and narratives of American history that have historically excluded black people. Drawing upon the artist’s prodigious knowledge of art history and African diasporic culture, his paintings combine figurative and abstract styles and multiple allusions. In Marshall’s art, the past is never truly past: history exerts a constant, often unconscious pressure on the living. In this program recorded on June 26, 2013, Marshall discusses the works and themes of his exhibition In the Tower: Kerry James Marshall, on view at the Gallery from June 28 to December 7, 2013.

Sarah Kennel, associate curator, department of photographs, National Gallery of Art, and Jane Pritchard, curator of dance, Victoria and Albert Museum. The Ballets Russes was the most innovative dance company of the 20th century. Founded by Russian impresario Serge Diaghilev (1872–1929) in Paris in 1909, the company propelled the performing arts to new heights through groundbreaking collaborations between artists, composers, choreographers, dancers, and fashion designers. The National Gallery of Art’s exhibition, Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes, 1909–1929: When Art Danced with Music, on view from May 12 to September 02, 2013, showcases more than 150 original costumes, set designs, paintings, sculptures, prints and drawings, photographs, posters, and incorporates film clips in a theatrical multimedia installation. The exhibition was adapted from one conceived by and first shown at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in 2010. The Gallery’s Sarah Kennel provides an overview of the exhibition, followed by V&A’s Jane Pritchard, who discusses the history and artistry of the Ballets Russes costumes in a joint lecture recorded on June 2, 2013.

Sjeng Scheijen, postdoctoral researcher, Veni Laureate, Leiden University. This symposium and panel discussion recorded on June 1, 2013 at the National Gallery of Art honored the exhibit Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes, 1909–1929: When Art Danced with Music, on view from May 12 to September 2, 2013. Adapted from the exhibition conceived by and first shown at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in 2010, the presentation in Washington draws upon that rich survey, including some 80 works from the V&A’s renowned collection of dance artifacts, and adds about 50 objects generously offered by more than 20 lenders, private and public. The Ballets Russes combined Russian and Western traditions with a healthy dose of modernism, thrilling and shocking audiences with its powerful fusion of choreography, music, and design. Sarah Kennel, associate curator in the department of photographs at the National Gallery of Art, provides a welcome and introduces the first speaker, Sjeng Scheijen, a postdoctoral researcher at Leiden University.

Anna Winestein, executive director, Ballets Russes Cultural Partnership.
This symposium and panel discussion recorded on June 1, 2013 at the National Gallery of Art honored the exhibit Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes, 1909–1929: When Art Danced with Music, on view from May 12 to September 2, 2013. Adapted from the exhibition conceived by and first shown at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in 2010, the presentation in Washington draws upon that rich survey, including some 80 works from the V&A’s renowned collection of dance artifacts, and adds about 50 objects generously offered by more than 20 lenders, private and public. The Ballets Russes combined Russian and Western traditions with a healthy dose of modernism, thrilling and shocking audiences with its powerful fusion of choreography, music, and design. In this second lecture, Anna Winestein, executive director of the Ballets Russes Cultural Partnership, discusses the first American tour of the Ballets Russes.  

Tina Barney, artist; Sarah Greenough, senior curator and head of the department of photographs, National Gallery of Art; Sarah Lewis, art historian, author and curator; Clifford Ross, artist; and Robert Storr, dean of the Yale School of Art, chairman of FAPE’s Professional Fine Arts Advisors, and consulting curator of modern and contemporary art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. In collaboration with the Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies (FAPE), the National Gallery of Art hosted a panel discussion on the role of art in diplomacy on April 30, 2013. The panelists—Sarah Greenough, Sarah Lewis, and Robert Storr—present an overview of FAPE’s photography collection in American embassies around the world. Tina Barney discusses her recent gift to FAPE, and Clifford Ross reviews the photographs acquired by FAPE for display at the US Mission to the United Nations in New York as well as recent projects in China.

Wendy A. Cooper, Lois F. and Henry S. McNeil Senior Curator of Furniture, Winterthur Museum. This symposium honored the newly unveiled installation Masterpieces of American Furniture from the Kaufman Collection, 1700–1830, the first major presentation of early American furniture and related decorative arts on permanent public view in the nation’s capital. The installation highlights nearly one-hundred examples from the distinguished collection of George M. and Linda H. Kaufman, acquired over the course of five decades and promised to the National Gallery of Art. Academics and curators discuss the fine art of American furniture and decorative arts and its future study in these lectures recorded on March 22 and 23, 2013.

Mark Leithauser, senior curator and chief of design, National Gallery of Art. This symposium honored the newly unveiled installation Masterpieces of American Furniture from the Kaufman Collection, 1700–1830, the first major presentation of early American furniture and related decorative arts on permanent public view in the nation’s capital. The installation highlights nearly one-hundred examples from the distinguished collection of George M. and Linda H. Kaufman, acquired over the course of five decades and promised to the National Gallery of Art. Academics and curators discuss the fine art of American furniture and decorative arts and its future study in these lectures recorded on March 22 and 23, 2013.

Diane Waggoner, associate curator, department of photographs, National Gallery of Art, Jason Rosenfeld, distinguished chair and professor of art history, Marymount Manhattan College, Scott Allan, associate curator of paintings, J. Paul Getty Museum, Linda S. Ferber, vice president and senior art historian, New-York Historical Society, Cordula Grewe, associate professor of art history, Columbia University. Held in conjunction with the exhibition Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Art and Design, 1848–1900, this symposium explored Britain's first avant-garde art movement in the context of other international modernisms. The young members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (formed in 1848) shook the art world of mid-19th-century Britain by rejecting traditional approaches to painting. Academics and curators consider modern art and craft movements in these lectures recorded on March 8 and 9, 2013. This program was coordinated with and supported by the Department of the History of Art, Yale University.

Glenn Ligon, artist, with Molly Donovan and James Meyer, associate curators of modern art, National Gallery of Art. Glenn Ligon’s intertextual works examine cultural and social identity—often through found sources such as literature, Afro-centric coloring books, and photographs—to reveal the ways in which slavery, the civil rights movement, and identity politics inform our understanding of American society. In 2012, the Gallery acquired its first painting by Ligon, Untitled (I Am a Man) (1988). In honor of this acquisition, Ligon presented the 20th annual Elson Lecture on March 14, 2013. Untitled (I Am a Man) is a reinterpretation of the signs carried by 1,300 striking African American sanitation workers in Memphis in 1968 and made famous in Ernest Withers' photographs of the march. Proclaiming "I Am a Man," the signs evoke Ralph Ellison's famous line—"I am an invisible man." Approximating the size of these signs, Ligon’s roughly made painting combines layers of history, meaning, and physical material in a dense, resonant object. As the first painting in which the artist appropriated text, itis a breakthrough. In subsequent works he would transform texts into fields of semilegible and masked meanings. The Gallery owns sixteen works by Ligon, including a suite of etchings and a print portfolio.

Tim Barringer, Paul Mellon Professor of the History of Art and director of graduate studies, Yale University, Michael Hatt, professor of the history of art, University of Warwick. Held in conjunction with the exhibition Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Art and Design, 1848–1900, this symposium explored Britain's first avant-garde art movement in the context of other international modernisms. The young members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (formed in 1848) shook the art world of mid-19th-century Britain by rejecting traditional approaches to painting. Academics and curators consider modern art and craft movements in these lectures recorded on March 8 and 9, 2013. This program was coordinated with and supported by the Department of the History of Art, Yale University.

Diane Waggoner, associate curator, department of photographs, National Gallery of Art, Jason Rosenfeld, distinguished chair and professor of art history, Marymount Manhattan College. Held in conjunction with the exhibition Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Art and Design, 1848–1900, this symposium explored Britain's first avant-garde art movement in the context of other international modernisms. The young members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (formed in 1848) shook the art world of mid-19th-century Britain by rejecting traditional approaches to painting. Academics and curators consider modern art and craft movements in these lectures recorded on March 8 and 9, 2013. This program was coordinated with and supported by the Department of the History of Art, Yale University.

Scott Allan, associate curator of paintings, J. Paul Getty Museum. Held in conjunction with the exhibition Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Art and Design, 1848–1900, this symposium explored Britain's first avant-garde art movement in the context of other international modernisms. The young members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (formed in 1848) shook the art world of mid-19th-century Britain by rejecting traditional approaches to painting. Academics and curators consider modern art and craft movements in these lectures recorded on March 8 and 9, 2013. This program was coordinated with and supported by the Department of the History of Art, Yale University.

Mia Fineman, assistant curator, department of photographs, Metropolitan Museum of Art. The urge to modify camera images is as old as photography itself—only the methods have changed. Faking It: Manipulated Photography before Photoshop is the first major exhibition devoted to the history of manipulated photographs before the digital age. The exhibition, on view at the National Gallery of Art from February 17 to May 5, 2013, offers a provocative new perspective on the history of photography. In this lecture recorded on February 24, 2013, exhibition curator Mia Fineman traces photographic manipulation from the 1840s through the 1980s and shows that photography is—and always has been—a medium of fabricated truths and artful lies.

Tim Barringer, Paul Mellon Professor of the History of Art and director of graduate studies, Yale University; Jason Rosenfeld, distinguished chair and professor of art history, Marymount Manhattan College; and Diane Waggoner, associate curator, department of photographs, National Gallery of Art. In this podcast recorded on February 17, 2013, at the National Gallery of Art, Tim Barringer, Jason Rosenfeld, and Diane Waggoner celebrate the opening of the exhibition Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Art and Design, 1848–1900, the first major survey of Pre-Raphaelite art to be shown in the United States. The Pre-Raphaelites were a group of young artists who sought to overturn established traditions of painting and made art that looked to the past for inspiration, but also engaged directly with the bustling modern world of Victorian Britain. The exhibition features some 130 paintings, sculptures, photography, works on paper, and decorative art objects that reflect the ideals of Britain's first modern art movement. Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Art and Design, 1848–1900 is on display through May 19, 2013.

Harry Cooper, curator and head, department of modern art, National Gallery of Art, with original slides courtesy of the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein. On November 11, 1995, Roy Lichtenstein was in Japan to receive the Kyoto Prize from the Inamori Foundation. In accepting the award, he delivered a lecture on the evolution of his work since his Pop breakthrough of 1961. Thanks to the generosity of the artist's estate and foundation, Harry Cooper, the National Gallery of Art's curator of modern art, presented this lecture at the Gallery, with the original slides, on January 9, 2013—in honor of Roy Lichtenstein: A Retrospective, the first major exhibition of the artist's work since his death in 1997. The exhibition was on view at the Gallery from October 14, 2012, to January 13, 2013.

Alison Luchs, curator of early European sculpture, National Gallery of Art. Michelangelo created the statue now known as David-Apollo around 1530 to please the tyrannical governor of Florence, Baccio Valori. The double name of this unfinished work, which is on loan to the National Gallery of Art from the Museo Nazionale del Bargello in Florence, reflects contradictory evidence—both visual and documentary—concerning the subject. The graceful figure, its surface still veiled in chisel marks, embodies ambiguities and conflicts in Michelangelo’s own life. This lecture, recorded on January 27, 2013, at the National Gallery of Art, explores the mysteries surrounding the statue, the significance of its unfinished condition, and responses to it from later artists. The loan of David-Apollo opened the nationwide celebration 2013―The Year of Italian Culture.The sculpture is on view from December 13, 2012, to March 2, 2013.

Charles Ritchie, associate curator of modern prints and drawings, National Gallery of Art. While Ellsworth Kelly is best known for crafting pristine, monochrome shapes, he has periodically employed chance as a strategy in composing works. The series of 23 paper-pulp works featured in the exhibition Ellsworth Kelly: Colored Paper Images, on view at the National Gallery of Art from December 16, 2012, through December 1, 2013, is a dramatic example of this approach. Wet colored paper pulps were pressed into freshly made sheets of paper, resulting in color bleeds that eroded the precision of his designs. In this lecture recorded on February 10, 2013, Charles Ritchie investigates factors contributing to the success of this project—from Kelly’s improvisation on earlier motifs to print publisher Ken Tyler’s study of pigmentation in order to create strongly colored, lightfast paper pulps. Ritchie also discusses the expertise of veteran papermakers John and Kathleen Koller, who developed the paper for this project.

The Tony Smith Experience, Harry Cooper, curator and head, department of modern art, National Gallery of Art; Q and A Session, featuring Kiki Smith. Tony Smith was an architect-turned-sculptor who defied stylistic categories. His objects, at once imposing and playful, left a lasting mark on postwar art and raised public sculpture to a new level of ambition. On the occasion of what would have been his 100th year, this symposium, recorded on December 1, 2012, at the National Gallery of Art, takes a new look at Smith's achievement from the diverse perspectives of artist, art historian, and curator. Featured speakers include scholar Eileen Costello, sculptor Charles Ray, and curator Harry Cooper. This program was held in collaboration with Kiki Smith, Seton Smith, and the Tony Smith Estate.

Andreas Henning, curator of Italian paintings, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden Hardly any other Italian Renaissance work is as well-known as Raphael's Sistine Madonna. All the evidence suggests that Pope Julius II commissioned Raphael to paint this altarpiece in the summer of 1512. For more than 240 years, the painting hung almost completely unremarked in its original position in the San Sisto Church in Piacenza, Italy. In this 16th annual Sydney J. Freedberg Lecture on Italian Art recorded on November 11, 2012, at the National Gallery of Art, Andreas Henning reveals how the Sistine Madonna only gradually became known to a growing audience after it was acquired for Dresden's Royal Gallery in the mid-18th century. This lecture not only presents Raphael's masterpiece and outlines the conditions that led to its creation 500 years ago, but also considers the many different forms that its reception has taken in art, literature, craft work, and kitsch to popularize the work.

Wendy A. Cooper, Lois F. and Henry S. McNeil Senior Curator of Furniture, Winterthur Museum, University of Delaware. Curator Wendy A. Cooper celebrated the landmark installation of early American furniture and related decorative arts at the National Gallery of Art in this lecture recorded on October 28, 2012. The Kaufman Collection is one of the largest and most refined collections of early American furniture in private hands, acquired with great connoisseurship over five decades by George M. (1932-2001) and Linda H. Kaufman (born 1938). The collection, a gift promised to the Gallery in October 2010, comprises more than 200 works of art including American furniture, paintings, and works on paper. These fine examples of American decorative arts in the Kaufman Collection will be complemented by outstanding American paintings from the Gallery's own collection, including portraits by artists such as John Wollaston (active 1742/1775), Ralph Earl (1751-1801), and Gilbert Stuart (1755-1828). Located on the Ground Floor of the West Building, Masterpieces of American Furniture from the Kaufman Collection, 1700-1830 is the first major presentation of such objects to be on continuous public view in the nation's capital.

Gregory Jecmen, associate curator of old master prints and drawings, National Gallery of Art With a storied past and a strong imperial presence, Augsburg enjoyed a golden age in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, fostering artists such as Hans Burgkmair, Erhard Ratdolt, Daniel Hopfer, Jörg Breu, and Hans Weiditz. The artists flourished from about 1475 as the effects of the Italian Renaissance were first being felt, through the social, political, and religious upheavals of the Reformation, which took hold in 1537 following 20 years of struggle. In this paired lecture recorded on October 21, 2012, Gregory Jecmen explains this rich and varied history through more than 100 works featured in Imperial Augsburg: Renaissance Prints and Drawings, 1475-1540. Focusing on drawings, prints, and illustrated books mostly from the Gallery's own extensive collection, the exhibition- first of its kind in America- serves as an introduction to Augsburg, its artists, and its cultural history, during this period.

