National Gallery of Art | Audio

Frank Gehry, architect, in conversation with Paul Goldberger, architecture critic and author, Building Art: The Life and Work of Frank Gehry. Moderated by Harry Cooper, curator and head, department of modern art, National Gallery of Art. The National Gallery of Art, in collaboration with the Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies (FAPE), hosted a panel discussion with architect Frank Gehry and Pulitzer Prize–winning architectural critic Paul Goldberger on April 18, 2016. The conversation, moderated by Harry Cooper, was held in honor of Building Art: The Life and Work of Frank Gehry. This first critical biography presents and evaluates the work of a man who has almost single-handedly transformed contemporary architecture in his innovative use of materials, design, and form. Gehry is also among the very few architects in history to be both respected by critics as a creative, cutting-edge force and embraced by the general public as a popular figure. At once a sweeping view of a great architect and an intimate look at creative genius, Building Art is in many ways the saga of the architectural milieu of the 21st century. But most of all it is the compelling story of the man who first comes to mind when we think of the lasting possibilities of buildings as art.

Vidya Dehejia, Barbara Stoler Miller Professor of Indian Art, Columbia University. In this six-part lecture series entitled The Thief Who Stole My Heart: The Material Life of Chola Bronzes from South India, c. 855–1280, art historian Vidya Dehejia discusses the work of artists of Chola India who created exceptional bronzes of the god Shiva, invoked as “Thief Who Stole My Heart.” Graceful, luminous sculptures of high copper content portrayed the deities as sensuous figures of sacred import. Every bronze is a portable image, carried through temple and town to participate in celebrations that combined the sacred with the joyous atmosphere of carnival. In these lectures, Dehejia discusses the images as tangible objects that interact in a concrete way with human activities and socioeconomic practices. She asks questions of this body of material that have never been asked before, concerning the source of wealth that enabled the creation of bronzes, the origin of copper not available locally, the role of women patrons, the strategic position of the Chola empire at the center of a flourishing ocean trade route between Aden and China, and the manner in which the Cholas covered the walls of their temples with thousands of inscriptions, converting them into public records offices. These sensuous portrayals of the divine gain their full meaning with critical study of information captured through a variety of lenses. In this fourth lecture, entitled "An Eleventh-Century Master Sculptor: Ten Thousand Pearls Adorn a Bronze," originally delivered at the National Gallery of Art on April 24, 2016, Professor Dehejia describes how a master sculptor of the early 11th century worked in wax to create spectacular bronzes for a temple at Tiruvenkadu, along the Bay of Bengal, and highlights the fact that royalty had no hand in these commissions. Drawing on the many epigraphs inscribed on Emperor Rajaraja’s great temple at Thanjavur, it examines the rich jewelry created entirely to adorn the bronze images and questions whether the Cholas’ obsession with pearls motivated them to annex Sri Lanka.

Christopher A. Gregg, term assistant professor of art history, George Mason University, and professor in charge, University of Georgia Classics Study Abroad in Rome. The exhibition Power and Pathos: Bronze Sculpture of the Hellenistic World, on view at the National Gallery of Art from December 13, 2015, through March 20, 2016, presents some 50 bronze sculptures and related works, dating from the fourth century BC to the first century AD. They span the Hellenistic period when the art and culture of Greece spread throughout the Mediterranean and lands once conquered by Alexander the Great. In this public symposium, held on March 18-19, 2016, in conjunction with the exhibition, Christopher A. Gregg examines how the core identity of the Hellenistic city manifested in traditional forms of public sculpture and architecture, often attempting to draw clear parallels with the great polities that came before. The highly competitive nature of the Hellenistic kingdoms, however, combined with the addition of new cultural interactions, also provided motivation for experimentation and aggrandizement in order to make these cities distinctive both from one another and from the archaic or classical past.

