Diverse Topics Include Africa's Muses, Painters in Paris, Fireworks, and Elvis in History
More that two dozen museum curators, distinguished scholars and celebrity speakers — discussing such diverse topics Africa's Muses, Painters in Paris, Fireworks, and Elvis in History — are featured in The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Spring 2000 lecture series. Many of the lectures are presented in conjunction with exhibitions on view at the Museum, others focus on art and architecture around the world, and some are music-related.
Interpreting Exhibitions at the Met
In conjunction with the exhibition Painters in Paris: 1895-1950, two events will be presented. Painters in Paris: A Reading, will feature Philippe de Montebello, Director of the Metropolitan Museum, and actress Irene Worth in a dramatic reading of poetry — in English and French (with supertitles) — and prose (April 27). And Rosamond Bernier will present a lecture, Matisse, Mainly at the Met, on March 22. The exhibition is sponsored by Aetna.
The renowned Noh theater group Nohgaku-za of Tokyo will perform two classic dramas, preceded by an introductory lecture by Karen Brazell (April 2), in conjunction with the exhibition Masterpieces of Japanese Art from the Mary Griggs Burke Collection.
Elvis in History, by Presley's biographer Peter Guralnick (March 1), will be presented in conjunction with the exhibition Rock Style. The exhibition is made possible by Tommy Hilfiger U.S.A., Inc. Additional support has been provided by Condé Nast and The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. The exhibition has been organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Cleveland.
Fireworks: The Eighth Lively Art, by New York fireworks commissioner George Plimpton (June 16), will be presented in conjunction with the exhibition Fireworks.
Relating to the exhibition Art and Oracle: Spirit Voices of Africa, Harvard University professor Kwame Anthony Appiah will speak on Africa's Muses (May 3). The concert A Safari to Musical Africa will feature Drums of Passion, the renowned musician Babatunde Olatunji, and a troupe of singers and dancers, on May 1. The exhibition is made possible in part by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation. The exhibition Web site and catalogue are made possible by The Ford Foundation. The exhibition was organized in collaboration with the Rietberg Museum, Zurich.
In John Singer Sargent at the Metropolitan, H. Barbara Weinberg, the Alice Pratt Brown Curator of American Paintings and Sculpture at the Metropolitan Museum, will examine many of the virtuoso expatriate's great oils and watercolors and describe how the Museum acquired them (June 9). This lecture is offered in conjunction with the exhibition John Singer Sargent: Beyond the Portrait Studio, Paintings and Drawings from the Collection. The exhibition is made possible by the Marguerite and Frank A. Cosgrove Jr. Fund.
Events scheduled in conjunction with the exhibition Tilman Riemenschneider: Master Sculptor of the Late Middle Ages include the two-part Early Music Vocal Traditions, with Russell Oberlin, countertenor (March 22) and Paul Shipper, singer and lutenist (March 29); Tilman Riemenschneider: A Realist among German Sculptors by art historian and author Geza von Habsburg (April 13); and Ex Umbris, Ensemble of Two Singers and Five Instrumentalists, a concert presented in the Medieval Sculpture Hall (April 16).
The exhibition is made possible in part by Bayerische Landesbank. The exhibition is organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the National Gallery of Art, Washington. An indemnity has been granted by the Federal Council on the Arts and Humanities.
Walker Evans: Films of His Time (April 15), featuring three screenings and a talk by Jeff Rosenheim, Assistant Curator in the Department of Photographs at the Metropolitan Museum, is scheduled in conjunction with the exhibition Walker Evans. The exhibition is made possible by Prudential Securities.
Portraits by Ingres: Image of an Epoch, a three-part series on the exhibition of the same name, will be presented by Gary Tinterow, the Engelhard Curator of 19th-Century European Paintings in the Department of European Paintings at The Metropolitan Museum of Art (April 11, 18 and 25). The exhibition is made possible by The Florence Gould Foundation. The exhibition was organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., and The National Gallery, London. An indemnity has been granted by the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.
Conductor, saxophonist and music professor Loren Schoenberg will offer a two-part series Jazz's First Century, Swing That Music: 1925-1950, focusing on Duke Ellington (June 6) and Charlie Parker (June 13). This series is offered in conjunction with the exhibition A Century of Design, Part II: 1925-1950.
Art, Architecture, History and Culture Around the World
Author and lecturer Olivier Bernier will discuss The World in 1800, a four-part series (March 8, 15, 22 and 29); Jerrilynn D. Dodds, author, curator, professor and filmmaker, will discuss Manet at the Met (March 9 and 16); and cultural historian and author David Garrard Lowe will offer a three-part lecture, Newport: Cottages and Palaces in the Queen of Resorts (May 4, 11 and 18).
In The Tulip (April 6), author Anna Pavord will discuss this intriguing flower's influence on artists and crafts workers (April 6); art and architecture of the western Mediterranean Islands will be described by Marian Burleigh-Motley of the Metropolitan Museum's Education Department in a four-part series (April 4, 11, 18 and 25); and art historian George Michell will present the two-part illustrated lecture 16th Century India: Art and Architecture (April 6 and 13).
Pace University professor Janetta Rebold Benton will lecture on Van Eyck, Van der Weyden, Memling, Holbein (April 5 and 12 and May 3 and 10 respectively); and will also offer the 10-part series Châteaux and Castles of the Renaissance: French Fantasies and English Extravaganzas (on consecutive Wednesday mornings, March 8-May 17).
Words and Music
Wagnerism and America, two lectures by author Joseph Horowitz, with recorded music, will be offered concurrent with the Metropolitan Opera's Spring Ring cycles (March 8 and 15); filmmaker Christopher Nupen will show segments of his films and recount adventures with some of the artists he has worked with (among them, Jacqueline du Pré, Andrés Segovia, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Daniel Baremboim; Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Plácido Domingo, Nathan Milstein, Gidon Kremer, Evgeny Kissin, and Zubin Mehta) in Great Musicians on Film (March 31); WQXR evening host June LeBell will present the two-part The Sound of Broadway (April 4 and 11); and WQXR broadcaster Nimet Habachy will discuss Verdi: Last Masterpieces (May 2 and 9).
The Spring 2000 lecture series is a presentation of the Department of Concerts and Lectures at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Hilde Limondjian, General Manager.
Individual tickets and subscriptions to concerts and lectures can be purchased by mail, telephone, or fax. For a brochure, or to place an order, call (212) 570-3949, Mon.-Sat., 9:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m.; or fax us at (212) 650-2253 at any time.
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February 18, 2000
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