| art history presentations Kathryn Klauber |
| LIST OF PRESENTATIONS: Each of the live integrative art history-based PowerPoint lectures listed below can be presented independently or as part of a group or series -- and each includes timely articles and discussion on multidisciplinary themes. There are three categories:
Please scroll down to find each category below with individual presentation overviews. Denver Art Museum's Daniel Libeskind Expansion
Presentation--Art History Overview: and Why Visual History Matters Art and the Human Spirit: This is an inquisitive look at the world of art with emphasis on its historic applications. We will take a look at style, materials, and technique – as well as how art reflects its time, place, and culture. I also address art as visual language, our need for self-expression, color theory and its development, and our emotive reaction to art. Rounding out the lecture will be a philosophical and visual prompt and interactive discussion: “Where does the modern world go from here?”
Presentation—Evolution of the Art Museum: the Value of Viewing “The Show”: Although the desire to protect and preserve artifacts has been documented since the Sumerians, it was in fact during the European Renaissance that the Greek word, mouseion, resurfaced and began to evolve into our modern museum. From the Greeks to the present-day, from cabinets of curiosities to the modern gallery space, we will follow the evolution of the art museum into our world of designer museums, cultural diversity, and societal responsibility. We will ask the questions: Who decides what art means? How do, or how should, we view it? Who decides what we view? And who decides when and where we view it?
Prehistory Presentation--Prehistory Artists, Models, Shelter and Stone: Through cave paintings, the earliest known Mesopotamian urban environment,fertility sculpture and monoliths, this PowerPoint lecture follows an astounding 35,000 years of Prehistoric (and not always developmentally streamlined) artistic development. We view Chauvet and Lascaux, hear the story of Altamira, study the city of Catal Huyuk, and see dolmens and monoliths... This is an exciting introduction to the earliest human artistic developments, which echo loudly across time: "I am here!" Ancient World Presentation--Ancient Near East and Egypt Gods, Kings and Monuments: Vibrant, industrious, stratified, and organized, the Ancient Near East and Egypt appear isolated to western eyes and points-of-view. But, beyond climate, materials and artistic traditions that arched cave painting, Chauvet, France, 30,000 BCE over these societies and tied them inextricably together, Mesopotamia and Egypt made independent and revolutionary strides technologically and artistically. And they gave Ancient Greece a tremendous gift -- that of a solid head-start. In this PowerPoint lecture we view and discuss monuments and artifacts of these long-ago civilizations, realizing they made tremendously successful efforts to consolidate power, wealth, and authority – and leaving the proof for us to find and unravel. Presentation--Ancient Egypt Surplus along the Nile: The success of ancient Egyptian civilization stemmed in large part from its ability to adapt to the conditions of the Nile River Valley. The flooding and controlled irrigation of its valley produced surplus crops, which fueled social, technological and artistic development, trade with surrounding regions, and a military to assert Egyptian dominance. We tend to see Ancient Egypt as existing in isolation; but it clearly did not... Egyptians traveled and took ideas from powerful neighbors, and, in turn, codified ideas, inventions, and discoveries for succeeding civilizations. It is commonly known that Ancient Egypt established a bureaucracy of scribes, religious leaders and administrators under the control of a pharaoh who ensured the cooperation and unity of the Egyptian people through an elaborate system of religious symbols and beliefs. But Egypt was also known to the Ancients as the "granary to the world". This is the story of that land of surplus. Presentation--Greece and Rome Order and the Art of Organization: It is difficult not to take Ancient Greece and Rome for granted—as we see their legacy daily in our architecture, our government, our conception of beauty... We will discuss the tremendous bursts of creative and intellectual energy -- and artistic evolution -- of these cultures while viewing some of their greatest monuments and artifacts…with an eye to their enormous influence. Interactive and instructive, this lecture prompts a new look at our own culture and how it has benefited from, and hoped to validate itself by, this monumental legacy. Medieval World Presentation—Eastern & Western Roman Empire Byzantium to Burnt Sienna: Both Constantine and Justinian set courses that would eventually bring both the Eastern and Western empires to the cusp of the Renaissance. As the renderings of Early Christian narratives slowly gave way to Humanism’s demands for greater modeling and human expression, we see how