Art and Romance Through the Ages
Romance and love have been of interest to artists since ancient times and continue to be in today’s world of radical innovation and experimentation. One thing remains constant in the human condition – the need to love and be loved. This presentation will shine a light on how artists have used Romance to inspire their Art. The artwork and artists will be both familiar and unfamiliar, but they are all important in significant ways.

American History in Pictures: The Stories we SEE
We learn a lot about American History at school, through art in public places and in the books and magazines we read. We will look at the context behind some of these important images and how they reflect the times they occurred and the times in which they were created.

Grandma Moses, an American Legend
As America as apple pie, homemade jam, fields of grain, rolling hills, country fairs, sugar maples, pumpkins on Halloween, neighborly love…in short, as American as Grandma Moses. This “feel good” talk highlights the woman, the art she created, her inspiring ethos, and her lasting legacy.

Exploring MoMA- the Famous, Fabulous and Unforgettable
Take a virtual walk through four floors of New York City’s Museum of Modern Art where we’ll revisit some instantly recognizable artworks, discover some lesser known artists and their creations and also see what’s new on the modern art scene. Haven’t been to MoMA in a while or ever? We’ll visit some instantly recognizable
artwork, fall in love with one or maybe question some others. We will appreciate that this is modern art that curators believe is important to our times.

Is This Art? Appreciating connections in Modern and Contemporary Art
This presentation looks at a selection of 20th /21st century art and asks about artists’ motivations, connections to other artists and the world around them, and our response to the emotional content of the work. Great art enables you to see the world in new ways, but each person may have their own definition of greatness. We
will start with Vermeer’s paintings and move to cubism, to surrealism, and to the quilts of Gee’s Bend and Bisa Butler.

Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Raphael: The Renaissance’s Greatest Artists
This talk will investigate and compare the artwork and personalities of the three greatest artists of all times who lived and worked at the same time. We will look at the masterful paintings of Leonardo, the sculptures of Michelangelo and the Vatican murals of Raphael. Their innovations in artistic style influenced all artists who
followed them.

Impressionism: The Fall of the French Art Establishment
In 1863, the Paris Salon rejected paintings by a group of maverick artists, soon to be called by critics the Impressionists when they mounted their own show. Little did the critics know that this art would be a lasting revolution, reshaping how the art world sees light, color and brush work.

What Makes Photography Art?
This talk explores how the art of photography has evolved from earliest photographers like Eugene Atget, to the landscapes of Ansel Adams, the portraits of Richard Avedon and Annie Leibovitz and then focus on the identity shaping work of Cindy Sherman and Zanhele Muholi. We will look at how composition and engagement make photos “work” as documentary, and as art that helps us reflect on the world around us.

The Psychology of Color
Neuroaesthetics is a relatively new branch of neuropsychology. An artist chooses a combination of colors to capture a sunset, the infinite blues of the ocean, the color of a woman’s dress, or a distillation of nature. All sensory input one receives from a work of art must be filtered through the brain, and color is a powerful stimulant. Experiencing art through the effects it has on the brain opens a new way to understand the connection between science and art. The Psychology of Color will explore what makes one’s brain “light up,” why it does, and how that affects our reaction to a piece of art.

Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel (1508-1512 and 1536-1541)
How did Michelangelo, noted Italian Renaissance sculptor, end up painting the world’s most famous frescos? This program provides an up-close look at the marvelous ceiling and discusses little known facts about how it was painted and hidden symbols.

The Feminine Perspective
From the early 17th century to the present, women artists including Georgia O’Keeffe and Frida Kahlo have struggled for artistic recognition in the male-dominated art world. At last, many of these talented artists are being recognized for their skill as curators and critics reexamine their work.

Why is This Famous?
Of all of the artists and all of their work, why do some of them become famous or notorious when others remain in obscurity? We’ll look at famous works and explore the reasons behind the attention they have acquired.

Norman Rockwell: America’s Illustrator
Undervalued as an artist during his lifetime, Rockwell made his mark as one of our most admired Illustrators. This program traces his development both as an artist and as a commentator on American life. Renewed interest in his work has elevated his stature in the fine art world.

Jewish Artists: 20th Century Outsiders, Innovators or Trendsetters?
Art is created in a social context, influenced by the inner life of the artist and the world in which he or she lives. For Jews in the end of the 19 century and through the 20th century, the world in which they lived was changing rapidly, often traumatizing ways. This presentation will look at the works of selected immigrant and first-generation Jewish artists in the United States, from Marc Chagall to Judy Chicago, examining how they represent their worlds, what their stories tell us and how they have influenced the art world.

