Release Date: September 3, 2009

National Gallery of Art Lecture Program Closes 2009 With Brice Marden, Toni Morrison, and More

Washington, DC—The television series Civilisation is explored through Jonathan Conlin’s panel discussion, Celebrating Civilisation, on Saturday, October 17, at 1:00 p.m. and lecture, Back to Civilisation: Kenneth Clark's Television Landmark at 40, at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 18, at the National Gallery of Art

The National Gallery of Art wraps up 2009 with an engaging array of public lecture programs. Artist Brice Marden will make a rare public appearance for the Diamonstein-Spielvogel Lecture Series on Sunday, November 22, in conversation with Harry Cooper, curator and head of the department of modern and contemporary art, National Gallery of Art. Toni Morrison, Robert F. Goheen Professor in Humanities, Emeritus; special consultant to the director of the Princeton Atelier; and lecturer with the rank of professor in the Lewis Center for the Arts, Princeton University, will present Reading of “The Fisherwoman” from Robert Bergman’s A Kind of Rapture. The reading will be held in conjunction with the Robert Bergman: Portraits, 1986–1995 exhibition on view October 11, 2009–January 10, 2010. The following Sunday, Keith Christiansen, Jayne Wrightsman Curator of European Paintings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, will deliver Ghiberti and the Painters of Florence for the 2009 Sydney J. Freedberg Lecture in Italian Art.

A weekend of programming will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Civilisation television series on October 17 and 18. Jonathan Conlin, lecturer in modern history, University of Southampton, will give a Sunday lecture titled Back to Civilisation: Kenneth Clark's Television Landmark at 40, which will be followed by a book signing. This lecture and book signing program will be preceded on Saturday by a more informal program titled Celebrating Civilisation, which will include a panel discussion and a chance to invite comments and questions from the public about the impact of Civilisation on their own lives.

All lecture programs are free and take place on Sundays at 2:00 p.m. in the East Building Auditorium unless otherwise noted. Seating is on a first-come, first-seated basis.

Panel Discussion
Celebrating Civilisation
Saturday, October 17, 1:00 p.m.
Panel discussion with Jonathan Conlin, lecturer in modern history, University of Southampton; Maygene Daniels, chief of gallery archives, National Gallery of Art; Margaret Parsons, head of film programs, National Gallery of Art; and Faya Causey, head of academic programs, National Gallery of Art.

The discussion will be followed by a video screening (60 minutes) of a symposium titled Back to Civilisation: A Television Landmark at 40, held at the National Gallery, London, on February 21, 2009, to mark the 40th anniversary of the BBC2 series Civilisation, with lectures by noted speakers including Sir David Attenborough, A. A. Gill, Nicholas Penny, Simon Schama, and Colin Wiggins.

Public Symposium
A New Look at Postwar Art: The Collection of Robert and Jane Meyerhoff
Saturday, November 21, 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m., East Building Auditorium
Illustrated lectures by noted scholars including Graham Bader, Yve-Alain Bois, Harry Cooper, and Sarah K. Rich

Works in Progress: Mondays
East Building Small Auditorium, 12:10 and 1:10 p.m.

Concessions of a Preservation Zealot
September 21
Hugh Phibbs, coordinator of preservation services, department of loans and exhibitions conservation, National Gallery of Art

Mark Rothko: You Have to Start Somewhere
October 5
Ruth Fine, curator of special projects in modern art, National Gallery of Art

The Artful Process of Peacemaking: Representations of Peace Agreements in Seventeenth-Century Europe
October 19
Oliver Tostmann, Andrew W. Mellon Curatorial Fellow, National Gallery of Art

The Restoration of Manhatta
October 26
Charles M. Brock, associate curator of American and British paintings, National Gallery of Art

Please Touch, Don’t Touch, Beyond Touch: Representations of the Incredulity of Saint Thomas, Noli me tangere, and the Ascension in Art and Music
November 2
Peter M. Lukehart, associate dean, Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art

Curators, Conservators, and the Nature of Connoisseurship
November 16
John Brewer, Eli and Eyde Broad Professor in Humanities and Social Sciences, California Institute of Technology

Teaching Connoisseurship: Paul Sachs at Harvard University and Bernard Berenson at Villa I Tatti
December 7
David Alan Brown, curator of Italian and Spanish paintings, National Gallery of Art

Rosary Retablos and Popular Devotion in Sixteenth-Century Mexico
December 14
Sara Taylor, art and archaeology editor, Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection

Sunday Lectures

Modern Sculpture in Renaissance Venice: Tullio Lombardo and the Romance of Antiquity
September 13
Alison Luchs, curator of early European sculpture, National Gallery of Art
Book signing of Tullio Lombardo and Venetian High Renaissance Sculpture follows

Reconstructing a Nazi Art Collection
September 20
Nancy Yeide, head of curatorial records and files, National Gallery of Art
Book signing of Beyond the Dreams of Avarice: The Hermann Goering Collection follows.

Images for an Empire: Charles V and the Visual Arts
September 27
Miguel Falomir, Andrew W. Mellon Professor, Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art

The Darker Side of Light: Prints and Privacy in the Nineteenth Century
October 4
Peter Parshall, curator and head of the department of old master prints, National Gallery of Art
Book signing of The Darker Side of Light: Arts of Privacy, 1850–1900 follows.

Introduction to the Exhibition—Editions with Additions: Working Proofs by Jasper Johns
October 11
Ruth Fine, curator of special projects in modern art, National Gallery of Art

Back to Civilisation: Kenneth Clark's Television Landmark at 40
October 18
Jonathan Conlin, lecturer in modern history, University of Southampton
Book signing of Civilisation follows.

Judith Leyster: “A Leading Star” in Dutch Art
October 25
Frima Fox Hofrichter, chair of the department of history of art and design, Pratt Institute, and Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., curator of northern baroque paintings, National Gallery of Art

Reading of “The Fisherwoman” from Robert Bergman’s A Kind of Rapture
November 1
Toni Morrison, Robert F. Goheen Professor in the Humanities, Emeritus; special consultant to the director of the Prince Atelier; and lecturer with the rank of professor in the Lewis Center for the Arts, Princeton University. In conjunction with the Robert Bergman: Portraits, 1986–1995 exhibition on view October 11, 2009–January 10, 2010.

The Sydney J. Freedberg Lecture In Italian Art
Ghiberti and the Painters of Florence
November 8
Keith Christiansen, Jayne Wrightsman Curator of European Paintings, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American Leonardo: Experts, Dealers, and the Art Market in the Twentieth Century
November 15
John Brewer, Eli and Eyde Broad Professor in Humanities and Social Sciences, California Institute of Technology
Book signing of The American Leonardo: A Tale of Obsession, Art and Money follows.

The Diamonstein-Spielvogel Lecture Series
Brice Marden on Art
November 22
Brice Marden, artist, in conversation with Henry Cooper, curator and head of the department of modern and contemporary art, National Gallery of Art

The Angels of Caravaggio
November 29
Steven F. Ostrow, professor and chair of the department of art history, University of Minnesota

American Visionary Filmmakers and the Heritage of Emerson
December 6
P. Adams Sitney, professor and director of the program of visual arts, Princeton University

Playing Favorites: A Personal Selection of French Drawings from the National Gallery of Art
December 13
Margaret Morgan Grasselli, curator and head of the department of old master drawings, National Gallery of Art
Book signing of Renaissance to Revolution: French Drawings from the National Gallery of Art, 1500–1800 follows.