the ‘battle’ was played out in a two-dimensional arena—one of plaster, glass, paint, and pigment. Presentation—The Silk Road More than Silk: Named for the luxurious commodity that Romans craved above all others, the Silk Road begs the question, “When did we really become a global economy?” In this examination of the height of the Silk Road – the 5th through 13th centuries -- we will investigate trade, communication, and influence across a network of trails thousands of miles long – from Asia to the Mediterranean and back again. Not only precious trade goods, like silk, lacquer, gold, porcelain, ivory, and spices came down the Silk Road, but ideas, adaptations, inventions, and aesthetics came, too. This is that story. Presentation—Illumination Manuscript to Clerestory: Often the link to legacy is weak and chaotic…and barely survives. This is true of the period in the West from the downfall of Rome until the Proto-Renaissance. From an examination of Romanesque and Gothic cathedrals to illuminated manuscripts, this presentation has a common thread, light. Despite overpopulation, the Hundred Years War, and the Plague, the innovative talents of a relatively small and determined corps of scribes, masons, builders, illustrators, and sculptors gave us just enough illumination to hold onto the legacy of Antiquity during a period we tend to discount as the Dark Ages. Proto Renaissance Presentation—Linear Perspective Of Grids and Flat Surfaces: Only codified in the 15th century, linear perspective was a primary component in creating two-dimensional illusionary realism. From the writings of Plato and Alberti, to the works of Giotto, Brunelleschi, Leonardo, and della Francesca, we will follow the path of invention and written and visual documentation in the evolution of linear perspective. We will also examine how the rendering of three-dimensional space on the two-dimensional surface helped pave the way for the Renaissance. Otto III Enthroned, Gospel Book of Otto III, 10th c. Presentation—Quattrocento Family Matters: Over the course of the Quattrocento, there was a great acceleration of development in the literary and visual arts, particularly in the Republic of Florence. And the de Medici family was instrumental in developing and controlling a strong cultural climate and identity—in large part by manipulating an unflagging promotion of the arts. This was the Proto-Renaissance, a period which deserves to stand on its own. Although it helped pave the way for the High Renaissance, this was a singularly dynamic and innovative era bursting with pride and overwhelming talent. Renaissance Presentation—Leonardo & the High Renaissance Genius, Invention, & Atmospheric Perspective: Many of the great works of the High Renaissance have become hackneyed through five-hundred years of saturated popular culture. And often the names of great contributors are more recognizable than the scope of their scholarship and theories. With this in mind, we will investigate Leonardo da Vinci, and place him in cultural and geographic context, to understand why he remains so esteemed. As chronicler, inventor, and student of the natural world, Leonardo took the developments of the Proto-Renaissance—humanism, classical rebirth, and Christian narrative—suffused them with his theories on aerial perspective, and became the best example of the lone genius of the High Renaissance. Mannerism & Baroque Presentation—Mannerism, the Baroque & Rococo Behind & Beyond Chiaroscuro: The first major art movement to follow the High Renaissance, Mannerism has often been neglected by history – but it was a vibrant and sophisticated era that lasted four-times longer than its predecessor. Followed by the dramatic Baroque and the whimsical and asymmetrical Rococo, this entire period lasted from 1520 until the mid-18th century. We will investigate the influence of the Roman Catholic Church, the Protestant Reformation, iconography, theatricality, and ‘divine light’ upon the hand of the artist…and the mind of the viewing public. Enlightenment Kathryn Klauber speaking at 18th c. portraiture workshop Presentation—Neoclassicism & Romanticism After the Fall of Monarchies: The Enlightenment was grounded in the use of empirical evidence, critical analysis, and the notion that ideas come from experience. Coupled with the dawning of the Industrial Age, newly-educated European societies realized the power they held. The ensuing struggles were manifested in revolutions of many kinds—government, knowledge, technology, literary,…and in the arts. We will investigate this energetic, often chaotic period using the Neoclassicists and Romantics to help us answer the question, “Why do cultures utilize classic models and why do cultures reject them?” Presentation--American Art of the 19th Century Validation, Ideology, and Emergence: Throughout the 19th century and into the early 20th, tremendous amounts of cultural wealth were being transferred from Europe to America. Initially lacking an ideology of their own, American artists, collectors, and art museums looked to the European old