Harry Cooper, curator and head, department of modern and contemporary art, National Gallery of Art. Harry Cooper, the Gallery's consulting curator for Roy Lichtenstein: A Retrospective- on view from October 14, 2012 to January 13, 2013- presents an overview of the first major exhibition of the artist's work since his death in 1997. In this opening-day lecture recorded on October 14, 2012, at the National Gallery of Art, Cooper reviews some of the 136 works in the exhibition, including Lichtenstein's greatest paintings from all periods of his career, as well as drawings and sculptures. The retrospective presents Lichtenstein's expansive legacy- the classic early pop paintings based on advertisements, comic-book treatments of war and romance, versions of paintings by the modern masters, and series including Brushstrokes, Mirrors, Artist's Studios, Nudes, and Chinese Landscapes.

Mark A. White, Eugene B. Adkins Curator and Chief Curator, Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, University of Oklahoma. When George Bellows died at the age of forty-two in 1925, he was hailed as one of the greatest artists America had yet produced. The exhibition George Bellows, on view at the National Gallery of Art from June 10 to October 8, 2012, provides the most complete account of his achievements to date. Bellows was a leading figure in the generation of artists who negotiated the transition from the Victorian to the early modern era in American culture. In this public symposium, held in conjunction with the exhibition on October 5-6, 2012, and coordinated with the Columbus Museum of Art, curators and scholars examine the remarkable scope of Bellows' career and assess his contributions to the first wave of twentieth-century American modernism.

Carol Troyen, Kristin and Roger Servison Curator Emerita of American Paintings, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. When George Bellows died at the age of forty-two in 1925, he was hailed as one of the greatest artists America had yet produced. The exhibition George Bellows, on view at the National Gallery of Art from June 10 to October 8, 2012, provides the most complete account of his achievements to date. Bellows was a leading figure in the generation of artists who negotiated the transition from the Victorian to the early modern era in American culture. In this public symposium, held in conjunction with the exhibition on October 5-6, 2012, and coordinated with the Columbus Museum of Art, curators and scholars examine the remarkable scope of Bellows' career and assess his contributions to the first wave of twentieth-century American modernism.

Sarah Kennel, associate curator, department of photographs, National Gallery of Art, and Ksenya Gurshtein, Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Curatorial Fellow, National Gallery of Art. To celebrate the opening of The Serial Portrait: Photography and Identity in the Last One Hundred Years at the National Gallery of Art on September 30, 2012, Sarah Kennel and Ksenya Gurshtein explored the role of seriality in 20th-century and contemporary photographic portraiture. On view through December 31, 2012, the exhibition features some 150 works by 20 photographers who transcend the limits of the single image by photographing the same subjects- "primarily friends, family, and themselves"- over the course of days, months, years, and even decades.

Judith Brodie, curator and head, department of modern prints and drawings, National Gallery of Art. In 1909 F. T. Marinetti's futurist manifesto appeared on the front page of Le Figaro; less than four years, later Pablo Picasso incorporated a fragment of real newspaper into a work of art. The modern mass-media newspaper had colonized fine art. The exhibition Shock of the News examines the many manifestations of the "newspaper phenomenon" from 1909 to 2009, a century during which major artists engaged in a vibrant and multifaceted relationship with the printed news by co-opting, mimicking, defusing, memorializing, and rewriting newspapers. In this podcast recorded on September 23, 2012, at the National Gallery of Art for the exhibition opening, Judith Brodie presents work by more than 60 European and American artists from Marinetti, Picasso, and Man Ray to Adrian Piper, Robert Gober, and Mario Merz.

Mary Morton, curator and head of the department of French paintings, National Gallery of Art. Revisiting the theme of the exhibition The Spectacular Art of Jean-Léon Gérôme, on view at the J. Paul Getty Museum from June 15 through September 12, 2010, curator Mary Morton shares revelations from the exhibition and since its closing two years ago. In this lecture recorded on September 16, 2012, at the National Gallery of Art, Morton explains the complexity of Jean-Léon Gérôme's work, career, and reception. During his life Gérôme (1824-1904) attained a high degree of professional and financial success, but his artistic reputation suffered due to alleged commercialism and his resistance to the avant-garde impressionist and post-impressionist movements. Morton reviews works from Gérôme's entire career- the early "Néo-Grec" paintings with references to classical antiquity, historical scenes, Orientalist genre paintings, and his late focus on sculpture- to make the case for his spectacular art.

Charles Brock, associate curator, department of American and British paintings, National Gallery of Art Curator Charles Brock discusses the National Gallery of Art's landmark exhibition George Bellows, the first comprehensive presentation of the artist's career in more than 3 decades. In this opening-day lecture recorded on June 10, 2012, Brock explores Bellows' paintings, drawings, and lithographs depicting tenement children, boxers, sporting events, family portraits, World War I subjects, Maine seascapes, scenes of Woodstock, NY, and the urban landscape of New York City. This exhibition, on view through October 8, 2012, charts the full range of Bellows' artistic achievement, represented by some 130 works arranged thematically and chronologically throughout 9 galleries.

Harry Cooper, curator and head, department of modern and contemporary art, National Gallery of Art. Prior to the exhibition opening of In the Tower: Barnett Newman on June 10, 2012, Harry Cooper discussed the 26-work installation by Barnett Newman (1905-1970) in this lecture recorded on June 4, 2012, as part of the Works in Progress series at the National Gallery of Art. Cooper describes Newman's childhood, artistic techniques, and evolution as an artist that ultimately led him to paint the 14 canvases of The Stations of the Cross, considered by many to be Newman's greatest achievement. This is the fifth show in a series installed in the Tower Gallery that focuses on developments in art since the mid-20th century. The centerpiece of the exhibition, Newman's famed Stations of the Cross, is brought to new light in the vaulting, self-contained space of the I. M. Pei-designed tower.

Jonathan Bober, curator and head of the department of old master prints, National Gallery of Art. The genius of Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione (1609-1664) is characterized by his thoroughgoing synthesis of other artists' styles, his incessant variations upon a relatively narrow range of subjects, and his profound influence upon later artists. In the National Gallery of Art exhibition The Baroque Genius of Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione, on view from January 29 to July 8, 2012, Castiglione's works and comparative examples are presented side by side, underscoring the serial aspect of his creativity. In this lecture recorded on June 3, 2012, exhibition curator Jonathan Bober suggests that this creativity contradicts the division of Baroque style into "naturalistic" and "classical," and predicts critical aspects of contemporary art, including appropriation, crossing of boundaries, and variations on a theme.

Jaume Reus, art historian and curator . Catalan painter Joan Miró (1893-1983), celebrated as one of the greatest modern artists, combined abstract art with surrealist fantasy to create his lithographs, murals, tapestries, and sculptures for public spaces. Held on June 1 and 2, 2012, at the National Gallery of Art, this public symposium explored Joan Miró- his personal life, politics, art, and the impact that he had on other artists. This program was held in conjunction with the exhibition Joan Miró: The Ladder of Escape on view at the Gallery from May 6 to August 12, 2012, and was coordinated with and supported by the Institut Ramon Llull.

Maria Luisa Lax, curator and head of collections, Fundació Pilar i Joan Miró a Mallorca. Catalan painter Joan Miró (1893-1983), celebrated as one of the greatest modern artists, combined abstract art with surrealist fantasy to create his lithographs, murals, tapestries, and sculptures for public spaces. Held on June 1 and 2, 2012, at the National Gallery of Art, this public symposium explored Joan Miró- his personal life, politics, art, and the impact that he had on other artists. This program was held in conjunction with the exhibition Joan Miró: The Ladder of Escape on view at the Gallery from May 6 to August 12, 2012, and was coordinated with and supported by the Institut Ramon Llull.

Harry Cooper, curator and head of modern and contemporary art, National Gallery of Art, and Matthew Gale, head of displays, Tate Modern. Celebrated as one of the greatest modern artists, Joan Miró (1893-1983) developed a visual language that reflected his vision and energy in a variety of styles across many media. On view at the National Gallery of Art from May 6 through August 12, 2012, the retrospective exhibition Joan Miró: The Ladder of Escape reveals the artist's politically engaged side. Harry Cooper, the Gallery's consulting curator for The Ladder of Escape, presented an overview of the exhibition's 120 paintings, drawings, sculptures, and prints in his opening day lecture, which is recorded in this podcast. Following the lecture, Cooper sat down with Matthew Gale, one of the exhibition's two organizing curators from Tate Modern, and discussed the creation and production of this landmark retrospective. The exhibition was organized by Tate Modern, London, in collaboration with Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, and in association with the National Gallery of Art.

Gary Tinterow, director, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Following a two-year renovation, the galleries devoted to impressionism and post-impressionism in the West Building of the National Gallery of Art reopened on January 28, 2012. Among the world's greatest collections of paintings by Manet, Monet, Renoir, Cézanne, Van Gogh, and Gauguin, the Gallery's later 19th-century French paintings returned to public view in a freshly conceived installation design. In honor of the reopening, the Gallery hosted a public symposium on April 27, 2012, focused on issues surrounding the reinstallation of three major 19th-century paintings collections: The Barnes Foundation, the Musée d'Orsay, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Martha Lucy, associate curator, The Barnes Foundation. Following a two-year renovation, the galleries devoted to impressionism and post-impressionism in the West Building of the National Gallery of Art reopened on January 28, 2012. Among the world's greatest collections of paintings by Manet, Monet, Renoir, Cézanne, Van Gogh, and Gauguin, the Gallery's later 19th-century French paintings returned to public view in a freshly conceived installation design. In honor of the reopening, the Gallery hosted a public symposium on April 27, 2012, focused on issues surrounding the reinstallation of three major 19th-century paintings collections: The Barnes Foundation, the Musée d'Orsay, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Olivier Meslay, associate director of curatorial affairs, Dallas Museum of Art. Scholars from around the world gathered at the National Gallery of Art to discuss Samuel F. B. Morse's newly conserved Gallery of the Louvre, which is on view at the National Gallery of Art from June 25, 2011, through July 8, 2012. In a 2-day public symposium, held and recorded on April 20 and 21, 2012, academics, conservators, and curators examined the historical context of the work, its conservation treatment, and the techniques used. This program was coordinated with and supported by the Terra Foundation for American Art.

David C. Driskell, artist, collector, and emeritus professor of art history, University of Maryland at College Park, and Ruth Fine, consulting curator of special projects in modern art, National Gallery of Art. Highly respected as an artist, art historian, curator, and teacher, David C. Driskell's life as a collector is less well known. In this event recorded on February 12, 2012, as part of the National Gallery of Art lecture series The Collecting of African American Art, David C. Driskell and Ruth Fine discuss publicly for the first time the expansive range of his art acquisitions, which he started to collect during his years as an art student at Howard University in Washington, DC. Among the treasures in Driskell's collection are old master and modern European prints, antique rugs, African sculpture, and works by African American masters from the 19th century through the present.

Mary Morton, curator and head of the department of French paintings, National Gallery of Art. Curator Mary Morton celebrates the reinstallation of the impressionist and post-impressionist paintings galleries in the West Building of the National Gallery of Art in this lecture recorded on January 29, 2012. Among the world's great collections of paintings by Cézanne, Gauguin, Manet, Monet, Renoir, and Van Gogh, the Gallery's nineteenth-century French paintings are recently back on view after a two-year period of gallery repair, restoration, and renovation. Morton discusses the new installation and its thematic, monographic, and art historical organization.

Eleonora Luciano, associate curator of sculpture; Dylan Smith, Robert H. Smith Research Conservator; Naomi Remes, exhibition officer; Donna Kirk, senior architect and designer; Brad Ireland, publishing designer, National Gallery of Art. Gallery staff reveal behind-the-scenes stories from the making of Antico: The Golden Age of Renaissance Bronzes, a special exhibition organized in association with the Frick Collection on view at the National Gallery of Art from November 6, 2011, through April 8, 2012. This exhibition is the first in the United States devoted to the Mantuan sculptor and goldsmith Pier Jacopo Alari Bonacolsi, known as Antico (c. 1455-1528) for his expertise in classical antiquity. Antico also developed and refined the technology for producing bronzes in multiples. Antico's bronzes are so rare that the nearly 40 works--including medals, reliefs, busts, and the renowned statuettes--constitute more than three quarters of the sculptor's extant oeuvre. In this program recorded on November 20, 2011, Gallery staff explain the exhibition from the perspective of a conservator, curator, exhibition designer, exhibition officer, and publishing designer.

Carl Brandon Strehlke, adjunct curator, John G. Johnson Collection, Philadelphia Museum of Art. In 1895 Bernard Berenson (1865-1959), American art historian and connoisseur, published a long-awaited monograph on Renaissance painter Lorenzo Lotto; it was Berenson's first statement about the then relatively new science of connoisseurship. Toward the end of his life Berenson remembered that since writing that book, in which he had tried to regulate every knowable mood of an artist, he had almost never again "taken creative interest in the private, biological, and sociological lives of painters." As part of the Sydney J. Freedberg Lecture on Italian Art series, recorded on November 13, 2011, at the National Gallery of Art, Carl Brandon Strehlke explores why Berenson selected Lotto as an artist and as a subject for a study that he described as "an essay in constructive art criticism."

Mel Bochner, artist, in conversation with James Meyer, associate curator of modern and contemporary art, National Gallery of Art. Mel Bochner is one of the leading figures of conceptual and post-conceptual art. Between 1966 and 1968, he developed a series of portrait drawings based on the thesaurus. These works enlist a private language of synonyms and shapes to depict such contemporaries as Eva Hesse, Robert Smithson, and Sol LeWitt. In 2001, after a hiatus of more than three decades, Bochner again turned to the thesaurus to develop a series of paintings and drawings derived from everyday speech. Boldly colored and impressive in scale, these works are among the most ambitious of the artist's career. To mark the opening of the exhibition In the Tower: Mel Bochner, Bochner appears in conversation with exhibition curator James Meyer in this podcast recorded on November 9, 2011.

James Meyer, associate curator of modern and contemporary art, National Gallery of Art. In the Tower is a series of presentations of works by significant artists of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Held in the Tower Gallery of the East Building of the National Gallery of Art, the series has included installations of works by Philip Guston, Mark Rothko, and most recently, Nam June Paik. The newest presentation, by Mel Bochner, is the first by a living artist. Focusing on his famous Thesaurus portraits of the 1960s and his recent Thesaurus paintings and drawings, the exhibit explores Bochner's reexamination of his early conceptual practice during the last decade. Exhibition curator James Meyer discusses the show within the context of the In the Tower series and the broader arc of Bochner's career in this podcast recorded on November 6, 2011.

Carmen Bambach, Andrew W. Mellon Professor, Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art. Leonardo da Vinci is famous for his masterpieces of painting, such as the Ginevra de' Benci portrait at the National Gallery of Art. He is no less famous for his profoundly modern, inquisitive mind as a thinker and inventor. Little is understood about his activity as an author of sketchbooks and notebooks, which provide an important key to understanding his masterpieces. In this podcast recorded on October 30, 2011 at the National Gallery of Art, Carmen Bambach discusses how the drawings and writings of Leonardo da Vinci offer a moving and intimate insight into the complex and sometimes paradoxical workings of his genius mind.