Exploring the Diversity of Jewish Artistry
This program begins with the Dura Europus Synagogue in Syria (165-242 CE) and examines how Jewish artists and architects have influenced artistic movements through time, ending with the groundbreaking work of architect Frank Gehry and the photography of Annie Leibovitz.

Lastingness: How some artists change as they age. Or we can’t all be Mick Jagger.
By looking at artists’ works of art as they age, we can see changes in subject and technique and adaptions to physical limitations. Or attempts to stay the course. This may help better understand our own aging. As life expectancy is extended, more of us live with some limitations and still desire to create.

Art in 3-D
Using a wide variety of media, sculpture, one of the oldest forms of art, has continued to evolve over the centuries. We examine the roots of sculpture from the first known piece, some 29,500 years, ago to modern day.

Discovering Van Gogh
Vincent Van Gogh was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential artists in the history of Western art. In just over a decade he created approximately 2,100 artworks, including around 860 oil paintings, most of them in the last two years of his life. Only one of his works was sold during his
lifetime but now Van Gogh’s paintings are among the world’s most sought and highest valued. This talk explores and illustrates his body of work and his troubled life.

The Amazing Art of Picasso
Pablo Picasso was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and theater designer who spent most of his life in France. His revolutionary artistic accomplishment made him one of the best known and influential artists of the 20th century. The presentation examines the different phases of his prolific career that lasted into his nineties.

French Impressionists You May Not Know
Names like Boudin, Bazille, and Caillebotte may not be as familiar as Monet, Manet, and Renoir, but their work and lives are equally engaging and with an influence on the art world that continues to this day.

Major Post-Impressionists: Creativity Does Not Stand Still
The success of the French Impressionists spurred artists like Cezanne, Gauguin, van Gogh, and Seurat to move forward, concentrating on line, structure and color harmony.

Fort Lauderdale’s Fabulous Art: Selections and Stories from NSU Art Museum’s Collection
Since the museum’s founding in 1958, the permanent collection has grown to more than 7,000 items spanning a range of artistic movements. This program focuses on ways to connect these works across time and place and the recognition they have acquired.

Art of the Pre-Raphaelites
In the late 19th century, a group of young British artists rebelled against the popular movements emerging in French art production, especially Impressionism. These artists looked back to the art of the Renaissance for their inspiration. They called themselves the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Edward
Burne-Jones and many others painted stunning models clad in historical costumes with intense color and mythological settings.

Making an Impression: Women join the Impressionism Revolution
We look at six women artists and how they shaped and were shaped by the Impressionism movement, and how they were accepted –or not–by the establishment and as peers to some of the movement’s great artists.

Artists in Love
Artists in Love looks at the lives, loves and artworks of artists married to artists. Some marriages were a source of great success; others were long years of struggles and disappointments. Many famous artist-couples introduced each other to new styles, some created artworks together. Many couples inspired each other while some were lost behind the other one’s fame.

Americans Discover Impressionism
After studying abroad, American artists came back with fresh ideas. They formed artist colonies and introduced Americans to the fluid brush strokes and the play of light that continue to be the hallmarks of Impressionism.

Coming of Age: American Art, 1850s to 1950s
Beginning with the Hudson River School and its emphasis on creating an art for America and about America, this program looks at the way American artists interpreted various movements in the development of art. Our examples come from the Addison Gallery in Massachusetts, including works not often seen.

Great Masters of Dutch and Flemish Painting
The Golden Age of the Dutch Republic was rich with invention, discovery and social, religious, economic and political change. The artists of this era both reflected the world around them and participated in these monumental changes. The tremendous flowering of the arts which began in 1590s; it was a Golden Age in which artistic achievement and innovation in works of art proceeded on a grand scale with an intensity that has no parallel in any other time, or place, in history. This talk will discuss important Dutch artists such as Rubens, Hals, Rembrandt and Vermeer.

Realism in a Modern Society
How does personality shape art? Two iconic New York artists, George Bellows and Edward Hopper, came from similar backgrounds and are considered masters of realism. Yet they present contrasting views of America in the early 20th century as well as striking contrasts in style and subject matter.

Picturing Women
For centuries, as cultures, tools and materials have evolved, women have had important roles as muses and models. Art often portrays women’s role in society and how they are perceived and valued.