Lectures for March

Dale Chihuly

Sunday, March 2, 2 p.m.
Pillsbury Auditorium
Free and open to the public

Dale Chihuly addresses the many aspects of his work over the last 25 years as seen in the exhibition "Dale Chihuly: Installations 1964-1997." The exhibition documents and highlights in the most comprehensive manner to date the development of his art, from his Persian, float, and Venetian series to his design for the set for Seattle Opera's presentation of Debussy's "Pélleas et Mélisande," and his latest work--the installation specially created for The Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

 

Samovars, Shoji, Settles, and Spinning Wheels

Thursday, March 6,
Pillsbury Auditorium, 6 p.m.
Reception, Fountain Court, 7 p.m.
Decorative Arts Council members, $5; nonmembers $8

Sponsored by the Decorative Arts Council

Minnesota collectors delighted in the exotic and venerated the past by displaying Russian samovars on their sideboards, dividing their rooms with Japanese screens, and placing European settles and American spinning wheels near their front doors. Using historic photographs and writings, Patty Dean, supervisory curator for the Minnesota Historical Society Museum Collections Department, discusses the various objects and inspirations that could be found in Minnesota homes in the early 1900s.

 

Royal Tombs of the Moche: Recent Archaeological Discoveries in Peru

Thursday, March 13, 11 a.m.
Pillsbury Auditorium
Free and open to the pubic

Sponsored by the Friends of the Institute

This lecture is by Christopher Donnan, director, Fowler Museum of Cultural History, Los Angeles.

 

Toulouse-Lautrec, A Life

Sunday, March 16, 2 p.m.
Pillsbury Auditorium
Free and open to the public

Cosponsored by the Alliance Française

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec is famous for his depiction of cafe and cabaret life in Paris at the turn-of-the-century. Drawing from more than a thousand previously unavailable family letters, Julia Bloch Frey strips away the myths to reveal for the first time the man beneath the popular image. Julia Bloch Frey's recent biography "Toulouse-Lautrec, a Life" was winner of the 1995 Pen Center USA West Literary Award in Nonfiction, and chosen as best biography of 1994 by Apollo Magazine. She is Associate Professor of French at the University of Colorado. Reception to follow.

 

Ritual Disguise: Cross-Dressing Heroes, Bearded Priestesses, and Other Complications in Roman Culture

Thursday, March 20, 6 p.m.
Pillsbury Auditorium
Free and open to the public

Cosponsored by the Archaeological Institute of America

Why do virile ancient mythological figures, such as Achilles and Hercules occasionally appear in women's clothing in paintings and sculpture? Dr. Natalie Kampen clarifies these occurrences by placing them in the context of ancient traditions of gender- and sex-reversals in religious ritual. Natalie Kampen is Professor Women's Studies and Art History at Barnard College in New York. Reception to follow.

 

Acquiring Museum Quality Textiles: A Discussion with Three Curators

Thursday, March 20,
Reception, 5:30 p.m., Panel discussion, 6 p.m.
Villa Rosa Room
Free and open to the public

Sponsored by the Textile Council

Part of a continuing series designed to demystify collecting, this panel of well-known curators explain the parameters of their collecting responsibilities and interests. Panelists are Suzanne Baizerman, director, Goldstein Gallery, University of Minnesota, Marcia Anderson, curator of museum collections, Minnesota History Center, and Lotus Stack, chief curator and curator of textiles, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Among the topics discussed are the organizing principles underlying their collections, availability of collectible material, and the dynamic relationship between institutional and individual collecting.

 

Shadows and Patterns: Japanese American Pictorial Photography, 1920-1940

Thursday, March 27, 7 p.m.
Pillsbury Auditorium
Free and open to the public

Cosponsored by the Photography Council

(Mention tie-in with American Pictorialism) When at the outbreak of World War II, Japanese Americans were forced into confinement at relocation camps, a remarkable chapter in the history of photography came to a close. A number of the relocated Japanese Americans were art photographers who had seen their prints celebrated world wide in the pictorial exhibitions and publications of the 1920's and 1930's. Dennis Reed discusses the rediscovery of surviving prints, and he examines the contribution made by these nearly forgotten photographers. Mr. Reed is Dean and Professor of Art at Los Angeles Valley College and author of "Japanese Photography in America, 1920-1940," and co-author of "Pictorialism in California, Photographs: 1900-1940."

Jews and Greeks in Ancient Crimea: Current Archaeological Excavations at Tauric Chersonesus

Thursday, April 3, 6 p.m.
Pillsbury Auditorium
Free and open to the public

Cosponsored by the Archaeological Institute of America

The Black Sea project, begun in 1992, focused on excavations at the ancient city of Chersonesus, located near the modern city of Sevastopol, and on the possible presence of a Jewish community at Chersonesus dating from the Roman period. J. Andrew Overman details the story of the dig and reveals finds relating to the ancient Jews of the Crimea. Reception to follow.

Textile Council Events
Mary Ann Butterfield Memorial Lecture: The World's Oldest Textiles

Thursday, April 10
5:30 p.m., reception
6 p.m., lecture, Pillsbury Auditorium
Free and open to the public

Sponsored by the Textile Council

Dr. Elizabeth Barber is an internationally renowned professor of linguistics and archaeology at Occidental College in Los Angeles, as well as a handweaver. She discusses the origin and development of spinning and weaving in Europe and the Near East, covering the first 20,000 years of these skills.

Fun and Interesting Stories in the Auction Business

Thursday, April 10, 11 a.m.
Pillsbury Auditorium
Free and open to the public

Sponsored by the Friends of the Institute

This lecture is by Diane D. Brooks, president and CEO, Sotheby's, New York.

Two Centuries of Collecting Chinese Export Porcelain in Europe and America

Saturday, April 26, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
Pillsbury Auditorium
Free and open to the public

Registration required, please call the Visitor and Member Center at (612) 870-3131.

This day-long symposium focuses on collections of Chinese export porcelain in Europe and America. The speakers include Thomas Michie from the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence; William Sargent from Peabody-Essex Museum, Salem; Claire Le Corbeiller from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; and Colin Sheaf from Christie's, London. They address major American and European collections of Chinese export porcelain including those of Henry Francis du Pont, Anne Alan Ives, and Helena Woolworth McCann. Lunch on your own.

For more information call (612) 870-3131 or 800/876-ARTS.