Vidya Dehejia, Barbara Stoler Miller Professor of Indian Art, Columbia University. In this six-part lecture series entitled The Thief Who Stole My Heart: The Material Life of Chola Bronzes from South India, c. 855–1280, art historian Vidya Dehejia discusses the work of artists of Chola India who created exceptional bronzes of the god Shiva, invoked as “Thief Who Stole My Heart.” Graceful, luminous sculptures of high copper content portrayed the deities as sensuous figures of sacred import. Every bronze is a portable image, carried through temple and town to participate in celebrations that combined the sacred with the joyous atmosphere of carnival. In these lectures, Dehejia discusses the images as tangible objects that interact in a concrete way with human activities and socioeconomic practices. She asks questions of this body of material that have never been asked before, concerning the source of wealth that enabled the creation of bronzes, the origin of copper not available locally, the role of women patrons, the strategic position of the Chola empire at the center of a flourishing ocean trade route between Aden and China, and the manner in which the Cholas covered the walls of their temples with thousands of inscriptions, converting them into public records offices. These sensuous portrayals of the divine gain their full meaning with critical study of information captured through a variety of lenses. In this third lecture, entitled "Portrait of a Queen: Patronage of Dancing Shiva, c. 941–1002," originally delivered at the National Gallery of Art on April 17, 2016, Professor Dehejia explores the patronage of the 10th-century queen Sembiyan Mahadevi, whose bronze workshop created stunning images. It asks how she achieved the status of “Ruby of the Chola Dynasty” in a male-dominated society and what led her to introduce a special image of Dancing Shiva that to this day is the quintessential Tamil icon.

Anthony Kaldellis, professor of classics, Ohio State University. On view from December 13, 2015, through March 20, 2016, the exhibition Power and Pathos: Bronze Sculpture of the Hellenistic World features 50 works that survey the development of Hellenistic art as it spread from Greece throughout the Mediterranean between the fourth and first centuries BC. Through the medium of bronze, artists were able to capture the dynamic realism, expression, and detail that characterized the new artistic goals of the period. The exhibition presents a unique opportunity to witness the importance of bronze in the ancient world, when it became the preferred medium for portrait sculpture. In this lecture recorded on March 3, 2016, Anthony Kaldellis explains the role of Hellenistic art during the Byzantine era. For centuries, Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, was the largest and most impressive open-air museum of classical art in the world. To adorn their capital, emperors selected and imported the best surviving pieces of classical sculpture from the Aegean region. Kaldellis explores the cosmic and imperial messages that their contemporary architectural arrangements conveyed, before they were irretrievably lost in fires and wars. This program is coordinated with and supported by Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection.

Andrew Stewart, professor of ancient Mediterranean art and archaeology and Nicholas C. Petris Professor of Greek Studies, University of California, Berkeley, and curator of Mediterranean archaeology, Hearst Museum of Anthropology. The exhibition Power and Pathos: Bronze Sculpture of the Hellenistic World, on view at the National Gallery of Art from December 13, 2015, through March 20, 2016, presents some 50 bronze sculptures and related works, dating from the fourth century BC to the first century AD. They span the Hellenistic period when the art and culture of Greece spread throughout the Mediterranean and lands once conquered by Alexander the Great. The exhibition provides a unique opportunity to witness the importance of bronze in the ancient world, when it became the preferred medium for portrait sculpture. Part of a public symposium held in conjunction with the exhibition on March 18 and 19, 2016, Andrew Stewart's lecture, "Muzcle into Bronze," seeks to put bronze athlete statues in context by briefly sketching the similarities and differences between the ancient Olympics and ours; examining the uniquely ancient Greek practice of competing in the nude and its key role in Greek self-definition; tracing the development of Greek athletic victor statues to c. 300 BC; and commenting upon the athlete bronzes featured in the exhibition. This program is cosponsored by the Washington DC Society of the Archaeological Institute of America.

In this six-part lecture series entitled The Thief Who Stole My Heart: The Material Life of Chola Bronzes from South India, c. 855–1280, art historian Vidya Dehejia discusses the work of artists of Chola India who created exceptional bronzes of the god Shiva, invoked as "Thief Who Stole My Heart." Graceful, luminous sculptures of high copper content portrayed the deities as sensuous figures of sacred import. Every bronze is a portable image, carried through temple and town to participate in celebrations that combined the sacred with the joyous atmosphere of carnival. In these lectures, Dehejia discusses the images as tangible objects that interact in a concrete way with human activities and socioeconomic practices. She asks questions of this body of material that have never been asked before, concerning the source of wealth that enabled the creation of bronzes, the origin of copper not available locally, the role of women patrons, the strategic position of the Chola empire at the center of a flourishing ocean trade route between Aden and China, and the manner in which the Cholas covered the walls of their temples with thousands of inscriptions, converting them into public records offices. These sensuous portrayals of the divine gain their full meaning with critical study of information captured through a variety of lenses. The second lecture, held on April 10, 2016, entitled "Shiva as 'Victor of Three Forts': Battling for Empire, 855 – 955," considers the first bronzes, created in the mid-ninth century at a time when the early Chola kings were still struggling to establish their dominion in south India. The lecture discusses the most favored form given to the god Shiva during these politically unstable times: his manifestation as Victor of Three Forts. It also reviews the extraordinary manner in which patrons and donors placed inscriptions on every available space on temple walls, base moldings, and even grille windows.