masters and great European collections to create pedagogy in the visual arts. From America’s adoption of those European influences, through the Hudson River School, advent of photography, romanticizing of the American West and creation of the American School of Realism, we will investigate the development of American art during that one-hundred year period. And we will conclude our discussion by delving into ways we can challenge ourselves to create new ways of viewing, teaching, and learning that incorporate American art of that period into stimulating and relevant interdisciplinary lessons. Early Modern Presentation—Realism Rationalists and Provocateurs: It was Gustave Courbet who first used the word, "Realisme", in an 1855 manifesto that accompanied an exhibition of his paintings. The French had participated in over eight major military events between 1775 and 1870; and had arguably come to see themselves as rationalists and survivors. In this presentation we will investigate four of Realism's greatest talents and provocateurs -- Daumier, Millet, Courbet, and Manet -- who all attempted to create objective representations through impartial observation,especially of the working poor. In the inimitable words of Courbet, "Show me an angel and I'll paint one". Presentation--Impressionism A World Spinning Faster: Because of the revolution in seeing and recording time that photography brought by the late 1850s, as well as a world seemingly spinning faster and faster with new railroad lines, boulevards, and money, the French Impressionists saw the present as a single, fleeting moment in time. By their first show in 1874, the task, as they saw it, was to represent that fleeting moment with brush strokes and dabs of paint that would acknowledge both medium and surface, and turn light into color. With members no more than fifteen years apart in age, the Impressionists naturally gravitated towards Paris -- where many sold their works to one another, only achieving universal success decades later. This is the story of that large, energetic, caring, and squabbling 'family' that called itself collectively the Impressionists. Presentation--Manet and Morisot Painters of Modern Life: For much of the latter part of the 19th century Paris was awash in political turmoil, social upheaval, and economic polarity. Both Edouard Manet and Berthe Morisot were from families of the haute bourgeoisie -- simultaneously enjoying its advantages and suffering its restrictions. Sophisticated, sensitive, artistic and high-strung, they Kathryn Klauber lecture on Impressionism found themselves immersed in the life of that city of great contradictions. This was also the period in which the French Academy, an institution which had codified artistic correctness for over two hundred years, finally lost its judicial stranglehold over the lives and works of young artists. Close friends, like-minded painters, and sympathetic intellectuals, Manet and Morisot found themselves at the forefront of a revolutionary artistic movement, Impressionism -- one that broke the historic rules of how to apply paint to canvas and how to illustrate their new world. Presentation—Photography & Japonisme Have Camera, Will Travel: Although photography seemed to come bursting forth in 1838 from nowhere, the scientific developments of the Enlightenment in fact set the stage for the invention of the camera. And it would be a mistake to thinkthat all painters of that period detested the camera – many found it an intoxicating answer to the pressures of representing their subjects. And when Commodore Perry opened Japan to trade in 1854, the ensuing exchange of art and ideas between East and West found new markets. From the earliest days of photography, to portable dark rooms and faster production methods at the turn of the century, we will discuss the extraordinary evolution of the camera, its era, and its artists. Presentation--Japonisme and Its Influence on Western Culture new Enchanting Simplicity: The influence of Japanese art on that of the West has been widely acknowledged since the opening of Euro-Japanese trade in 1853. In particular, from the 1860s onward, Japanese wood-block prints became an inspiration for many artists in the European Impressionist, Art Nouveau, and Cubist movements. While still emphasizing Western subjects, Whistler, Monet, Degas, Cassatt, Tissot, Lautrec, Bonnard, and van Gogh, some early adherents, were deeply affected by the new lack of perspective, un-modeled areas of strong color, lack of shadows, and off-center placement of Japanese subjects. Coined by Philippe Burty in the late 1870s, Japonisme – and, in particular, its ukiyo-e woodcuts, fans, kimonos, lacquers, and silks -- helped to transform Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art by illustrating that simple everyday subjects could be presented in fundamentally new and enchanting ways. This is the story of Japonisme and its profound influence on Western culture. Presentation-- Mary Cassatt: Tireless Student, Unequaled Aesthete new Sophisticated Serentiy: Recognition