The Warhol: Headlines exhibition, on view at the National Gallery of Art from September 25, 2011, through January 2, 2012, defines and brings together works that Andy Warhol based largely on headlines from the tabloid news. Held in conjunction with the exhibition, this symposium features four lectures, each offering new perspectives from which to consider Warhol's multifaceted treatment of the media.

Peter J. Brownlee, associate curator, Terra Foundation for American Art Samuel F. B. Morse, best known for his role in the development of the electronic telegraph, began his career as a painter. One of his most important works, the newly conserved Gallery of the Louvre, is on view at the National Gallery of Art from June 25, 2011, through July 8, 2012, in the exhibition A New Look: Samuel F. B. Morse's "Gallery of the Louvre." In honor of the exhibition, curator Peter J. Brownlee utilizes facets of the painting's recent conservation as a jumping off point for a discussion of Morse's artistic training, his technique and experimental use of materials, and the theoretical underpinnings of and pictorial sources for his monumental painting.

Sarah Greenough, senior curator and head of the department of photographs, National Gallery of Art. In celebration of the exhibition opening, curator Sarah Greenough introduces Harry Callahan at 100 on view at the National Gallery of Art from October 2, 2011, through March 4, 2012. As Greenough notes, this exhibition celebrates the 100th anniversary of Callahan's birth in 1912. The exhibition explores all facets of Callahan's rich contribution to 20th-century American art from his earliest work made in Detroit during World War II, to photographs made in Chicago in the late 1940s and 1950s, to works made in Providence in the 1960s and 1970s, to his final pieces made during travels around the world in the later 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.

Molly Donovan, associate curator of modern and contemporary art, National Gallery of Art. In 1975 Andy Warhol wrote: "I'm confused about who the news belongs to. I always have it in my head that if your name's in the news, then the news should be paying you." True to form, this quote exemplified the many questions Warhol posed during his celebrated career. The exhibition Warhol: Headlines examines the media, methods, and messages of the news headlines. To mark the exhibition's opening day at the National Gallery of Art, curator Molly Donovan discusses some of Warhol's artistic practices in relation to the headline theme in this podcast recorded on September 25, 2011.

Christine Mehring, associate professor of art history and director of graduate studies, University of Chicago, and Stephen Vitiello, associate professor of kinetic imaging, Virginia Commonwealth University. Following the lectures is a conversation with Ken Hakuta, executor of the Nam June Paik estate, and Jon Huffman, curator of the Nam June Paik estate. Moderated by Harry Cooper, curator and head of modern and contemporary art, National Gallery of Art. Recorded on September 23, 2011, at the National Gallery of Art, as the exhibition In the Tower: Nam June Paik drew to a close, this symposium considers the work of this pioneer of new media from his earliest explorations of television to his later experiments with sound and video. This exhibition is the third installation for the In the Tower series, which presents work by significant artists of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The symposium was coordinated with and supported by the Embassy of Korea.

Sarah Greenough, senior curator and head of the department of photographs, National Gallery of Art. Sarah Greenough talks about her new book on the letters of Georgia O'Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz, My Faraway One: Selected Letters of Georgia O'Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz, Volume One, 1915-1933, in this podcast recorded on September 18, 2011, at the National Gallery of Art. Greenough notes the insights provided by the correspondence on their art, their friendships with many key figures of early twentieth-century American art and culture, and, most especially, their relationship with each other.

Britt Salvesen, curator and head, Wallis Annenberg Photography Department and prints and drawings department, Los Angeles County Museum of Art. In his Prototypes series of photographs, Lewis Baltz represented the built environment of the 1960s and 1970s. He critiqued modernist aspirations while examining commercial realities. In this lecture recorded on June 5, 2011, at the National Gallery of Art, Britt Salvesen examines Baltz's work and several different visual sources available to him, from the Case Study houses as photographed by Julius Shulman to minimalist painting and sculpture, to Ed Ruscha and New Topographics. This lecture was presented in conjunction with the Gallery's exhibition Lewis Baltz: Prototypes/Ronde de Nuit, on view until July 31, 2011.

Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., curator, northern baroque paintings, National Gallery of Art, Washington, and Pieter Roelofs, curator of 17th-century paintings, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. One of the leading painters of 17th-century Holland and a contemporary of Johannes Vermeer, Gabriel Metsu was a gifted visual storyteller who infused his narrative paintings with suspense, drama, and emotion. On the occasion of the first monographic exhibition of Metsu's work in the United States, Wheelock talks with Roelofs about the artist's ability to capture ordinary moments with spontaneity and unerring realism.

Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., curator of northern baroque paintings, National Gallery of Art; Pieter Roelofs, curator of 17th-century paintings, Rijksmuseum; and Adriaan E. Waiboer, curator of northern European art, National Gallery of Ireland. Curators Arthur Wheelock, Pieter Roelofs, and Adriaan E. Waiboer discuss the paintings of Dutch artist Gabriel Metsu. A contemporary of Johannes Vermeer, Metsu had the ability to capture ordinary moments in 17th-century Dutch life with sensitivity and realism. Recorded on April 22, 2011, this lecture was held in conjunction with the exhibition Gabriel Metsu, 1629-1667, on view at the National Gallery of Art from April 10 to July 24, 2011

Sarah Greenough, senior curator and head, department of photographs, National Gallery of Art, and Matthew S. Witkovsky, exhibition guest curator. Featured are some 50 Prototypes—on view together for the first time—and the mural-sized 12-panel color work Ronde de Nuit. Greenough and Witkovsky discuss the artist's interest in the postwar American landscape, as revealed in Prototypes, and his continuing preoccupation with industrially manufactured environments and how they are used to control contemporary society, as shown in Ronde de Nuit.

Venice during the time of Canaletto was examined in this public symposium held in conjunction with the Venice: Canaletto and His Rivals exhibition, on view at the National Gallery of Art from February 20 through May 30, 2011. Recorded on April 2, 2011, this podcast includes lectures by exhibition curators David Alan Brown, Dawson Carr, and Charles Beddington. Scholars William Barcham, Emanuela Pagan, and Oliver Tostmann are also featured.

David Alan Brown, curator of Italian and Spanish paintings, National Gallery of Art. As part of the Works in Progress lecture series on March 2, 2011, at the National Gallery of Art, curator David Alan Brown discusses the formation of great collections of Italian Renaissance art in the United States. Brown emphasizes the important role that Bernard Berenson (1865-1959), American art historian and connoisseur, and Joseph Duveen (1869-1939), British art dealer, played in late 19th-century American collections. Equally important were the wealthy industrialists of America's gilded age, including Henry Clay Frick, Samuel H. Kress, Andrew W. Mellon, and Joseph E. Widener, who sought to revamp the country's cultural landscape by collecting these masterpieces and giving them to museum collections for the public.

Mary Morton, curator of French paintings, National Gallery of Art, and Belinda Thomson, exhibition guest curator. On the occasion of the exhibition Gauguin: Maker of Myth, Morton and Thomson discuss Gauguin's talent for storytelling across media through his remarkable works of Brittany and the islands of the South Seas.

Mary Morton, curator and head of the department of French paintings, National Gallery of Art, and Belinda Thomson, guest curator. Exhibition curators Mary Morton and Belinda Thomson mark the opening of the exhibition Gauguin: Maker of Myth in this lecture recorded February 27, 2011. On view at the National Gallery of Art from February 27 to June 5, 2011, the exhibition features nearly 120 works by Gauguin. Organized by Tate Modern, London, in association with the Gallery, the exhibition is the first major look at the artist's oeuvre at the Gallery since the blockbuster retrospective The Art of Paul Gauguin in 1988.

Charles Beddington, guest curator. Canaletto expert Charles Beddington marks the opening day of the exhibition Venice: Canaletto and His Rivals in this lecture recorded February 20, 2011. On view at the National Gallery of Art from February 20 to May 30, 2011, the exhibition features 20 of Canaletto's finest paintings of Venice alongside 33 paintings by his most important contemporaries, including Michele Marieschi, Francesco Guardi, and Bernardo Bellotto. Beddington explains that the exhibition is unique for revealing the rivalry between the artists by these side-by-side comparisons.

Ruth Fine, curator of special projects in modern art, National Gallery of Art. To coincide with the Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday weekend, Ruth Fine describes the history and growth of the collection of works on paper by African American artists at the National Gallery of Art in this podcast recorded on January 16, 2011. The Gallery owns approximately 70,000 prints and 30,000 drawings, all of which have been acquired by donation or purchased with donated funds. The Gallery, which opened to the public in 1941, acquired its first works by African American artists in 1943, which is the starting point of Fine's presentation. She tracks the collection's riches by the chronological order in which the drawings and prints entered the collection. The earliest of them are Edward Loper's contributions to the Index of American Design, acquired in 1943, with the most recent being Norma Gloria Morgan's etching and aquatint Turning Forms, added in 2010. Throughout the lecture, Fine suggests the unique ability of works on paper to reveal much about an artist's thought processes.

Panel discussion included, in order of participation: Sharmila Sen, general editor for the humanities, Harvard University Press; David Bindman, emeritus professor of the history of art, University College London, and the Sheila Biddle Ford Foundation Fellow at the W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research, Harvard University; Faya Causey, head of academic programs, National Gallery of Art; Alison Luchs, curator of early European sculpture, National Gallery of Art; Ruth Fine, curator of special projects in modern art, National Gallery of Art; and Lou Stovall, artist. David Bindman, coeditor of The Image of the Black in Western Art series along with Henry Louis Gates Jr., participates in a panel discussion for the Washington launch of this landmark publication. Recorded on December 12, 2010, at the National Gallery of Art, Professor Bindman and editor Sharmila Sen discuss the complex history and ambitions behind the series. When the expanded and revised series is completed by 2015, there will be 10 books in all, including two new volumes on the 20th century. The panelists examine works made by or depicting people of African descent in the s

Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., curator of northern baroque paintings, National Gallery of Art. In this podcast recorded on November 28, 2010, at the National Gallery of Art, Arthur Wheelock reveals the provenance of various Dutch masterpieces that hang in the West Building galleries. Wheelock explores the growth of the Dutch collection from the time the Gallery opened in 1941 to the present day, when it is considered one of the most celebrated collections of Dutch paintings in the world.

Held in conjunction with the exhibition American Modernism: The Shein Collection, on view at the National Gallery of Art from May 16, 2010, to January 2, 2011, this public symposium provides an analysis of the paintings, sculptures, and drawings created by the first generation of American avant-garde artists. In this podcast recorded on November 6, 2010, noted scholars Michael C. FitzGerald, Didier Ottinger, Debra Bricker Balken, Carol Troyen, and Jay Bochner present illustrated lectures that chronicle the advent of the modernist movement.

David Brown, curator, Italian and Spanish paintings, National Gallery of Art, and Sylvia Ferino-Pagden, curator, Italian Renaissance painting, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. Sixteen examples of the composite heads painted by the Italian Renaissance master Giuseppe Arcimboldo, bizarre but with scientifically accurate components, are on view together for the first time in the United States at the National Gallery of Art, Washington. On the occasion of the exhibition Arcimboldo, 1526-1593: Nature and Fantasy, David Brown and Sylvia Ferino-Pagden unravel the mysteries behind his work.

Mark Leithauser, senior curator and head of design and installation, National Gallery of Art, and Philip Haas, artist and filmmaker. American artist and filmmaker Philip Haas (b. 1954) has created a colossal fiberglass sculpture inspired by Giuseppe Arcimboldo's painting Winter (1563), on display at the National Gallery of Art as part of the exhibition Arcimboldo, 1526-1593: Nature and Fantasy. Leithauser discusses with the artist what prompted him to make this fascinating work of art.

Elizabeth Prelinger, Keyser Family Professor of Art History, Georgetown University, and Andrew Robison, senior curator of prints and drawings, National Gallery of Art. Elizabeth Prelinger and Andrew Robison, curators of the exhibition Edvard Munch: Master Prints, discuss how Munch ignored the artistic establishment to create his own vanguard of color printmaking. In this podcast recorded on September 26, 2010, at the National Gallery of Art, Prelinger and Robison consider the nearly 60 works in the exhibition and examine the evolution of printmaking throughout Munch's career, as he repeatedly revised his prints to reflect the broader and ever-changing world of art.

Alison Luchs, curator of early European sculpture, National Gallery of Art. Fantastic sea creatures can be found in early Venetian printed books, tomb sculpture, churches, political settings, and small bronzes. In such diverse contexts these figures convey a wide range of moods, from festive to poetic to tragic. In this podcast, recorded on September 12, 2010, at the National Gallery of Art, Alison Luchs explores the ways Venetian Renaissance artists interpreted a variety of mythical hybrid sea creatures that were handed down, through art and literature, from the ancient and medieval worlds. Purchase her book, The Mermaids of Venice: Fantastic Sea Creatures in Venetian Renaissance Art

Andrew Robison, Andrew W. Mellon Senior Curator of Prints and Drawings, National Gallery of Art, and Elizabeth Prelinger, Keyser Family Professor of Art History at Georgetown University. Haunting images of love, attraction, alienation, death, and other universal human experiences permeate the work of Norwegian artist Edvard Munch. On the occasion of the exhibition Edvard Munch: Master Prints, Gallery curator Andrew Robison and guest curator Elizabeth Prelinger discuss the artist's stylistic approach to each of these themes.

Ruth Fine, curator of special projects in modern art, National Gallery of Art, and collectors Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Dorothy and Herbert Vogel have amassed one of the greatest collections of minimal, conceptual, and post-minimal art in the world, acquiring works by some of the most important contemporary artists of our time. Curator Ruth Fine spoke with the Vogels two years after they announced The Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection: Fifty Works for Fifty States project, which distributed their vast collection across the country for all to enjoy. In this podcast, the Vogels relate stories from the recipient museums and their special exhibitions celebrating the gifts.

Sarah Greenough, senior curator, department of photographs, National Gallery of Art, Washington, and Bill Morgan, author and Ginsberg archivist. In the early 1980s American poet Allen Ginsberg rediscovered his early photographs and negatives taken throughout the Beat movement. With encouragement from photographers Berenice Abbott and Robert Frank, he reprinted many of these works and made new portraits of longtime friends and new acquaintances, such as Francesco Clemente and Bob Dylan, adding extensive inscriptions by hand. In the second of this two-part podcast series, produced on the occasion of the exhibition Beat Memories: The Photographs of Allen Ginsberg, Greenough talks with Bill Morgan about cataloguing the poet's archives and his photographic contributions in the last 15 years of his life.

Sarah Greenough, senior curator, department of photographs, National Gallery of Art, Washington, and Bill Morgan, author and Ginsberg archivist. American poet Allen Ginsberg took occasional snapshots in the 1940s, but in 1953 he purchased a small, secondhand Kodak camera that he took with him everywhere. For the next decade, he made numerous portraits of himself and his friends, including the writers Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs, while also formulating and refining his poetic voice. In the first of this two-part podcast series, produced on the occasion of the exhibition Beat Memories: The Photographs of Allen Ginsberg, Greenough talks with Bill Morgan about the poet's role in documenting the Beat movement.

Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., curator, northern baroque painting, National Gallery of Art, Washington, and Bianca du Mortier, curator of costume, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. In the second of this two-part podcast series, produced on the occasion of the first exhibition dedicated to Avercamp, Arthur Wheelock talks with curator Bianca du Mortier about Avercamp's 17th-century theatrical settings on ice, which not only depict a tremendous diversity of subjects but also record daily life during the Dutch Golden Age.

Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., curator, northern baroque painting, National Gallery of Art, Washington, and Pieter Roelofs, curator of 17th-century paintings, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. The vibrant and colorful paintings of Hendrick Avercamp transport us back to a time when Dutch rivers and waterways regularly froze in the cold of winter. In the first of this two-part podcast series, produced on the occasion of the first exhibition dedicated to Avercamp, Arthur Wheelock talks with curator Pieter Roelofs about Avercamp's winter landscapes, which bring to life the lively pastimes and day-to-day bustle of the Golden Age of the Dutch Republic.

Harry Cooper, curator and head of modern and contemporary art, National Gallery of Art, in conversation with Susan Rothenberg, artist. Over the past 30 years, Susan Rothenberg has done more than any other living artist to expand the poetic and painterly possibilities of her craft. In this podcast recorded on March 25, 2010, for the Elson Lecture Series at the National Gallery of Art, Rothenberg and curator Harry Cooper discuss her life and career in painting. The Gallery has two important paintings by Rothenberg in its collection: Butterfly (1976), currently on loan to the White House, and Head within Head (1978).

Xavier Bray, assistant curator, European paintings, National Gallery, London, and David Brown, curator of Italian and Spanish painting, National Gallery of Art, Washington. In the second of this two-part podcast series, produced on the occasion of the exhibition, David Brown talks with curator Xavier Bray about the painters of 17th-century Spain and their quest for realism.

Xavier Bray, assistant curator, European paintings, National Gallery, London, and Mary Levkoff, curator of sculpture and decorative arts, National Gallery of Art, Washington. In 17th-century Spain, a new kind of realism in art emerged. In order to revitalize the Catholic Church, painters and sculptors worked together in an attempt to make the sacred as realistic and accessible as possible. In the first of this two-part podcast series, produced on the occasion of the exhibition, Mary Levkoff talks with curator Xavier Bray about the history, uses, and techniques of polychromed sculpture.

Xavier Bray, assistant curator, European paintings, National Gallery, London. The groundbreaking exhibition The Sacred Made Real: Spanish Painting and Sculpture, 1600-1700, a landmark reappraisal of religious art from the Spanish Golden Age, contains masterpieces created to shock the senses and stir the soul. In this podcast recorded at the National Gallery of Art on February 28, 2010, curator Xavier Bray discusses the conception and realization of The Sacred Made Real, which includes 11 paintings by Diego Velázquez, Francisco de Zurbarán, and others, displayed for the very first time alongside 11 of Spain's remarkable polychromed (painted) sculptures. Many of the sculptures have never before left Spain and are still passionately venerated across the Iberian Peninsula in monasteries, churches, and processions.

Kimberly A. Jones, conservateur, département des peintures françaises, National Gallery of Art, Washington, et Chef Michel Richard de Citronelle et Central, à Washington, DC. Inspiré par l'exposition « De l'impressionnisme à Modernisme : La Collection Chester Dale », le chef célèbre Michel Richard a créé un menu spéciale des plats classiques de la cuisine française pour le Garden Café de la National Gallery. Dans ce podcast, produit pour célèbrer le Garden Café Français, Richard parle à Jones au sujet des peintures qui ont inspirées ce menu et son amour endurant de l'art.

Kimberly A. Jones, associate curator, department of French paintings, National Gallery of Art, Washington, and chef Michel Richard of Citronelle and Central in Washington, DC. Inspired by the exhibition From Impressionism to Modernism: The Chester Dale Collection, renowned chef Michel Richard created a special menu of classic French dishes for the National Gallery's Garden Café. In this podcast, produced to celebrate the Garden Café Français, Richard talks to Jones about the paintings that inspired this menu and his lifelong love of art.

Maygene Daniels, chief of Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, and Franklin Kelly, deputy director, National Gallery of Art. The 1962 bequest of Wall Street investor Chester Dale made the National Gallery of Art one of the leading repositories in North America of French art of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The exhibition features some 80 of the finest European and American paintings that Dale and his wife Maud, an artist and critic, avidly assembled from the 1920s through the 1950s. In the second of this two-part podcast series, produced on the occasion of the exhibition, Franklin Kelly talks with archivist Maygene Daniels about the personalities behind this important collection.

Byron Kim, artist, and Molly Donovan, associate curator of modern and contemporary art, National Gallery of Art. In this podcast recorded on January 10, 2010, at the National Gallery of Art, Molly Donovan and Byron Kim discuss Synecdoche, a watershed work that is a continuing project of portraiture recently acquired by and installed at the Gallery. Synecdoche consists of more than 400 10 x 8 inch panels, each painted a single hue that is meant to record the skin tone of individual sitters. Kim and Donovan also examine Kim's exploration of abstract painting, color, human identity, and existence.

Wall Street investor Chester Dale's 1962 bequest made the National Gallery of Art one of the leading repositories in North America of French art of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The exhibition features 81 of the finest European and American paintings that Dale and his wife Maud, an artist and critic, avidly assembled from the 1920s through the 1950s. In the first of this two-part podcast series, produced on the occasion of the exhibition, Franklin Kelly talks to curator Kimberly Jones about how these masterpieces come together as an extraordinary collection.

Molly Donovan, associate curator, department of modern and contemporary art, National Gallery of Art, Washington. In 2009 the National Gallery of Art commissioned American sculptor Roxy Paine to create a stainless steel Dendroid, as the artist calls his series of treelike sculptures, for the Sculpture Garden. In this podcast produced on the occasion of the completed work-the first contemporary sculpture installed in the Sculpture Garden in the nearly 10 years since it opened-associate curator Donovan talks to host Barbara Tempchin about Graft.

Brice Marden, artist, in conversation with Harry Cooper, curator and head of modern and contemporary art, National Gallery of Art, Washington. As part of the Diamonstein-Spielvogel Lecture Series at the National Gallery of Art, artist Brice Marden joined Harry Cooper, the Gallery's curator and head of the department of modern and contemporary art, to discuss the evolution of his career and the influence of his contemporaries on his work. In this podcast, recorded on November 22, 2009, Marden and Cooper also discuss five paintings and two drawings by Marden in the Robert and Jane Meyerhoff Collection, promised gifts to the National Gallery.

Sarah Kennel, associate curator, department of photographs, National Gallery of Art, Washington. The extraordinary range and complexity of the photographic process-from the origins of the medium in the 1840s to the advent of digital photography at the end of the 20th century-are explored in a comprehensive exhibition and accompanying guidebook. On the occasion of In the Darkroom: Photographic Processes before the Digital Age, Kennel talks to host Barbara Tempchin about the major technological developments in the 170-year history of photography.

Ruth Fine, curator of special projects in modern art, National Gallery of Art, Washington. The prints of Jasper Johns are heralded for their beauty as well as their conceptual and psychological complexity. A group of the artist's working proofs-prints pulled during the working process on which Johns made drawn and painted additions, recently acquired from the artist by the National Gallery of Art-are showcased here as independent works of art for the first time. On the occasion of the exhibition, curator Fine talks to host Barbara Tempchin about this extraordinary body of work.

Sarah Greenough, senior curator, department of photographs, National Gallery of Art, Washington, and photographer Robert Bergman. Using a handheld 35mm camera and available light, American photographer Robert Bergman spent nearly a decade making a series of large color portraits that address not only his subjects' physical presence but also their psychic state. On the occasion of Bergman's first solo exhibition, Greenough talks to the artist about his exceptional ability to reveal the common humanity of each of his subjects.

Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., curator, northern baroque painting, National Gallery of Art, Washington. Dutch artist Hendrick ter Brugghen (1588-1629) is the most important of the Utrecht Caravaggisti, artists who traveled to Rome in the early decades of the 17th century, and who returned to Utrecht having embraced the radical stylistic and thematic ideas of Caravaggio. In this podcast produced on the occasion of a new acquisition, Wheelock talks to host Barbara Tempchin about Ter Brugghen's Bagpipe Player, the first painting of this stylistic group to enter the Gallery's collection.

Peter Parshall, curator, old master prints, National Gallery of Art, Washington. In the private worlds of late nineteenth-century Paris, London, and Berlin, prints depicting mysterious and beautiful subjects were created for those collectors who kept their treasures compiled in albums, locked in cabinets, or displayed in quiet rooms. In this podcast produced on the occasion of the exhibition The Darker Side of Light: Arts of Privacy, 1850-1900, Parshall talks to host Barbara Tempchin about these highly engaging, beguiling works.

Margaret Morgan Grasselli, curator, old master drawings, National Gallery of Art, Washington. The National Gallery of Art's collection of French old master drawings is remarkable for its breadth, depth, and individual masterpieces. In the third Behind the Scenes podcast produced on the occasion of the exhibition Renaissance to Revolution: French Drawings from the National Gallery of Art, 1500-1800, Grasselli talks to host Barbara Tempchin about how this collection has grown since 1942.

Margaret Morgan Grasselli, curator, old master drawings, National Gallery of Art, Washington. The National Gallery of Art's collection of French old master drawings is remarkable for its breadth, depth, and individual masterpieces. In the second Behind the Scenes podcast produced on the occasion of the exhibition Renaissance to Revolution: French Drawings from the National Gallery of Art, 1500-1800, Grasselli talks to host Barbara Tempchin about the Gallery's exceptionally rich collection of 18th-century drawings by the major artists-Boucher, Fragonard, Greuze, and Watteau, among many others-each represented by several works of outstanding quality.

Margaret Morgan Grasselli, curator, old master drawings, National Gallery of Art, Washington. The National Gallery of Art's collection of French old master drawings is remarkable for its breadth, depth, and individual masterpieces. In the first podcast produced on the occasion of the exhibition Renaissance to Revolution: French Drawings from the National Gallery of Art, 1500-1800, Grasselli talks to host Barbara Tempchin about delicate, rare works from the 16th century and extraordinary images of French classicism from the 17th century.

Alvaro Soler del Campo, Director de la Real Armería en Madrid y Conservador jefe, Patrimonio Nacional y el Chef José Andrés, propietario del Jaleo y THINKfoodGROUP. Inspirado por dos exposiciones en la Galería, Luis Meléndez: Maestro de los Bodegones y el Arte del Poder, Armadura Real y Retratos de la España Imperial, el galardonado chef José Andrés, creó un menu muy especial de platos españoles para el Garden Café España. En este podcast producido para inaugurar el Garden Café España, Alvaro Soler y el Chef Andrés discuten los pasados cinco siglos de tradiciones culinarias españolas que van desde el libro único de recetas del cocinero del rey Felipe II, a la variedad de deliciosos manjares en las pinturas de Luis Meléndez, que todavía gozamos hoy en dia.

Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., curator, northern baroque paintings, National Gallery of Art, Washington; Kenneth Slowik, artistic director, Smithsonian Chamber Music Society, and curator of musical instruments, Smithsonian Institution. Dutch artist Judith Leyster's 400th birthday is celebrated at the Gallery with an exhibition of 10 of her most engaging paintings, joined by some 20 paintings, works on paper, and musical instruments of the period. In the fourth podcast produced on the occasion of the exhibition, Wheelock talks to Ken Slowik about Leyster's love of music, the instruments she depicted, and various musical compositions of the age.

Alvaro Soler del Campo, director, Royal Armory Madrid, and chief curator, Patrimonio Nacional; José Andrés, chef and owner, Jaleo and THINKfoodGROUP. Inspired by two Gallery exhibitions-Luis Meléndez: Master of the Spanish Still Life and The Art of Power: Royal Armor and Portraits from Imperial Spain-renowned chef José Andrés created a special menu of signature Spanish dishes for the National Gallery's Garden Café. In this podcast, produced to celebrate the Garden Café España, Soler and Andrés discuss the past five centuries of Spanish culinary traditions, ranging from a rare book of recipes by the cook to King Philip II, still enjoyed today, to luscious food items in the paintings of Meléndez.

Alison Luchs, curator of early European sculpture, National Gallery of Art, Washington. Cool marble comes to life in the mesmerizing portraits of lovers, saints, and heroes by Venetian Renaissance sculptor Tullio Lombardo. In this podcast produced on the occasion of the first exhibition on the artist, Luchs talks to host Barbara Tempchin about Tullio's romantic approach to portraiture.

David Brown, curator of Italian and Spanish paintings, National Gallery of Art, Washington, and Alvaro Soler del Campo, director of the Royal Armory Madrid and chief curator at the Patrimonio Nacional. Rare suits of armor worn by Spanish kings and stunning portraits by masters such as Rubens and Velàsquez are considered on equal terms for the first time at the National Gallery of Art. In this podcast produced on the occasion of the exhibition, Brown talks to Alvaro Soler about how armor, tapestries, and portraits were used to cultivate the image of royal power in late 15th- to 18th-century Spain.

Gretchen Hirschauer, associate curator, Italian and Spanish paintings, and Catherine Metzger, senior conservator of paintings, National Gallery of Art, Washington. Delights of the Spanish table are exquisitely depicted by Luis Meléndez-the greatest still-life painter of 18th-century Spain. In podcast produced on the occasion of the exhibition, Hirschauer talks to paintings conservator Catherine Metzger about their recent technical examination of Meléndez's paintings, including some new discoveries.

Gretchen Hirschauer, associate curator, Italian and Spanish paintings, National Gallery of Art, Washington. Delights of the Spanish table are exquisitely depicted by Luis Meléndez-the greatest still-life painter of 18th-century Spain. In this podcast produced on the occasion of the exhibition, Hirschauer talks to host Barbara Tempchin about Meléndez's skill for rendering everyday objects with convincing detail, marvelous effects of color and light, and subtle variations in texture.

David Alan Brown, curator, Italian and Spanish paintings, National Gallery of Art, Washington. In April 2009, a violent earthquake shook the region of Abruzzo in Italy. The United States was among the first to offer assistance to the region. In gratitude, the Italian government has loaned the Beffi Triptych, a stunning early 15th-century altarpiece, to the National Gallery of Art. This podcast is produced on the occasion of the special installation in the Gallery's Italianate Rotunda. David Brown talks to host Barbara Tempchin about the triptych as one of the most important works from the National Museum of Abruzzo in the city of L'Aquila and about its survival.

Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., curator of northern baroque painting, National Gallery of Art, Washington, and Frima Fox Hofrichter, professor of the history of art and design, Pratt Institute, New York. Dutch artist Judith Leyster's 400th birthday is celebrated at the Gallery with an exhibition of 10 of her most engaging paintings, joined by some 20 works by 17th-century contemporaries, as well as musical instruments of the period depicted in the art. In the last of this three-part podcast, produced on the occasion of the exhibition, Wheelock talks to Leyster scholar Frima Fox Hofrichter about the important recurring theme of music in Leyster's work.

Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., curator of northern baroque painting, National Gallery of Art, Washington, and Frima Fox Hofrichter, professor of the history of art and design, Pratt Institute, New York. Dutch artist Judith Leyster's 400th birthday is celebrated at the Gallery with an exhibition of 10 of her most engaging paintings, joined by some 20 works by 17th-century contemporaries, as well as musical instruments of the period depicted in the art. In the second of this three-part podcast, produced on the occasion of the exhibition, Wheelock talks to Leyster scholar Frima Fox Hofrichter about Leyster's innovative painting technique and highly engaging compositions.

Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., curator of northern baroque painting, National Gallery of Art, Washington, and Frima Fox Hofrichter, professor of the history of art and design, Pratt Institute, New York. Dutch artist Judith Leyster's 400th birthday is celebrated at the Gallery with an exhibition of 10 of her most engaging paintings, joined by some 20 works by 17th-century contemporaries, as well as musical instruments of the period depicted in the art. In the first of this three-part podcast, produced on the occasion of the exhibition, Gallery curator Arthur Wheelock talks to Leyster scholar Frima Fox Hofrichter about the range of Leyster's work, beginning with her renowned Self-Portrait, c. 1632-1633, from the Gallery's permanent collection.

Judith Brodie, curator and head of the department of modern prints and drawings, National Gallery of Art, Washington. English artist Stanley William Hayter has been widely celebrated for his influence on creative printmaking in America and Europe. In this podcast, produced on the occasion of the Gallery exhibition Stanley William Hayter: From Surrealism to Abstraction, Judith Brodie talks to host Barbara Tempchin about the range of Hayter's work in the exhibition, including his surrealist engravings, linear abstractions inspired by motion and mathematics, and fully worked copperplates and plaster casts.

Matthew Witkovsky, chair and curator, department of photography, the Art Institute of Chicago. Jaromír Funke, a leading figure in Czech and Slovak photography between the world wars, blazed a path with his compatriots-a group of committed amateurs-toward photography as a modern form of art. In this podcast, produced on the occasion of the Gallery exhibition Jaromír Funke and the Amateur Avant-Garde, Witkovsky talks to host Barbara Tempchin about the Czech photographer's influential role in this movement.

Panelists: Stephen G. Breyer, Associate Justice, Supreme Court of the United States; Paul Goldberger, architecture critic for The New Yorker and Joseph Urban Professor of Design and Architecture, New School; and Robert Storr, dean, Yale School of Art. Moderated by Molly Donovan, associate curator of modern and contemporary art, National Gallery of Art. In this special lecture podcast recorded on May 12, 2009, the National Gallery of Art, in conjunction with the Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies, hosted this panel discussion on the role of art and architecture in the civic sphere, at home and around the world.

Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., curator of northern baroque paintings, National Gallery of Art. The Dutch took enormous pride in their cities, which experienced unprecedented prosperity during the 17th century. A new genre of painting-the cityscape-emerged as images of towns and cities were captured in paintings, maps, atlases, illustrated books, and prints. In the third of this three-part Backstory podcast, produced on the occasion of the Gallery exhibition Pride of Place: Dutch Cityscapes of the Golden Age, Wheelock discusses daily life as depicted in cityscapes, from inside the domestic courtyard and bustling city-centers to urban life seen from beyond.

Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., curator of northern baroque paintings, National Gallery of Art. The Dutch took enormous pride in their cities, which experienced unprecedented prosperity during the 17th century. A new genre of painting-the cityscape-emerged as images of towns and cities were captured in paintings, maps, atlases, illustrated books, and prints. In the second of this three-part Backstory podcast, produced on the occasion of the Gallery exhibition Pride of Place: Dutch Cityscapes of the Golden Age, Wheelock talks about the cities of the seventeen Dutch provinces and the artists who depicted them.

Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., curator of northern baroque paintings, National Gallery of Art The Dutch took enormous pride in their cities, which experienced unprecedented prosperity during the 17th century. A new genre of painting-the cityscape-emerged as images of towns and cities were captured in paintings, maps, atlases, illustrated books, and prints. In the first of this three-part Art Talk podcast, produced on the occasion of the Gallery exhibition Pride of Place: Dutch Cityscapes of the Golden Age, Wheelock discusses how Dutch politics and cartography influenced the cityscape.

Ruth Fine, curator of special projects in modern art, National Gallery of Art, and Juliette Bethea, collector. In this event recorded on February 15, 2009, as part of the National Gallery of Art lecture series The Collecting of African American Art, Ruth Fine speaks with Washington, DC-based collector Juliette Bethea about her life–long passion for learning and what inspired her to begin acquiring art nearly 40 years ago. Bethea discusses how moving to Washington in 1967 after years of traveling abroad marked a turning point in her engagement with the arts. Through the strong community of artists connected to the Howard University community, Bethea developed a connection with the local art scene.

Sarah Greenough, senior curator and head of the department of photographs, National Gallery of Art, and Philippe Séclier, filmmaker. Fifty years after the publication of The Americans, French filmmaker Philippe Séclier retraced Robert Frank's journey through the United States in 1955 and 1956. Working with only a small digital camera, Séclier explores the legacy of the 1950s and the impact of the book on photography and culture in this 15,000-mile odyssey through present-day America. In this podcast, Greenough and Séclier discuss his tribute, four years in the making, to the renowned photographer.

Harry Cooper, curator, modern and contemporary art, National Gallery of Art For more than five decades Guston explored ways to paint, from the mural art of the Depression through midcentury abstract expressionism to a raw new imagery beginning in 1968. His shocking return to figuration in that year, influenced by comics and politics, paved the way for numerous developments in contemporary art. In this Backstory podcast, produced as the Gallery opens the first in a new series of special focus exhibitions, "In the Tower," Cooper talks to host Barbara Tempchin about the paintings, prints, and drawings on view, which chart Guston's career from 1949 to 1980.

Michael Fried, J. R. Herbert Boone Professor of Humanities, The Johns Hopkins University, in conversation with Harry Cooper, curator and head of the department of modern and contemporary art, National Gallery of Art. To celebrate the publication of his recent book, Why Photography Matters as Art as Never Before, Michael Fried spoke with Harry Cooper, his former student, about the place of photography in contemporary art. In this podcast, recorded on January 25, 2009, at the National Gallery of Art, the conversation centered on such topics as the relationship between the photograph and the viewer, the essential characteristics (if any) of photographs, and issues of realism and literalism, narrative and theatricality. Artists discussed included Jeff Wall, Thomas Struth, Thomas Demand, Andreas Gursky, and others.

Arthur Wheelock, curator of northern baroque painting, National Gallery of Art. Jan Lievens was a child prodigy, whose later career was marked by important civic and private commissions. Nevertheless, his name today barely registers in the public consciousness. In the third of this three-part Backstory podcast, produced on the occasion of the Gallery exhibition Jan Lievens: A Dutch Master Rediscovered, Wheelock talks about Lievens' success and legacy.

Arthur Wheelock, curator of northern baroque painting, National Gallery of Art. Jan Lievens was a child prodigy, whose later career was marked by important civic and private commissions. Nevertheless, his name today barely registers in the public consciousness. In the second of this three-part Backstory podcast, produced on the occasion of the Gallery exhibition Jan Lievens: A Dutch Master Rediscovered, Wheelock talks about changes in Lievens' style and the influence of Anthony Van Dyck.

Dorothy and Herbert Vogel, collectors, in conversation with Ruth Fine, curator of special projects in modern art, National Gallery of Art. New York art collectors Dorothy and Herbert Vogel discuss the genesis of their extraordinary art collection with curator Ruth Fine in this podcast recorded on Sunday, November 16, 2008, at the National Gallery of Art. Over a 45-year period, the Vogels collected 4,782 works of art and stored them in their one-bedroom New York apartment. In 1991, the National Gallery of Art acquired a portion of their collection, through partial purchase and gift from the Vogels, which consists largely of minimal and conceptual art. In 2008, the Vogels and the National Gallery of Art, with assistance from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, launched a national gifts program titled The Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection: Fifty Works for Fifty States in 2008. The program distributed 2,500 works from the Vogels' collection throughout the nation, with 50 works going to a selected art institution in each of the 50 states.

Arthur Wheelock, curator of northern baroque painting, National Gallery of Art. Jan Lievens was a child prodigy, whose later career was marked by important civic and private commissions. Nevertheless, his name today barely registers in the public consciousness. In the first of this three-part Backstory podcast, produced on the occasion of the Gallery exhibition Jan Lievens: A Dutch Master Rediscovered, Wheelock talks about Lievens' early career and his relationship with Rembrandt.

Carol Mattusch, guest curator and professor, George Mason University. In the second century BC, Roman aristocrats began to build lavish seaside villas on the picturesque Bay of Naples-in the shadow of Mt. Vesuvius. In the fifth of this five-part Backstory podcast, produced on the occasion of the Gallery exhibition Pompeii and the Roman Villa: Art and Culture around the Bay of Naples, Mattusch talks to Tempchin about the impact the excavations of these ancient sites have had on the modern world.

Carol Mattusch, guest curator and professor, George Mason University. In the second century BC, Roman aristocrats began to build lavish seaside villas on the picturesque Bay of Naples-in the shadow of Mt. Vesuvius. In the fourth of this five-part Backstory podcast, produced on the occasion of the Gallery exhibition Pompeii and the Roman Villa: Art and Culture around the Bay of Naples, Mattusch talks to Tempchin about the Greek legacy in Roman culture.

=Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., curator of northern baroque paintings, National Gallery of Art, and Stephanie S. Dickey, Bader Chair in Northern Baroque Art, Queen's University. Recorded on October 26, 2008, this podcast celebrates the major international loan exhibition Jan Lievens: A Dutch Master Rediscovered, which was on view at the National Gallery of Art from October 26, 2008, to January 11, 2009. In the first of two lectures, Arthur Wheelock places Lievens in historical context—particularly in relationship to his friend and colleague from Leiden, Rembrandt van Rijn—and focuses on the evolution and character of Lievens' paintings. In the second lecture, Stephanie Dickey examines Lievens' remarkable achievements as a printmaker.

Carol Mattusch, guest curator and professor, George Mason University. In the second century BC, Roman aristocrats began to build lavish seaside villas on the picturesque Bay of Naples-in the shadow of Mt. Vesuvius. In the third of this five-part Backstory podcast, produced on the occasion of the Gallery exhibition Pompeii and the Roman Villa: Art and Culture around the Bay of Naples, Mattusch talks to Tempchin about the role of the dining room in a Roman villa.

Carol Mattusch, guest curator and professor, George Mason University. In the second century BC, Roman aristocrats began to build lavish seaside villas on the picturesque Bay of Naples-in the shadow of Mt. Vesuvius. In the second of this five-part Backstory podcast, produced on the occasion of the Gallery exhibition Pompeii and the Roman Villa: Art and Culture around the Bay of Naples, Mattusch talks to Tempchin about the sculptures and designs of the villas' gardens.

Rachel Whiteread, artist, in conversation with Molly Donovan, associate curator of modern and contemporary art, National Gallery of Art. British sculptor Rachel Whiteread has enjoyed international acclaim for her provocative sculptural practices. Beginning in the early 1990s with positive casts of empty architectural spaces and household objects, Whiteread has continued to articulate typically unseen, immaterial space in increasingly public settings. Her breakthrough work, Ghost (1990), was given to the National Gallery of Art in 2004 by the Glenstone Foundation. In this podcast recorded on October 12, 2008, at the National Gallery of Art, Rachel Whiteread and Gallery curator Molly Donovan discuss all aspects of Whiteread's career, with a particular focus on Ghost.

Carol Mattusch, guest curator and professor, George Mason University. In the second century BC, Roman aristocrats began to build lavish seaside villas on the picturesque Bay of Naples-in the shadow of Mt. Vesuvius. In the first of this five-part Backstory podcast, produced on the occasion of the Gallery exhibition Pompeii and the Roman Villa: Art and Culture around the Bay of Naples, Mattusch talks to Tempchin about the vacationing Roman elite who inhabited this region.

John Elderfield, chief curator emeritus of painting and sculpture, Museum of Modern Art, New York. Museum of Museum of Modern Art curator John Elderfield, the organizing curator of the Martin Puryear retrospective exhibition, discusses the work of his friend Martin Puryear in this podcast recorded on September 28, 2008, at the National Gallery of Art. Puryear's oeuvre draws on forms inspired by a wide range of interests—including ornithology, falconry, archery, and objects of shelter—and incorporates not only traditional sculpture techniques but also processes associated with furniture making, boat building, and basketry, such as joinery and weaving. The artist's materials include a variety of woods, tar, wire, mesh, rawhide, and found objects.

Nancy Anderson, curator of American and British paintings, National Gallery of Art. George de Forest Brush (1854/1855-1941) combined extraordinary technical skills acquired during several years of studio training in Paris with firsthand experience living among the Arapahoe, Shoshone, and Crow Indians in Wyoming and Montana. In the second of this two-part Backstory podcast, produced on the occasion of the exhibition George de Forest Brush: The Indian Paintings, Anderson talks to Tempchin about the social and historical contexts of Brush's Indian paintings.

Nancy Anderson, curator of American and British paintings, National Gallery of Art. George de Forest Brush (1854/1855-1941) combined extraordinary technical skills acquired during several years of studio training in Paris with firsthand experience living among the Arapahoe, Shoshone, and Crow Indians in Wyoming and Montana. In the first of this two-part Backstory podcast, produced on the occasion of the exhibition George de Forest Brush: The Indian Paintings, Anderson talks to Tempchin about Brush's life and his legacy.

Ruth Fine, curator of special projects in modern art, National Gallery of Art, and John Elderfield, exhibition curator and chief curator emeritus of painting and sculpture, The Museum of Modern Art. Internationally acclaimed artist and native Washingtonian Martin Puryear creates monumental sculptures that recall architecture, craft traditions, and organic forms. In the second of this two-part podcast, produced on the occasion of the Gallery exhibition Martin Puryear, the two curators converse about Elderfield's own interpretation of the artist's sculptures.

Leo Villareal, artist, in conversation with Molly Donovan, associate curator of modern and contemporary art, National Gallery of Art. In this podcast recorded on September 7, 2008, at the National Gallery of Art, American artist Leo Villareal and curator Molly Donovan discuss Villareal's Multiverse installation, which occupies the Concourse walkway between the East and West Buildings of the National Gallery of Art. Installed between September and December of 2008, Multiverse is one of the largest and most complex light sculptures created by the artist, featuring approximately 41,000 computer-programmed LED (light-emitting diode) nodes that run through channels along the 200-foot-long space.

Ruth Fine, curator of special projects in modern art, National Gallery of Art, and John Elderfield, exhibition curator and chief curator emeritus of painting and sculpture, The Museum of Modern Art. Internationally acclaimed artist and native Washingtonian Martin Puryear creates monumental sculptures that recall architecture, craft traditions, and organic forms. In the first of this two-part podcast, produced on the occasion of the Gallery exhibition Martin Puryear, Elderfield talks to Fine about working with the artist to develop this landmark show.

Photographer Richard Misrach and Sarah Greenough, senior curator of photographs, National Gallery of Art. Employing an aerial perspective, Richard Misrach instilled his monumental beach series with a sense of disquiet: with references to the horizon and sky eliminated, figures appear isolated and vulnerable. In the third of this three-part podcast, produced on the occasion of the exhibition Richard Misrach: On the Beach, Misrach and Greenough delve into the impact of new photographic technology on his art and the inspiration for his series.

Photographer Richard Misrach and Sarah Greenough, senior curator of photographs, National Gallery of Art. Employing an aerial perspective, Richard Misrach instilled his monumental beach series with a sense of disquiet: with references to the horizon and sky eliminated, figures appear isolated and vulnerable. In the second of this three-part podcast, produced on the occasion of the exhibition Richard Misrach: On the Beach, Misrach discusses the process by which he reached his current photographic style.

