LECTURE SERIES

My Signature Series: ARTISTS’ SECRETS: Looking at Painting with an Artist's Eye

These presentations explore the decision-making processes that each artist considers when creating a work of art. With a deeper understanding of this artistic process, each viewer develops a greater and more meaningful appreciation of the art as well as the artist and the effective use of media. These lectures have been presented at the National Gallery of Art, the Corcoran Gallery, the Kreeger Museum, private venues, as well as for audiences on Seabourn and Silversea ships.

SERIES I - The Elements of Painting - 4 presentations:

• Line
• Value: Light & Shade and the Effective Use of Shadow
• The Magic of Color
• Format, Organization and the Use of the Golden Ratio

SERIES II - Themes and Variations - 4 presentations:

• Here's Looking WITH You
• Perspective: The Development Spatial Illusion and The Intentional Denial of Depth
• Limitations and Liberties
• The Masters and The Impact of Their Mentors

SERIES III - Reality and Reflection - 4 presentations:

• Creating Illusions: Surfaces, Shading and Shining
• Seeing Transparency: Looking At and Looking Through
• The Mirror: Its History, Depiction and Symbolic Meaning
• The Self-Portrait: Self-Recognition and Self-Regard

SERIES IV - Media and Their Masterpieces - 4 presentations:

Live demonstrations and discussions of the different art media are followed by viewing slides and analyzing masterworks of those media.

• Drawing: Pencil, Charcoal, Pen & Ink, Brush and Ink
• Water Based Media: Watercolor, Fresco and Egg Tempera
• Oil Painting: Benefits and Challenges of Panel and Canvas Supports
• Printmaking: Woodcut, Etching, Lithography

ARTISTS' SECRETS:

Looking at Painting with an Artist's Eye - Highlights & Summary - [one presentation]

ITALY:

The Legacy of Classical Rome
Inspired by Greek culture, Roman art and architecture have influenced western civilization for 2000 years. [one or two presentations]

The Glory of Renaissance Florence
The rebirth of interest in the visible world combined with an appreciation of classical culture ignited an astonishing level of creativity and a search for the essence of beauty. [one or two presentations]

The Grandeur of Renaissance Venice
Located at the crossroads of eastern and western cultures, the art in Venice combined a variety of ideas and images to create images of intricate pattern and sensuous color. [one or two presentations]

The Splendor of Christian Rome
During the renaissance and baroque eras, Papal support for rebuilding Rome attracted Italy’s finest artists who competed for commissions to create the great masterpieces we admire. [one or two presentations]

Classical Roman Art in Pompeii and Rome [one or two presentations]

Classical Greek Art in Southern Italy and Sicily [one or two presentations]

Italian Renaissance and Baroque Painting - Undergraduate, one semester course [10 presentations]

GREECE:

The Glory of Classical Greek Art and Architecture [one or two presentations]

Classical Greek Art in Southern Italy and Sicily [one or two presentations]

EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN:

Drink and Be Merry: Images of Wine in Ancient Mediterranean Art - Italy, Greece, Egypt [one presentation]

A Feast for Your Eyes: A History of Food Images and Their Meanings [one or two presentations]

WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN

SPAIN:

Barcelona and the Art of Gaudi [one presentation]

Picasso in Barcelona [one presentation]

Miro in Barcelona [one presentation]

MOROCCO:

The Magic of Morocco: From Matisse to Churchill [one presentation]

FRENCH IMPRESSIONISM and ITS CONTEMPORARIES

Highlights of 19th Century French Painting before Impressionism [one or two presentations]

Highlights of French Impressionism [one or two presentations]

Impressionist Images of the Country [one or two presentations]

Impressionist Images of the City [one or two presentations]

THE IMPRESSIONIST STAR:

Monet [one or two presentations]

Renoir and Pissarro [one or two presentations]

Degas [one or two presentations]

Cassatt and Morisot [one or two presentations]

Sisley and Caillebotte [one or two presentations]

British Painting in the Age of French Impressionism [one or two presentations]

American Painting in the Age of French Impressionism [one or two presentations]

OSLO, STOCKHOLM and ST. PETERSBURG:

19th Century Norwegian Art and Edvard Munch [one presentation]

Highlights of the Art in Stockholm [one presentation]

Highlights of the Hermitage: Dutch and Italian Art [one or two presentations]

Highlights of the Hermitage: French Art [one or two presentations]

The Creation of the Hermitage Museum and its Great Collectors [one or two presentations]

CARIBBEAN:

Caribbean Inspiration: From Rousseau, the Philosopher to Rousseau the Painter and the Search for the Noble Savage [one presentation]

Gauguin in the Caribbean and His Search for Paradise [one or two presentations]

Pissarro: From a Childhood in St. Thomas to Parisian French Impressionist [one presentation]

MEXICO:

Olmec Art [one presentation]

Mayan Art [one presentation]

Aztec Art [one presentation]

BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA:

Highlights of the Museo des Bellas Artes [one presentation]

PACIFIC and AUSTRALIA:

Gauguin and His Search for Paradise I: His Life Before Tahiti [one presentation]

Gauguin and His Search for Paradise II: Transformed by Tahiti [one presentation]

19th Century Australian Landscape Painting Artists Discover Australia [one presentation]

VIET NAM:

Fabulous Hanoi: Art and Daily Life [one presentation]

Vietnam's Cultural Center: Imperial Hue and Hoi An Village [one presentation]

Vietnam’s Unique Lacquer Paintings [one presentation]

Rural Vietnam: From the Mekong Delta in the South to the Sapa Highlands in the North [one presentation]

PRESENTATIONS on SPECIFIC ARTISTS & COLLECTORS:

ART HISTORY SURVEY:

From the Prehistoric through 1945 – Undergraduate level, two semesters