of the uniquely talented early American modernist, Mary Cassatt, has been largely based on her paintings of everyday domestic life shown with the French Impressionists in the late 19th century. However, Cassatt was a formidably talented printmaker as well -- one whose works illustrate a refined, fresh, and immediate sense of time, place, and aesthetic. Strong external influences would come from a convergence of her studies of Japanese prints (wildly popular in France after the opening of trade in 1853) and the printmaking techniques of her mentor, Edgar Degas. But she clearly possessed an idiosyncratic and sophisticated sense of color, line, precision, and domestic serenity that became the hallmark of her printed works. In this presentation, we will examine the life, times, and works of Mary Cassatt. And, in addition to her well-known works on canvas, we will also investigate Cassatt’s printed and drawn works on paper – principally etchings and pastels – for a more in-depth understanding of her unequaled place in the pantheon of late 19th century art. Presentation—Post-Impressionism’s Vincent van Gogh The Roots of Expressionism: The Post-Impressionist movement was made up of individuals who struggled to build new theories and personal esthetics by rejecting Impressionism’s collective way of seeing. Vincent van Gogh believed in the value, intensity, and expressiveness of color; and this solitary, troubled individual has come to be regarded as the linch-pin of this avant garde group . With a unique vision – and brushes heavy with luminous paint – he developed a correspondingly passionate style that has thrived well beyond the ten short years he dedicated to its evolution. In this presentation we will delve into the difficult – but sensitive and spiritual – life and works of Vincent van Gogh. Presentation—Paul Gauguin & Primitivism The Quest for Unadorned Clarity: Paul Gauguin, who shared van Gogh’s dislike for late 19th Kathryn Klauber lecture on Vincent van Gogh century industrialized society, yearned for an ideal alternative. Turning his back on standard Greco-Roman forms and a burdensome life, Gauguin responded instead to principles of primitivism and spirituality. And through his use of simplified and flattened spaces on painted surfaces, he ultimately achieved a purity of form seldom seen. This presentation will concentrate on the life and times of a man who despaired of family, France, and all of society -- and came to represent the ‘ultimate escapist’. Presentation—George Seurat’s Obsessions Pointillism & Classical Esthetics: Combining the color theories of Sir Isaak Newton as interpreted by Michel-Eugene Chevreul – especially Chevreul’s laws of "simultaneous contrast” and "retinal persistence" – with the study of classical esthetics, Georges Seurat created dynamic works in a style he called Divisionism. His paintings, in a technique the modern world calls Pointillism, were calculated, formal, and restrained; yet they were powerful and emboldened with those seemingly inexhaustible dots. This is the story of an isolated and contemplative genius who predetermined every square inch of his canvasses through diligent, exacting study -- an investigation into the life, works, and oeuvre of Georges Seurat. Presentation—The Ordered World of Paul Cezanne Cubes, Cones, & Constructions: Through the methodical application of color and form, Paul Cezanne’s aim was to make his paintings unified patterned “constructions”. A Neo-impressionist artist who deliberately disregarded traditional perspective, Cezanne created complex landscapes and still lifes from multiple focal points. (Wasn’t this the essence of Cubism?) Through his art, Cezanne was determined to create a new, systematic way of interpreting his natural surroundings. As he would say, "We live in a rainbow of chaos." We will examine both Cezanne's life and the schematic painted works he created – works which continue to wield tremendous influence across the globe. Modern Presentation---Kandinsky and the Color of Music Synesthesia and the Early 20th Century: Artist, theorist, synesthete, symbolist, spiritualist... Wassily Kandinsky used a broad and radiant palette to create works of extraordinary energy and ground-breaking invention. A gifted teacher, dedicated wanderer, prolific writer and intellectual, Kandinsky's influence eventually permeated both European and American culture. One who would come to believe that the "inner sound" of art should be spiritual -- and not affixed to traditional representation -- Kandinsky is considered by many to be the father of Abstractionism. This is an examination of Kandinsky's life and works...and the unavoidable conflicts reflected in all he created by the optimism, confusion, and despair of the new century. Presentation---Matisse and Paradise Of Paintings and Armchairs: Painter, draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, Henri Matisse strove to use nature to express the dynamic yet simple fluidity of color and line.Thoughtful, pleasant, and innovative, Matisse felt that a successful painting