Gianfranco Adornato, professor of classical archaeology, Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa. The exhibition Power and Pathos: Bronze Sculpture of the Hellenistic World, on view at the National Gallery of Art from December 13, 2015, through March 20, 2016, presents some 50 bronze sculptures and related works, dating from the fourth century BC to the first century AD. They span the Hellenistic period when the art and culture of Greece spread throughout the Mediterranean and lands once conquered by Alexander the Great. The exhibition provides a unique opportunity to witness the importance of bronze in the ancient world, when it became the preferred medium for portrait sculpture. In his lecture, "Living Statues," at a public symposium held in conjunction with the exhibition on March 18 and 19, 2016, Gianfranco Adornato examines the reception and appreciation of Hellenistic sculpture in ancient and modern times. Adornato analyzes ancient literary sources and archaeological evidence as documentation of how these statues were perceived in their historical and cultural contexts. This program is coordinated with and supported by the Embassy of Italy to the United States and the Italian Cultural Institute in Washington, DC, held as part of "Protecting our Heritage" activities of the European Union National Institutes of Culture (EUNIC) in Washington, DC.

Anna Vasiliki Karapanagiotou, director, Ephorate of Antiquities of Arcadia, Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports. To honor closing day of the exhibition Power and Pathos: Bronze Sculpture of the Hellenistic World on March 20, 2016, Anna Vasiliki Karapanagiotou surveys imagery portraying influential women of Hellenistic and Roman Athens in order to explore and better understand their historical context. The late Hellenistic and imperial periods were characterized by profound changes in ancient Greeks' perceptions of societal roles. In this lecture, Karapanagiotou explains how life for women was altered and suitable conditions arose for more prominent depictions of upper-class women in visual media. This program was coordinated with and supported by the Embassy of Greece to the United States.

Vidya Dehejia, Barbara Stoler Miller Professor of Indian Art, Columbia University. In this six-part lecture series entitled The Thief Who Stole My Heart: The Material Life of Chola Bronzes from South India, c. 855–1280, art historian Vidya Dehejia discusses the work of artists of Chola India who created exceptional bronzes of the god Shiva, invoked as "Thief Who Stole My Heart." Graceful, luminous sculptures of high copper content portrayed the deities as sensuous figures of sacred import. Every bronze is a portable image, carried through temple and town to participate in celebrations that combined the sacred with the joyous atmosphere of carnival. In these lectures, Dehejia discusses the images as tangible objects that interact in a concrete way with human activities and socioeconomic practices. She asks questions of this body of material that have never been asked before, concerning the source of wealth that enabled the creation of bronzes, the origin of copper not available locally, the role of women patrons, the strategic position of the Chola empire at the center of a flourishing ocean trade route between Aden and China, and the manner in which the Cholas covered the walls of their temples with thousands of inscriptions, converting them into public records offices. These sensuous portrayals of the divine gain their full meaning with critical study of information captured through a variety of lenses. The first lecture, held on April 3, 2016, entitled "Gods on Parade: Sacred Forms of Copper," focuses on the extraordinary concept of the deity as an active participant in a range of temple festivities, celebrating a wedding anniversary or enjoying the fresh breeze at the beach. It examines the introduction of copper to produce these many bronzes, whose method of creation allows no replicas; each Chola bronze is a singular, unique image, solid and weighty.

Dimitrios Pandermalis, president of the board of directors, Acropolis Museum, and professor of archaeology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. On view from December 13, 2015, through March 20, 2016, at the National Gallery of Art, the exhibition Power and Pathos: Bronze Sculpture of the Hellenistic World presents some 50 bronze sculptures and related works, dating from the fourth century BC to the first century AD. They span the Hellenistic period when the art and culture of Greece spread throughout the Mediterranean and lands once conquered by Alexander the Great. In this lecture recorded on March 17, 2016, Dimitrios Pandermalis shares ruins and finds from recent excavations of Dion, the sacred site at Mount Olympus dedicated to Zeus, father of the ancient Greek gods. Discoveries include altars, sanctuaries, temples, dedications, and inscriptions to Zeus, Dionysos, and Isis, testifying to the importance of the gods and goddess during the Hellenistic era. This program is coordinated with Eleftherios Ikonomou, ARTSetc. Intercultural Dialogues, Berlin, with generous funding from the Goelet Corporation, New York.