Photographer Richard Misrach and Sarah Greenough, senior curator of photographs, National Gallery of Art. Employing an aerial perspective, Richard Misrach instilled his monumental beach series with a sense of disquiet: with references to the horizon and sky eliminated, figures appear isolated and vulnerable. In the first of this three-part podcast, produced on the occasion of the exhibition Richard Misrach: On the Beach, he talks to Sarah Greenough about the influences and origins of his photographic career.

Fredrik Hiebert, National Geographic Archaeology Fellow and exhibition curator. In the last of this four-part podcast Fredrik Hiebert, exhibition curator and National Geographic Archaeology Fellow, talks to host Barbara Tempchin about the luxurious gold ornaments and jewelry found at Tillya Tepe on the eve of the Soviet invasion. Produced in conjunction with the exhibition Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul.

Fredrik Hiebert, National Geographic Archaeology Fellow and exhibition curator. In the third of this four-part podcast Fredrik Hiebert, exhibition curator and National Geographic Archaeology Fellow, talks to host Barbara Tempchin about the incredible discovery from Begram, a Silk Road merchant's warehouse with the contents found completely intact. Produced in conjunction with the exhibition Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul.

Ruth Fine, curator of special projects in modern art, National Gallery of Art. In this podcast recorded on June 22, 2008, for the Martin Puryear retrospective exhibition opening at the National Gallery of Art, curator Ruth Fine discusses the work of District of Columbia native Martin Puryear. The retrospective included 46 sculptures made between 1975 and 2007. The first exhibition in the Gallery's history to be installed in both the East and West Buildings, it provided a unique opportunity to view Puryear's sculpture in modern and classical settings. Fine discusses the installation process for Puryear's work at the Gallery, designed in collaboration with the artist, as well as the intentions behind the placement of sculptures.

Fredrik Hiebert, National Geographic Archaeology Fellow and exhibition curator. In the second of this four-part podcast Fredrik Hiebert, exhibition curator and National Geographic Archaeology Fellow, talks to host Barbara Tempchin about the Aï Khanum archaeological site and the impact of Alexander the Great on the region. Produced in conjunction with the exhibition Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul.

Fredrik Hiebert, National Geographic Archaeology Fellow and exhibition curator. Afghanistan was in ancient times the heart of the Silk Road, linking cultures from Asia to the Mediterranean. Many thought the country's extraordinary archaeological treasures had been stolen or destroyed during recent decades of conflict in the region, but in 2003 they were recovered intact. Some 230 of these artifacts are now on view in the exhibition Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul. In the first of this four-part podcast Fredrik Hiebert, exhibition curator and National Geographic Archaeology Fellow, talks to host Barbara Tempchin about the heroism displayed by the Afghan people who kept these treasures hidden for decades. They also discuss one of the oldest archaeological sites, Tepe Fullol.

Ruth Fine, curator of special projects in modern art, National Gallery of Art, and collectors Dorothy and Herbert Vogel. Dorothy and Herbert Vogel have amassed one of the greatest collections of minimal, conceptual, and post-minimal art in the world, acquiring works by some of the most important contemporary artists of our time, including Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Sol LeWitt, Richard Tuttle, and Pat Steir. Curator of special projects in modern art, Ruth Fine, spoke with the Vogels shortly after they announced The Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection: Fifty Works for Fifty States project, which will distribute their vast collection across the country for all to enjoy. In the final part of this three-part podcast, the Vogels discuss the impact they hope their project will have on the arts nationwide.

Ruth Fine, curator of special projects in modern art, National Gallery of Art, and collectors Dorothy and Herbert Vogel. Dorothy and Herbert Vogel have amassed one of the greatest collections of minimal, conceptual, and post-minimal art in the world, acquiring works by some of the most important contemporary artists of our time, including Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Sol LeWitt, Richard Tuttle, and Pat Steir. Curator of special projects in modern art, Ruth Fine, spoke with the Vogels shortly after they announced The Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection: Fifty Works for Fifty States Project, which will distribute their vast collection across the country for all to enjoy. In the second part of this three-part podcast, the Vogels discuss their choice of the National Gallery of Art for their collection.

Ruth Fine, curator of special projects in modern art, National Gallery of Art, and collectors Dorothy and Herbert Vogel. Dorothy and Herbert Vogel have amassed one of the greatest collections of minimal, conceptual, and post-minimal art in the world, acquiring works by some of the most important contemporary artists of our time, including Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Sol LeWitt, Richard Tuttle, and Pat Steir. Curator of special projects in modern art, Ruth Fine, spoke with the Vogels shortly after they announced The Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection: Fifty Works for Fifty States Project, which will distribute their vast collection across the country for all to enjoy. In part one of this three-part podcast, the Vogels discuss how they met, and how they started collecting art.

Neal Turtell, executive librarian, National Gallery of Art. Artists in the 19th and early 20th century had access to more up-to-date information about art technique and technology than any generation before. Tools of the Trade-in the National Gallery of Art library-offers a fascinating look back in time. The display complements In the Forest of Fontainebleau: Painters and Photographers from Corot to Monet, a showcase of 19th-century landscapes created in the famous forest south of Paris. Executive librarian Neal Turtell talks with NGA Backstory host, Barbara Tempchin, about Tools of the Trade. Produced in conjunction with the exhibition In the Forest of Fontainebleau: Painters and Photographers from Corot to Monet.

Sarah Greenough, senior curator of photographs, National Gallery of Art, and Roger Taylor, professor of photographic history at De Montfort University, Leicester. Two methods of fixing an image dominated the early days of photography: the one-of-a-kind daguerreotype and the replicable calotype, which was made using paper negatives. In the second of this two-part episode, Gallery curator Sarah Greenough and Professor Roger Taylor of De Montfort University discuss some of the best calotypists, the subjects that fascinated them, and the slow death of the medium as it was supplanted by more popular photographic processes. Produced in conjunction with the exhibition Impressed by Light: British Photographs from Paper Negatives, 1840-1860.

Robert Gober, artist, in conversation with Harry Cooper, curator and head of modern and contemporary art, National Gallery of Art. For 25 years the sculptural and pictorial installations of American artist Robert Gober have proved difficult to ignore, assimilate, or forget. In this podcast, recorded on March 27, 2008, at the National Gallery of Art, Gober speaks with Harry Cooper. They discuss Gober's life as an artist and the consistently unpredictable and affecting nature of his oeuvre, which has had singular importance for contemporary art.

Kimberly Jones, associate curator of French paintings, National Gallery of Art. At one time it was a royal hunting ground for kings and emperors, but in the 19th century, the Forest of Fontainebleau became a magnet for artists and tourists. It was the birthplace of impressionism, and its rugged features and old-growth forests provided artists with endless visually compelling scenes to paint and photograph. In this Backstory episode, curator Kimberly Jones and host Barbara Tempchin discuss the Forest of Fontainebleau and the important place it holds in the history of open-air painting. Produced in conjunction with the exhibition In the Forest of Fontainebleau: Painters and Photographers from Corot to Monet.

Charles Ritchie, associate curator of modern prints and drawings, National Gallery of Art, and Mary Lynn Kotz, Rauschenberg biographer. Robert Rauschenberg has consistently created vital art for more than 50 years. Now working from a wheelchair after a series of strokes, Rauschenberg continues to produce new art. In the last episode of this four-part series, Gallery curator Charles Ritchie and Rauschenberg biographer Mary Lynn Kotz discuss his current work-the Lotus series-and reveal how his ROCI series got its name. Produced in conjunction with the exhibition Let the World In: Prints by Robert Rauschenberg from the National Gallery of Art and Related Collections.

Charles Ritchie, associate curator of modern prints and drawings, National Gallery of Art, and Mary Lynn Kotz, Rauschenberg biographer. Robert Rauschenberg has consistently created vital art for more than 50 years and family relationships have been influential. In the third episode of this four-part series, Gallery curator Charles Ritchie and Rauschenberg biographer Mary Lynn Kotz discuss the role that the artist's parents played in his becoming an artist, and how his strained relationship with his father affected his art. Produced in conjunction with the exhibition Let the World In: Prints by Robert Rauschenberg from the National Gallery of Art and Related Collections.

Charles Ritchie, associate curator of modern prints and drawings, National Gallery of Art, and Mary Lynn Kotz, Rauschenberg biographer. Robert Rauschenberg has consistently created vital art for more than 50 years. Everything from newspaper clippings to family images is crucial to his work. In the second episode of this four-part series, Gallery curator Charles Ritchie and Rauschenberg biographer May Lynn Kotz discuss how Rauschenberg's art has always incorporated both personal and global references. Produced in conjunction with the exhibition Let the World In: Prints by Robert Rauschenberg from the National Gallery of Art and Related Collections.

Charles Ritchie, associate curator of modern prints and drawings, National Gallery of Art, and Mary Lynn Kotz, Rauschenberg biographer. Robert Rauschenberg has consistently created vital art for more than 50 years. In the first episode of this four-part series, Gallery curator Charles Ritchie and Rauschenberg biographer Mary Lynn Kotz discuss why the artist chose printmaking as a favorite medium and why collaboration has been central to his creative process. Produced in conjunction with the exhibition Let the World In: Prints by Robert Rauschenberg from the National Gallery of Art and Related Collections.

Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., curator of northern baroque paintings, National Gallery of Art. Why do so many people love Dutch paintings? Whether it is the stunning landscapes, the seemingly familiar portraits, or the lush still lifes, these centuries-old paintings still resonate today. In the second part of this Backstory episode, curator Arthur Wheelock and host Barbara Tempchin discuss the National Gallery of Art Dutch paintings collection, how it grew, and the recent acquisition of a Salomon van Ruysdael masterpiece.

Nicholas Penny, senior curator of sculpture and decorative arts, National Gallery of Art, and Dylan Smith, Robert H. Smith Research Conservator, National Gallery of Art. Robert H. Smith has amassed one of the most important private collections of Renaissance sculptures in the world. The Smith collection includes bronzes by masters such as Antico, Giovanni Bologna, and Antonio Susini, as well as eye-catching works in ivory and boxwood. Nicholas Penny-in his last podcast as National Gallery of Art curator of sculpture and decorative arts before he assumes directorship of the National Gallery, London-talks to Robert H. Smith Research Conservator Dylan Smith about these beautiful works of art, their composition, and how they were made.

Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., curator of northern baroque paintings, National Gallery of Art. Why do so many people love Dutch paintings? Whether it is the stunning landscapes, the seemingly familiar portraits, or the lush still lifes, these centuries-old paintings still resonate today. In the first part of this Backstory episode, curator Arthur Wheelock and host Barbara Tempchin discuss these masterpieces and why they continue to fascinate us.

Eleonora Luciano, associate curator of sculpture, National Gallery of Art. Medals, like those given out at the Olympics, are typically associated with feats of athleticism. However, during the Renaissance, medals were used for purposes of propaganda. The National Gallery of Art has released a two-volume, 1200-page catalogue of its Renaissance medals collection, one of the world's most outstanding. In this podcast, one of the authors, Gallery associate curator Eleonora Luciano, talks to host Barbara Tempchin about these intriguing works of art.

Franklin Kelly, senior curator of American and British paintings, National Gallery of Art. On view from July 3, 2005 through February 26, 2006, Winslow Homer in the National Gallery of Art presented a survey of 53 paintings, watercolors, drawings, etchings, and wood engravings by American artist Winslow Homer (1836-1910) in the Gallery’s collection. The exhibition spanned Homer's entire career, from his early Civil War painting Home Sweet Home (c. 1863) to late watercolors of tropical landscapes and his hunting scene Right and Left (1909), completed less than 2 years before his death. In this lecture recorded on January 8, 2006, Franklin Kelly describes the importance of the Maine coast in Homer’s life and art. Homer spent his last 27 years living and working in a small, rugged spot called Prouts Neck, located on the Atlantic coast in southern Maine. Through works featured in the exhibition and archival photographs, Kelly illustrates how the Maine coast was an inspiring source of material to Homer throughout his career.

Peter Parshall, curator and head of old master prints, National Gallery of Art. Centuries before photography was invented, artists used woodcuts to reproduce their works for the public. The idea behind the woodcut is simple-an image is carved onto a wood block, dipped into ink, and pressed onto a surface. But creating a quality woodcut takes enormous skill. Peter Parshall, curator of old master prints, and host Barbara Tempchin talk about the baroque woodcut.

Neal Turtell, executive librarian, National Gallery of Art. Most people think that rare books are stashed away in the corners of museums, untouched and collecting dust. At the National Gallery of Art, not only are they given a special climate-controlled environment, but they're often on public display. In this podcast, executive librarian Neal Turtell talks to host Barbara Tempchin about the Gallery's rare books collection, in particular about those featured in the exhibition British Picturesque Landscapes, on view in the Gallery's West Building through February 24, 2008.

Charles Ritchie, associate curator of modern prints and drawings, National Gallery of Art, Host: Barbara Tempchin. Robert Rauschenberg has been at the forefront of American art for more than 50 years. His bold, innovative experiments in printmaking are the focus of an exhibition called Let the World In: Prints by Robert Rauschenberg from the National Gallery of Art and Related Collections. In this Backstory, host Barbara Tempchin and Charles Ritchie, exhibition curator, discuss the impact Rauschenberg's prints have had on artists worldwide. Produced in conjunction with the exhibition Let the World In: Prints by Robert Rauschenberg from the National Gallery of Art and Related Collections.

Ian Warrell, curator of 18th- and 19th-century British art, Tate Britain, London, and Franklin Kelly, senior curator, National Gallery of Art. In this two-part podcast, Franklin Kelly, National Gallery of Art senior curator, and Tate Museum curator Ian Warrell discuss the life and work of J. M. W. Turner. Here, focusing on Turner's inventiveness, they talk about how the artist positioned himself within the history of art, the range of his subjects, and his open-ended process of discovery. In part 1, they discuss Turner's process.

Ian Warrell, curator of 18th- and 19th-century British art, Tate Britain, London, and Franklin Kelly, senior curator, National Gallery of Art. In this two-part podcast, Franklin Kelly, National Gallery of Art senior curator, and Tate Museum curator Ian Warrell discuss the life and work of J.M.W. Turner. Here, focusing on Turner's process, they talk about the artist's use of sketchbooks and observation, his dramatic series of works depicting the burning of the Houses of Parliament, and his modernist aesthetic. In part 2, they discuss Turner's inventiveness.

Franklin Kelly, senior curator of American and British paintings, National Gallery of Art, Host: Barbara Tempchin. J. M. W. Turner's innovative paintings and watercolors have fascinated collectors and artists for almost two centuries. In the United States, the British master's works were received with a sense of amazement, and eventually, with widespread admiration. Curator Franklin Kelly chats with host Barbara Tempchin about the impact that Turner had on American art.

Robert E. Jackson, collector, and Sarah Greenough, senior curator of photographs, National Gallery of Art. Robert E. Jackson has been collecting other people's snapshots for more than a decade. Some of the best works in his collection are on display in The Art of the American Snapshot, 1888-1978. In this podcast Jackson and Sarah Greenough, senior curator of photographs, talk about why he collects snapshots and what makes an image capture his attention.

