Mahaney Arts Center 125

Annu Palakunnathu Matthew will present her photo-based work, which is a striking blend of still and moving imagery. Her work is influenced by her experiences of having been born in England, raised in India, and now living in the United States. Her work draws on archival and family photographs as a source of inspiration for exploring memory, cultural assumptions, and national identity. Free

Dennis Carr, Carolyn and Peter Lynch Curator of American Decorative Arts and Sculpture, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Beginning in the 16th century, direct trade between Europe, Asia, and the Americas spurred a remarkable interchange of artworks and artistic styles.

In this illustrated slide lecture of books, posters, photographs, and decorative art in various Middlebury College collections, Assistant Professor of History Rebecca Mitchell discusses how the Soviet State used imagery to legitimize its claim to authority and educate citizens in the new moral values that Communism was intended to build. Part of the Fridays at the Museum series. Free

At the beginning of the 20th century there was a growing appetite for American objects from the colonial period and the early Republic. But demand exceeded supply, and pictures began to appear with fabricated identifications, invented provenances, and fraudulent artist signatures. Museum Director Richard Saunders explains how such subterfuge was revealed. Part of the Fridays at the Museum series. Free

Focusing on his work in the collection, Museum Reiff Intern Laurel Rand-Lewis ‘20 discusses Allan Sekula’s Fish Story (1988-2003), an extensive and provocative exploration of the international world of shipping. Sekula’s project exposes the human impact of modernized global trade and the constant forward drive of economic capital.

In the 1870s, James Whistler and his sometime rival Walter Greaves developed the visual genre of the nocturne. Borrowing its name from Chopin’s piano sketches, it aims to capture the moody stillness of the night, explained in this presentation by Professor Pieter Broucke as part of the Fridays at the Museum series. Free

In 1970 Blair photographed the relatively “new” issue of ecological crisis for National Geographic magazine. He has continued to cover the topic all over the planet. Using photographs from many stories he discusses “how we have made some progress but are still always playing catch up.” Part of the Fridays at the Museum series. Free

Simone Edgar Holmes ’20.5, intern in ancient art, will present her numismatic research and display proposal for the impressive collection of Ancient Greek coins that the museum has been expanding in recent years. Part of the Fridays at the Museum series. Free

Join Caroline Knapp ’18, a joint major in History of Art and Architecture and Classics, as she presents her senior work in process on the museum’s recently acquired and richly storied portrait from Fayum, Egypt. Part of the Fridays at the Museum series. Free

Join Carrie Anderson, Assistant Professor of History of Art and Curator of A Story of Art: Gifts and Bequests from Charles Moffett ’67 and Lucinda Herrick, as she and some of her students elaborate on the process which led to the formation of the exhibition.