Carol Rifelj Faculty Lecture Series: Jodi Rodgers, Museum of Art

Mural Painting and the Nineteenth Century Civic Imagination

‘The Dance of Life: Figure and Imagination in American Art, 1876–1917’ exhibition explores the American Renaissance, a pivotal yet neglected period in American history, that inspired an ambitious generation of artists to develop a movement in mural painting that captivated a divided nation. My lecture will address the creative and cultural context for Edwin Austin Abbey’s mural practice, from the laboring body in an age of expanding industrialization to the relationship between the natural environment, art, and technology.