Sarah Greenough, senior curator of photographs, National Gallery of Art. Since the first Kodak camera was sold in 1888, American amateur photographers have taken billions of snapshots. In this Backstory episode, curator Sarah Greenough and host Barbara Tempchin discuss how anonymous photographers experimented with the medium, creating artfully crafted images. They also talk about the exhibition The Art of the American Snapshot, 1888-1978: From the Collection of Robert E. Jackson.

Carol Troyen, curator emerita at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Edward Hopper's depictions of 20th-century America continue to engage and fascinate the public. Shortly after the opening of the Edward Hopper exhibition at the National Gallery of Art, Deputy Director Alan Shestack spoke with Carol Troyen, curator emerita at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, about Hopper's captivating paintings and etchings. They also discuss the theme of solitude prevalent in his works.

Sarah Greenough, curator and head of the department of photographs. National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art has presented memorable exhibitions of photographs through the years, ranging from monographic shows on the work of such well-known photographers as Ansel Adams and Robert Frank to historically based exhibitions such as Foto: Modernity in Central Europe, 1918-1945. The Gallery's deputy director Alan Shestack speaks with curator Sarah Greenough about the history of the photography collection and the gallery space devoted to the medium.

Michael Kahn, artistic director, Shakespeare Theatre Company, and Franklin Kelly, senior curator, National Gallery of Art. Although separated in life by 150 years, the playwright William Shakespeare and artist Joseph William Mallord Turner share more than just a name, and possibly a birthday (April 23). Michael Kahn, artistic director of the world-renowned Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, and Gallery senior curator Franklin Kelly take time out from their busy schedules to discuss how the Bard influenced the one of Britain's most celebrated artists.

Margaret Parsons, head of the film programs and Sonja Simonyi, curator of the Modernity and Tradition film series. In Europe during the period between the two world wars, artistic motion pictures were as popular a medium of expression as photography. The National Gallery of Art film series Modernity and Tradition: Film in Interwar Central Europe, which accompanies the Gallery's exhibition on tour, Foto: Modernity in Central Europe, 1918-1945, includes more than thirty documentaries, features, and experimental films.

Nicholas Penny, senior curator of sculpture and decorative arts. The work of fifteenth-century sculptor Desiderio da Settignano inspired contemporaries to declare that he "brought cold marble to life." On the occasion of the exhibition Desiderio da Settignano: Sculptor of Renaissance Florence, Alan Shestack, deputy director of the National Gallery of Art, talks with senior curator Nicholas Penny about Desiderio-the sculptor and the exhibition.

Matthew S. Witkovsky, assistant curator of photographs. Against a background of tremendous social and political upheaval, photography scaled new heights in Austria, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Hungary, and Poland. Between the two world wars. Host Barbara Tempchin and Matthew Witkovsky, curator of Foto: Modernity in Central Europe, 1918-1945, discuss the landmark exhibition, which had its world premiere here at the National Gallery of Art in June 2007 landmark exhibition.

Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., Curator of Northern Baroque Paintings. More than forty years after Rembrandt's painting Portrait of a Boy in Fancy Dress (c. 1655), or "Titus," made its first Washington appearance, it has returned to the National Gallery of Art for several months through September 2007 as part of a new series of loan exchanges between the Gallery and the Norton Simon Foundations in Pasadena, CA. Installed in the Rembrandt galleries next to the artist's Self-Portrait (1659), it sparks intriguing questions: Who is this young boy? Is it Rembrandt's son? What is the mysterious animal on his shoulder? How does the portrait relate to a nearby painting by Hans Holbein? Host Alan Shestack probes these and other interesting questions with curator Arthur Wheelock.

Robert Leibowits, collector. For years Robert and June Leibowits have been collecting photographs and books. A portion of their impressive collection of eastern European photographs from between the two world wars is featured in the National Gallery of Art exhibition Foto: Modernity in Central Europe, 1918-1945. Exhibition curator Matthew S. Witkovsky chats with Robert Leibowits to find out what drives him to collect in this medium and subject area.

David C. Driskell, professor emeritus, University of Maryland at College Park; Ruth Fine, curator of special projects in modern art, National Gallery of Art; and Julie L. McGee, Rockefeller Humanities Fellow, Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, Smithsonian Institution and author of David C. Driskell: Artist and Scholar. To celebrate the publication of David C. Driskell: Artist and Scholar, Ruth Fine and Julie L. McGee discuss the first biography and comprehensive monograph of his work with David C. Driskell. In this podcast recorded on April 14, 2007, at the National Gallery of Art, the participants share the collaborative process behind writing the book, which traces Driskell's personal, artistic, and scholarly journey. A pioneer in establishing the study of African American art within the canon of American art criticism and theory, Driskell is also an artist whose work approaches questions of nature and culture, African and African American heritage, spirituality, family, and other subjects.

Mel Bochner, artist, in conversation with Jeffrey Weiss, curator and head of the department of modern and contemporary art, National Gallery of Art. Mel Bochner is one of the most prominent figures of the minimal and conceptual art generation. In this podcast recorded on March 11, 2007, at the National Gallery of Art, he discusses his body of work, which spans 40 years and includes painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, film, and installation, with Gallery curator Jeffrey Weiss. This podcast honors the Gallery's acquisition of Bochner's painting Theory of Boundaries (1969-1970).

Philip Conisbee, senior curator of European paintings, National Gallery of Art. The exhibition Cézanne in Provence- on view from January 29 to May 7, 2006, at the National Gallery of Art- marked the centenary of the artist's death and showcased more than 115 paintings, watercolors, and lithographs by Paul Cézanne of the landscape and people of Provence. In this podcast recorded on January 29, 2006, curator Philip Conisbee highlights the Provençal sites that Cézanne depicted, including the Cézanne family estate, the fishing village of L'Estaque, the countryside hamlets of Gardanne and Bellevue, the isolated landscape of Bibémus, the Château Noir near Aix-en-Provence, and Montagne Sainte-Victoire. He also discusses a group of late landscapes and the monumental painting Large Bathers, on loan from the National Gallery, London. The exhibition was co-organized by the National Gallery of Art; Musée Granet, Communauté du Pays d'Aix, Aix-en-Provence; and the Réunion des musées nationaux, Paris.

Ruth Fine, curator of special projects in modern art, National Gallery of Art. In this podcast recorded on January 15, 2006, Ruth Fine discusses the Harlem-based life and career of Norman Lewis in honor of the Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday weekend. Lewis was born in Harlem in 1909 and died in New York at the age of 70. Except for short periods spent elsewhere, New York and, in one way or another, the Harlem community remained Lewis' home base throughout his life. Harlem changed radically during the artist's lifetime, becoming the cultural center of black America. He is considered by many to be the first African American artist fully engaged by abstraction. Lewis' drawings, paintings, and prints date from the 1930s to 1970. Supporting himself as an elevator operator, house painter, short-order chef, merchant marine, tailor, and taxi driver, Lewis worked steadily at his art. "I have sustained myself in whatever the moment called for and done what has been necessary to just exist." Lewis' art and attitudes were highly influential on the next generation of African American artists, including Melvin Edwards, Sam Gilliam, and William T. Williams

Elizabeth Cropper, dean, Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art. Ten years after completing his work The Last Communion of Saint Jerome, Bolognese painter Domenichino Zampieri was accused by his rival Giovanni Lanfranco of stealing the idea for the painting from an altarpiece crafted by Lanfranco’s teacher, Agostino Carracci. The resulting scandal reverberated through the centuries, drawing responses by artists and critics from Poussin and Malvasia to Fuseli and Delacroix. Why was Domenichino attacked in this way when other related paintings—including Raphael’s Marriage of the Virgin and Perugino’s painting of the same subject—aroused no such negative response? In this lecture recorded on December 11, 2005 at the National Gallery of Art, Elizabeth Cropper presents her latest book, which investigates the Domenichino affair and addresses the perennial debate regarding the precise nature of originality and imitation. Cropper offers a detailed analysis of attitudes toward imitation, emulation, and plagiarism, and a fascinating discussion of what Domenichino’s plight signifies in art history.

Ellen G. Miles, curator of painting and sculpture, National Portrait Gallery. Gilbert Stuart (1755-1828) was the most successful portraitist of early America. Known for his renderings of the most famous American men and women of the era, including George Washington and John Adams, Stuart painted nearly 1,000 portraits over the course of his 50-year career. In this lecture recorded on April 3, 2005, Ellen G. Miles, cocurator of the exhibition Gilbert Stuart, illustrates the artist's career through documents of his sitters and business partners. The exhibition, which was on view from March 27 to July 31, 2005, presented 91 exceptional works that showcase Stuart's mastery of 18th-century English portraiture, revealing the paintings' elegant, refined beauty and historical importance. Of the Gallery's unequaled collection of 43 paintings by Stuart, 16 were conserved in 2012 through a Bank of America Art Conservation Project Grant.

Alan Shestack, deputy director and chief curator; Philip Conisbee, senior curator of European paintings; John O. Hand, curator of Northern Renaissance paintings, Kimberly Jones, assistant curator of French paintings, National Gallery of Art. In honor of the publication of National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection, contributing authors share highlights from this new survey of the Gallery's European and American paintings collection. Despite the Gallery's short history, opening to the public in 1941, its collection spans 600 years, from middle ages to the present, and includes some of the greatest masterpieces in Western art history. Most of the masterpieces were given by the Founding Benefactors and their families. It has been the Gallery's mission to supplement these gifts with acquisitions that present Western paintings in as broad and comprehensive a manner as possible. The first collection survey was published by then-director John Walker in 1975, which was revised and reprinted in 1984. In this program recorded on December 4, 2004, the new survey is revealed- 400 master paintings are chosen from 3,000, and 1 of 4 works were acquired since the 1984 survey. Collecting is tempered by its time and a particular point of view, and this new publication showcases master paintings in the Gallery's collection as measured from the present moment.

Jim Dine, artist, in conversation with Ruth Fine, curator of special projects in modern art, National Gallery of Art. Marking the opening of the Drawings of Jim Dine exhibition on March 21, 2004, Dine discussed his career and work with exhibition curator Judith Brodie at the National Gallery of Art. The artist has embraced drawing since the 1970s and is considered one of America's greatest living draftsmen. His images of tools, self-portraits, and studies from nature and after antiquity are among the most accomplished and beautiful drawings of our time.

Jim Dine, artist, in conversation with Judith Brodie, curator of modern prints and drawings, National Gallery of Art. In the first of two appearances at the National Gallery of Art to celebrate the Drawings of Jim Dine exhibition, Jim Dine participated in the annual Elson Lecture Series with Judith Brodie on March 16, 2004. Dine begins by discussing his life as an artist, the formative events in his career, and the emotional and romantic qualities entailed in the act of drawing. A consummate draftsman, Dine explains that "drawing is not an exercise. Exercise is sitting on a stationary bicycle and going nowhere. Drawing is being on a bicycle and taking a journey. For me to succeed in drawing, I must go fast and arrive somewhere. The quest is to keep the thing alive..."

Lou Stovall, artist, in conversation with Ruth Fine, curator of special projects in modern art, National Gallery of Art. As part of the National Gallery of Art summer lecture series Five African American Artists: Johnson-Tanner-Johnson-Stovall-Thomas, Lou Stovall participated in a Conversations with Artists program with Ruth Fine on August 3, 2003. "Compositions and Collaborations: The Arts of Lou Stovall" is a rare opportunity to hear Stovall discuss his own work and his collaborations with other artists, and to listen as he responds to questions from the audience. Stovall has been a major figure in the Washington, DC, arts community since the early 1960s, when he arrived at Howard University for his BFA program. In 1968 Stovall founded Workshop, Inc., a professional printmaking studio, where he has collaborated with more than 70 artists over the years. In addition to his own drawings and silkprints, and his collaborative printmaking projects, Stovall is a published essayist and poet.

Kimberly A. Jones, assistant curator of French paintings, National Gallery of Art. To celebrate the opening of Édouard Vuillard at the National Gallery of Art on January 19, 2003, coordinating curator Kimberly A. Jones introduced the career of Parisian artist Édouard Vuillard (1868-1940). The exhibition- on view through April 20, 2003- presented 233 objects, some of which had never before been on public display, and included paintings, folding screens, theater programs, prints, drawings, photographs, and ceramics. A series of decorative panels, The Public Gardens (1894), were shown together for the first time since 1906. The exhibition was co-organized by the National Gallery of Art with the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts; the Réunion des musées nationaux/Musée d'Orsay, Paris; and the Royal Academy of Arts, London.

Nicholas Penny, senior curator of sculpture and decorative arts, National Gallery of Art. For the annual Sydney J. Freedberg Lecture on Italian Art, recorded on November 17, 2002, Nicholas Penny discussed aspects of the relationship between painting and sculpture in the 15th and 16th centuries. In particular, Penny focused on a subject no one has addressed with greater eloquence than Sydney J. Freedberg: the way that figures occupy and define space in early 16th-century Italian art. This contest between the qualities proper to painting and sculpture in the representation of space and linear perspective is explored through works in the National Gallery, London, and National Gallery of Art collections.

Wendy A. Cooper, Lois D. and Henry S. McNeil Senior Curator of Furniture, Winterthur Museum, University of Delaware. In honor of the 50th anniversary of the Winterthur Museum, Garden, and Library, 296 objects from the museum collection- including furniture, textiles, paintings, watercolors, ceramics, glass, needlework, and metalwork, all made or used in America between 1640 and 1860- were presented in the exhibition An American Vision: Henry Francis du Pont's Winterthur Museum, which was on view at the National Gallery of Art from May 5- to October 6, 2002. In this lecture recorded on June 9, 2002, exhibition curator Wendy A. Cooper gives an overview of the Winterthur estate, surrounding lands, and the evolution of Francis du Pont's collection before highlighting some of the standout pieces in the exhibition. This lecture touched on five thematic elements: Early Settlement and Sophistication; Passion for Rococo; East Meets West; Arts of the Pennsylvania Germans; and American Classicism.

Molly Donovan, assistant curator of modern and contemporary art, National Gallery of Art. A month after the dedication of the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden on May 23, 1999, Molly Donovan discusses the grandeur and significance of its two components: the garden and the sculptures. In this lecture recorded on June 27, 1999, Donovan shares the history of the 6.1-acre space, from Major Pierre Charles L'Enfant's 1791 plan for Washington, DC, up to its 20th-century realization as the Gallery's Sculpture Garden. On April 22, 1791, while touring the grounds of the Potomac Valley, L'Enfant stated that "nothing can be more admirably adapted for the purpose [for the federal city]; nature has done much for it, and with the aid of art it will become the wonder of the world." L'Enfant's plan for a public, landscaped garden- originally known as L'Enfant Square- was based on the grounds at the Palace of Versailles outside Paris, France. A refuge from the linear expanse of the National Mall, the Gallery's Sculpture Garden features meandering paths, a fountain, and contemporary art. In this way, two hundred years later, the National Gallery of Art and Laurie D. Olin of Olin Partnership, the garden's architect, achieved L'Enfant's original vision of showcasing both natural beauty and artistic achievement.

Ellsworth Kelly, artist, in conversation with Marla Prather, curator and head of the department of 20th-century art, National Gallery of Art. Contemporary artist Ellsworth Kelly joins curator Marla Prather in this podcast recorded on April 21, 1999, at the National Gallery of Art. Spanning more than 60 years, Kelly's career has shown commitment to abstraction and humanism. His intuitive ability to merge space, color, and shape has positioned him as one of the leading post-war American artists working today. The Gallery has more than 200 works by Kelly in its collection including paintings, prints, and sculptures. Kelly's Stele II was one of the 17 major works to be included in the Gallery's Sculpture Garden when it first opened a month after this Elson Lecture program.

Robert T. Singer, curator of Japanese art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The exhibition Edo: Art in Japan, 1615-1868- on view from November 15, 1998, to February 15, 1999, at the National Gallery of Art- was the first comprehensive survey of Japanese art of the Edo period in the United States. In this podcast recorded on November 15, 1998, exhibition curator Robert T. Singer highlights some of the 281 objects presented in the exhibition, including painted scrolls and screens, costumes, armor, sculpture, ceramics, and woodblock prints. Forty-seven of the works were designated National Treasures of Japan, and many had never before left the country. The exhibition was organized by the National Gallery of Art, in collaboration with the Agency for Cultural Affairs of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Government of Japan, and The Japan Foundation.

Helen I. Jessup, guest curator of Sculpture of Angkor and Ancient Cambodia: Millennium of Glory. To celebrate the opening of Sculpture of Angkor and Ancient Cambodia: Millennium of Glory at the National Gallery of Art on June 29, 1997, exhibition curator Helen I. Jessup provided an overview of the first comprehensive exhibition of Cambodian sculpture to be shown in the United States. The exhibition- on view through September 28, 1997- presented 99 works spanning more than 1,000 years, from the 6th to the 16th century, many from the collections of the National Museum of Phnom Penh and the Musée Guimet in Paris. Included were statuary, monumental works in sandstone, and sculpted architectural elements. The exhibition was organized by the National Gallery of Art, the Royal Government of Cambodia, and the Réunion des musées nationaux/Musée national des Arts asiatiques-Guimet, Paris.

Wayne Thiebaud, artist, in conversation with Kathan Brown, president, Crown Point Press, and Ruth Fine, curator of modern prints and drawings, National Gallery of Art. In this podcast recorded on June 8, 1997, to celebrate the opening of the Gallery's Thirty-Five Years at Crown Point Press exhibition, artist Wayne Thiebaud discusses his career with Kathan Brown, president of Crown Point Press, and curator Ruth Fine of the National Gallery of Art. The conversation focuses on Theibaud's prints, which feature themes that also appear in his paintings and drawings. These works depict a wide variety of sumptuous foodstuffs as well as the colorful California landscape.

Elizabeth Murray, artist, in conversation with Marla Prather, curator and head of the department of 20th century art, National Gallery of Art. Elizabeth Murray (1940-2007) is one of the few artists to be credited with both rehabilitating the abstract movement and bringing new energy to figuration. Her sculpted canvases blur the line between the painting as an object and the painting as a space for depicting objects. In this podcast recorded on October 9, 1996, at the National Gallery of Art, Murray discusses her personal connection to painting with curator Marla Prather and how being a woman in a field generally dominated by men has influenced her work.

J. Carter Brown, director emeritus, National Gallery of Art To commemorate the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, the 100th anniversary of the modern Olympic Games, J. Carter Brown (1934-2002), former director of the National Gallery of Art, curated Rings: Five Passions in World Art, on view from July 4 to September 29, 1996, at the High Museum of Art, Atlanta. The works in this exhibition celebrated the Olympic spirit by highlighting the universal human emotions of love, anguish, awe, triumph, and joy. In this lecture recorded on June 9, 1996, Brown described bringing together 129 objects- including Rodin's The Kiss (1889) and Munch's The Scream (1893)- spanning seven centuries, loaned from prestigious museums and private collections around the world. Brown experimented with the exhibition installation, grouping artworks by the primary emotion that each evoked rather than by artist, chronology, movement, or locale.

Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, artists, in conversation with Germano Celant, senior curator of contemporary art, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; introduction by Marla Prather, associate curator of 20th-century art, National Gallery of Art. Claes Oldenberg (born 1929) and Coosje van Bruggen (1942-2009) transform familiar objects through their sculptures and give them a new reality filled with mystery, humor, and sensuality. Gemano Celant, organizing curator of the travelling exhibition Claes Oldenburg: An Anthology, on view at the Gallery from February 12 to May 7, 1995, joins the artists in this lecture. In this recording from March 5, 1995, the trio discuss the art in the exhibition—the first survey of their art since 1969—and how it offers a sense of interaction unlike anything else in a museum.

Roy Lichtenstein, artist, in conversation with Robert Rosenblum, professor of art history, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, and the Stephen and Nan Swid Curator of 20th-Century Art, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York American artist Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997) appears in conversation with art historian and curator Robert Rosenblum in this podcast recorded on October 26, 1994, at the National Gallery of Art. Lichtenstein discusses his career and life as an artist, and the impact that his art has had on popular culture. Rosenblum notes that Lichtenstein turned the popular into the elite and that the popular, in turn, turned Lichtenstein into the popular. This program coincided with the traveling exhibition The Prints of Roy Lichtenstein, the first comprehensive survey of the artist's prints in more than two decades, which was on view at the Gallery from October 30, 1994, to January 8, 1995.

Richard J. Powell, assistant professor, department of art and art history, Duke University. In advance of the publication of his newest book, Jacob Lawrence, Richard J. Powell shares the aesthetic and cultural inquiries that contributed to a more meaningful study of this important artist. Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000) received unprecedented acclaim for an African American artist in the 20th century. The standard conclusion that this unique status resulted from an ideological triumvirate of caste, class, and race fails to appreciate Lawrence’s artistic motivations and choices. In this lecture, recorded at the National Gallery of Art on March 22, 1992, Powell explains that his investigation into Lawrence’s life yields a universe of emblems, motifs, and symbols that cannot be reduced to some purely racial or social formula. The motif of steps—recurrent images of ladders, brownstone stoops, and fire escapes—is not a visual trope or random inclusion of environmental observations. The steps embrace a world of allusions to ascension and climbing. Lawrence’s documentation of significant historic events and moments of individual struggle and perseverance creates an art of social realism. His definitions of events and people at their most historic and human levels clarifies their meanings. Powell believes that this climbing and clarifying represents the genius of Jacob Lawrence.

Nancy Graves and Donald Saff, artists, in conversation with Ruth Fine, curator of special projects in modern art, National Gallery of Art. Artists Nancy Graves and Donald Saff, artist and founding director of Graphicstudio, discuss the formation of the Graphicstudio archive at the National Gallery of Art with Ruth Fine in this podcast recorded on October 6, 1991. This program was held in honor of the exhibition Graphicstudio: Contemporary Art from the Collaborative Workshop at the University of South Florida, which was on view from September 15, 1991, to January 5, 1992, and for which Graves completed her most recent work, Canoptic Legerdemain. The archive consists of 140 paintings, photographs, sculptures, and works in other media created by 24 artists who worked in collaboration with Graphicstudio's printers and artisans.

Jim Dine, artist, in conversation with Ruth Fine, curator of special projects in modern art, National Gallery of Art. Shortly after the opening of the exhibition Graphicstudio: Contemporary Art from the Collaborative Workshop at the University of South Florida, Jim Dine discussed his works in the Graphicstudio archive at the National Gallery of Art with Ruth Fine on September 29, 1991. On view from September 15, 1991, to January 5, 1992, the exhibition featured 140 works by 24 artists, including two sculptures given by Dine from his own collection to complete the archive formed in 1986. Instead of looking back on his well-documented career, the conversation also focused on his recent work in printmaking and on a drawings series completed in the dead of night at a European museum.

Pat Steir, artist, and Kathan Brown, founder and director of Crown Point Press, in conversation with Ruth Fine, curator of special projects in modern art, National Gallery of Art. In this podcast recorded on March 25, 1990, at the National Gallery of Art, Pat Steir appears in conversation with Kathan Brown to celebrate the exhibition The 1980s: Prints from the Collection of Joshua P. Smith. Moderated by exhibition curator Ruth Fine, the conversation explores the role that printmaking and the artist's involvement with Crown Point Press have played in her career. Also examined is Steir's use of paintings and drawings to address many of the important visual and conceptual issues of her generation.

David C. Driskell, artist, curator, and professor of art, University of Maryland, College Park. On January 11, 1990, the National Gallery of Art announced an initiative to address the underrepresentation of minorities—particularly African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native Americans—in the museum profession. In response, David Driskell presented a lecture at the Gallery on February 11, 1990, on multi-cultural representation in art museum collections and exhibitions and among staff and visitors. Unresolved issues in our cultural history raise questions about why the arts have been divided along racial lines—if, as Driskell observes, all art emanates from the salient desire to express the inner urges of the human spirit. This quality we all possess is colorless, classless, and uncluttered by feelings of racial superiority. The insistence on dividing art in the United States along racial lines demonstrates a response different in both thought and action than that seen in older cultures and ancient societies. Driskell hopes that these impending initiatives allow us to enter the 21st century with a more holistic view of our history and the cultural pluralism that is the privilege of this nation.

Sydney J. Freedberg, chief curator, National Gallery of Art. In honor of The Age of Correggio and the Carracci: Emilian Painting of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries exhibition, on view from December 19, 1986, to February 16, 1987, at the National Gallery of Art, Sydney J. Freedberg explains the genesis of the exhibition and introduces many of its masterpieces, including 79 paintings created in the northern Italian province of Emilia between 1500 and 1700. Sir John Pope-Hennessy (then of the Metropolitan Museum of Art) chose the 16th-century works and Freedberg selected those painted in the 17th century. In this lecture recorded on December 26, 1986, Freedberg leads the audience through the exhibition, promising that even though his tour begins with the grandeur of Correggio, there are marvelous surprises of equal mastery to come.

Wendy A. Cooper, director, The DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum, Colonial Williamsburg. In honor of the exhibition opening for American Furniture from the Kaufman Collection on October 12, 1986, curator Wendy A. Cooper presented this lecture highlighting works collected by Mr. and Mrs. George M. Kaufman over a period of 25 years. The exhibition, on view through April 19, 1987, at the National Gallery of Art, showed 101 examples of American furniture made between 1690 and 1840. The collection, one of the largest and most refined in private hands, includes chairs, desks, tables, high chests, mirrors, clocks, and sconces from the major style centers of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Newport, and Charleston. The Kaufmans recognized this furniture as one of the earliest American art forms, as well as an expression of their love for and strong pride in our nation's creative and artistic heritage. Each and every object that they desired to acquire and live with is an extraordinary example of high quality craftsmanship, aesthetics, and design.

Sydney J. Freedberg, Arthur Kingsley Porter Professor of Fine Arts emeritus, Harvard University, and chief curator, National Gallery of Art. In honor of the exhibition Titian: The Flaying of Marsyas on view at the National Gallery of Art from January 17 to April 20, 1986, chief curator Sydney J. Freedberg revealed how he arranged this special showing of Titian's last painting in the United States. In 1983 the work had been lent by the State Museum in Kromeriz, Czechoslovakia, for the first time in 300 years to the Genius of Venice exhibition at London's Royal Academy of Arts. Freedberg persuaded authorities to permit the painting to travel to the National Gallery of Art, in what he described as its second emergence from exile. In this lecture recorded on January 26, 1986, Freedberg provides the context for The Flaying of Marsyas (c. 1550-1576) and the later years of Titian's career.

Roy Lichtenstein, artist, in conversation with Jack Cowart, curator of 20th-century art, National Gallery of Art; introduction by Ruth Fine, curator of the department of graphic arts, National Gallery of Art. American artist Roy Lichtenstein appears in conversation with curator Jack Cowart to celebrate the exhibition Gemini G.E.L.: Art and Collaboration, on view at the National Gallery of Art from November 18, 1984, to February 24, 1985. In this recording from January 27, 1985, Lichtenstein discusses some of his 134 prints in the Gemini G.E.L. collection. Gemini G.E.L. (Graphic Edition Limited) is an artists' workshop and publisher of hand-printed limited-edition lithographs. Gemini G.E.L. played a pivotal role in the formation of the Gallery's contemporary collection when Sidney B. Felsen and Stanley Grinstein, owners of Gemini, donated 256 prints and sculpture editions by 22 contemporary American artists working at Gemini G.E.L. of Los Angeles. The archive collection now has more than 1,200 works, establishing the Gallery as a primary research center in the field of contemporary graphic art and edition sculpture.

Sydney J. Freedberg, Arthur Kingsley Porter Professor of Fine Arts, and acting director, Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University. At the time of the exhibition Prints and Related Drawings by the Carracci Family, on view from March 18 to May 20, 1979, at the National Gallery of Art, Sydney J. Freedberg presented his observations on Lodovico Carracci (1555-1619), the oldest of the family of Bolognese artists that included cousins Agostino (1557-1602) and Annibale (1560-1609). Together the Carracci profoundly altered the course of Italian art in the later years of the 16th century and laid the basis for the baroque style that would dominate the century to come. In this lecture recorded on April 8, 1979, Freedberg opposes the perception of Lodovico as a flawed artist outdistanced by his younger cousins. Providing a more comprehensive account, Freedberg argues that the artist's expressive capacity- seen in his sensuous handling of paint, powerful evocations of form, and innovative chiaroscuro- was both his strength and defect.

Mary Morton, curator and head, department of French paintings, National Gallery of Art. A portrait of Joseph Roulin, the postman made famous by Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) in a series of portraits, was on view at the National Gallery of Art for the first time thanks to a loan from the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo, The Netherlands. Portrait of Monsieur Roulin (1889) hung alongside the Gallery’s own Roulin’s Baby (1888), a portrait of the postman’s daughter Marcelle as an infant. In honor of this historic pairing, the Gallery mounted the exhibition Celebrating Van Gogh at the National Gallery of Art, which opened to the public on June 8, 2014. To mark the exhibition closing on September 7, 2014, Mary Morton presented a lecture on the riches of the Gallery’s Van Gogh paintings. In addition to seven other paintings on view, two new Van Gogh works have arrived within the last year at the bequest of renowned philanthropist, art collector, and Gallery benefactor Paul Mellon (1907–1999). The paintings had been in the home of Mellon’s wife, Rachel “Bunny” Mellon, until her death at age 103 on the Gallery’s anniversary, March 17, 2014.

Andrew Robison, A.W. Mellon Senior Curator of Prints and Drawings, National Gallery of Art. To celebrate the exhibition opening of Albrecht Dürer: Master Drawings, Watercolors, and Prints from the Albertina on March 24, 2013, Andrew Robison shares that, while the artist's paintings were prized, his most influential works were executed on paper. Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528) has long been considered the greatest German artist, uniquely combining the status held in Italian art by Michelangelo in the 16th century, by Raphael in the 18th and 19th centuries, and by Leonardo da Vinci in our own day. The finest collection of Dürer's drawings and watercolors is that of the Albertina in Vienna, Austria. One of the largest in the world, it is distinguished by many of the artist's most stunning masterpieces: watercolors such as The Great Piece of Turf, a sublime nature study of the Renaissance; chiaroscuro drawings such as The Praying Hands, surely the most famous drawing in the world; and the amazingly precocious silverpoint Self-Portrait at Thirteen, perhaps the earliest self-portrait drawing by any artist. On view through June 9, 2013, this groundbreaking exhibition presents 91 of the superb Dürer watercolors and drawings from the Albertina and 27 of the museum’s best related engravings and woodcuts. It also includes 19 closely related drawings and prints from the Gallery’s own collection.