Alexandre Arrechea, artist, in conversation with Michelle Bird, curatorial assistant, department of French paintings, National Gallery of Art. Alexandre Arrechea (b. Trinidad, Cuba, 1970) graduated from the prestigious Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA) in Havana in 1994 and was a founding member of the Cuban artist collective Los Carpinteros (1991-2003). Arrechea's work employs visual metaphors for social themes of inequality, cultural disenfranchisement, and the disputed position of art in a global, media-driven society. Like many artists of his generation, he manipulates symbols and materials in an ambivalent manner, causing the viewer to walk away without a specific point of view about the work. In the spring of 2013, Arrechea exhibited a series of monumental sculptures that reflect on New York architecture along the Park Avenue Malls. Arrechea represented his homeland in the Cuban Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2011, as well as at the Havana and Sao Paulo Biennials. His work has been featured in group exhibitions at such venues as the Arizona State University Art Museum; Art in General, New York; Kunsthalle, Berlin; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Museum of Art and Design, New York; Museum of Modern Art, New York; New Museum, New York; P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center, New York; and Shanghai Art Museum, China. He currently lives and works in New York. In this conversation held on January 25, 2016, as part of the Works in Progress series at the National Gallery of Art, Arrechea discusses with Michelle Bird his development from working as an art student in Havana to his international career. He shares how the term "Space Defeated" was born as a reaction to the stiffness of cultural institutions and how this understanding has evolved over time. The conversation was preceded by a film screening of NOLIMITS, based on Arrechea's 2013 project, directed by photographer Juan Carlos Alom.

Alison Luchs, curator of early European sculpture, National Gallery of Art; Eike Schmidt, director, The Uffizi Gallery, Florence; Dylan Smith, Robert H. Smith Research Conservator, National Gallery of Art; and Shelley Sturman, senior conservator and head, department of object conservation, National Gallery of Art. A collection of 80 superb European Renaissance sculptures in bronze, boxwood, and ivory, assembled by the late Robert H. Smith from 1978 to 2009, is promised to the National Gallery of Art. Recorded on March 6, 2016, this presentation celebrates the the publication of a catalog of these objects in a recent supplement to The Burlington Magazine. Curators and conservators from the team that prepared the catalog discuss the sculptures, offering a look at the technical and art historical research that yielded new discoveries about them.

Cecily Brown, artist, in conversation with Harry Cooper, curator and head, department of modern art, National Gallery of Art. Born in London in 1969, Cecily Brown attended the Slade School of Fine Art in the early 1990s, just when such "Young British Artists" as Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin were dominating the scene with provocative work. While Brown shared interests with some of them in feminism, sexuality, and mass media, her commitment to the history and practice of painting was distinctive. She moved to New York City in 1994 and has lived and worked there ever since. Brown paints with a fine balance of control and abandon, mining art history and the suggestions of the paint itself. For her inspiration, Brown relies on a variety of two-dimensional sources—from magazines and record album covers to children's books, movies, and a library of exhibition catalogs and monographs including studies of El Greco, Velázquez, Goya, Picasso, Delacroix, Manet, and, present in her most recent work, Degas. Brown's ability to create dense, intricate spaces in which figures emerge from abstraction has earned her recognition as one of the most important contemporary painters. Her work is represented in the National Gallery of Art collection by Girl on a Swing (2004). Brown participated in the 23rd annual Elson Lecture with Harry Cooper on March 10, 2016.

Ruth Fine, curator (1972-2012), National Gallery of Art, and curator and catalog editor, Procession: The Art of Norman Lewis, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia. Procession: The Art of Norman Lewis is the first comprehensive museum overview of the work of this influential artist. Norman Lewis (1909-1979) became committed to issues of abstraction at the start of his career and continued to explore them over its entire trajectory. His art derived inspiration from music (jazz and classical) and nature (seasonal changes, plant forms, and the sea). Also central to his work were the dramatic confrontations of the civil rights movement, in which he was an active participant alongside fellow members of the New York art scene. Bridging the Harlem Renaissance, abstract expressionism, and other movements, Lewis is a crucial figure in American art whose reinsertion into the discourse further opens the field for recognition of the contributions of artists of color. Procession was organized by the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, and brings together works from major public and private collections. In this lecture, recorded on February 14, 2016, at the National Gallery of Art, exhibition curator Ruth Fine presents an overview of the approximately 130 paintings, unique works on paper, objects, and prints dating from the early 1930s through the late 1970s featured in both the Procession exhibition and its companion show Stone and Metal: Lithographs and Etchings by Norman Lewis. Bringing much-needed attention to Lewis’s output and significance in the history of American art, the multiauthor exhibition catalog—edited by Fine, who wrote the key overview essay—is a milestone in Lewis scholarship and a vital resource for future study of the artist and abstraction in his period.