should be, "...something like a good armchair in which to rest from physical fatigue." A Fauvist early on, he would ironically become known as a painter who upheld the principles of classicism through his mastery of the medium: And although he primarily drew and painted from nature, time and again, he would place his figures in interiors that pulsated with color. "He clashed his colours together like cymbals and the effect was like a lullaby." -- John Berger Presentation—Picasso & the Making of Modern Art (complete) Collision: the Modern World, Primitivism, and Genius: In this individual lecture, we will look at the Making of Modern Art, Picasso, and his influences. Pablo Picasso was a precocious,difficult, wildly prolific genius who took ideas from history, contemporary events, and friends (making many into enemies), and in the process helped immeasurably in developing the concept of Modernism -- a revolutionary way of looking, feeling, and creating. An acknowledged copyist and responder, he took the historic Western emphasis on visual realism into a new arena altogether – art as abstraction. Love him or hate him, we have to give him credit for changing the way we think about art. Presentation---Picasso, Provocateur (1st of 2) Loosening the Hold of the Realistic Western Tradition: In this first of two in-depth presentations on the life and times of Pablo Picasso, we will examine his role -- up until the end of Cubism's developmental phase in 1915 -- in the end of the five-hundred year-old stranglehold of the realistic western tradition. Precocious, difficult, and wildly prolific, Picasso took ideas from history, contemporary events, and friends (making many of them into enemies), and in the process helped immeasurably in developing the concept of Modernism -- a revolutionary way of looking, feeling, and creating. An acknowledged copyist and responder, he took the historic Western emphasis on visual realism into a new arena altogether -- art as abstraction. Presentation---Picasso, the Legend (2nd of 2) Across the Threshold of Subjective Expression: In this second of two in-depth presentations on the life and times of Pablo Picasso, we will examine his life and works from the end of Cubism's developmental phase in 1915 until his death in 1973. He was a man of boundless energy, response, innovation and output -- a difficult genius who forever changed the way we think about art. If Kandinsky and Matisse brought art to the threshold of subjective expression, it was Picasso who pushed it right through the door. And (as unique as he was) we can look at Picasso not just as student and teacher of the chaos caused by the early 20th century's rampant industrialization and grasping imperialism but as a simile: Picasso was the early 20th century. Modern & Postmodern anonymous photo of Picasso in his studio, 1906 Presentation—Modernism, Postmodernism & the Cult of Personality 20th (and 21st) Century in Turmoil: As cultures have fixated on nationalism, war and discrimination, disenfranchisement, poverty, and new technologies that don’t seem to solve humanity’s greatest needs, art—which always reflects its place and time—is in turmoil, too. This is the modern story of art as visual language, and artists attempting to find new ways to reveal its structure (its complexity, deception, manipulation and sometimes ironic simplicity)… Using Duchamp, Benton, Pollock, Rothko, Walker,Steinkamp, and Mueck to come to terms with art in real-time, we will grapple with the language that doesn’t tell us where we're going,but rather who we are and what concerns us. Special Topics Presentation---Fear, Failure, and Perfection new The Quest for Creative Expression in the Lives of Cezanne, Kandinsky, and Rothko: Paul Cezanne, Wassily Kandinsky, and Mark Rothko, theorists, innovators, and master painters, all dealt with emotional and intellectual turmoil in their quests for artistic perfection. By the early years of the last century, many avant-garde artists were discarding what remained of traditional western art for a new world order with its expression in a more visionary, analytical, and personal approach. The part fear and failure played in the paths of these three 20th century artists seeking revolutionary creative, colorful expression was profound: Cezanne strove to flee his chaotic life for a highly structured world of methodical application. Kandinsky, torn from all security, believed strongly in the spiritual inner voice of the artist as he struggled in an unsafe world. And Rothko's 'multi-form' units of painterly expression possessed forces both strikingly intimate and self-contained -- as pilgrimages to silent places. This lecture is a discussion of the lives and works of these three master painters and the path each took in quest of a world of perfection. Big Man by Ron Mueck, Hirschhorn, Mus., Wash. DC, photograph by Kathryn Klauber __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ You may reach me at the following email address: kathryn@klauberpresentations.com |
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |