Come hear the extraordinary story of how Agecroft Hall moved from Lancashire, England to Richmond, Virginia! Agecroft Hall started life as a rural estate in the 16th century, but several hundred years later, the Industrial Revolution was rapidly encroaching on the bucolic manor. Learn why T.C. Williams, Jr. chose the house to become the centerpiece of…
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Archived Lectures. Some no longer available. Please visit the Statewide Faculty page for up-to-date listings.
VMFA Speakers on the Arts lectures are an excellent complement to programming at partner sites. They can also introduce new areas of art to Partner audiences and enhance community events and celebrations. A wide selection of topics and speakers is available for VMFA Statewide Partners. See Booking Speakers on the Arts for information about requesting a lecture.
Modern Art: Native American Style
Mid-century modern art is exemplified by an abstract aesthetic that emphasizes the materiality of the work. Numerous Native American artists, such as Kay Walkingstick, engaged with the rhetoric surrounding modern art but their self-identity as a Native American has overshadowed their contribution to modern art. This talk will examine the way mid-century Native American modern…
Request ProgramSex and Death in the Ancient Americas
Images of sex or death may be deemed immoral or inappropriate in current culture, however, ancient American cultures viewed these acts in a different manner. From the Aztecs of Mexico to the Moche of Peru, sex and death were the bookends of life with one representing conception and the other termination. Instead of being in…
Request ProgramWhat’s it Worth: Researching your Collection
Join Mrs. Emilia Penney, professional appraiser and estate specialist, as she discusses the resources and processes used in evaluating objects and collections. In this workshop, participants will discover tips for identifying heirlooms and investigating family treasures through online research venues. This will be a fun and informative event as Mrs. Penney shares her tales from…
Request ProgramImpressionable Youth
Themes of childhood and family recur in nineteenth-century French Impressionist painting, from Berthe Morisot’s experimental self-portraits with her daughter Julie Manet, to Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s everyday scenes of his three sons and their nanny. Drawing primarily upon works from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts’ Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, this lecture will closely…
Request ProgramVMFA’s Little Giant Controversy: Stuart Davis, Modernism, and Cold War Politics
In 1950, Stuart Davis’ Little Giant Still Life went on view at VMFA as part of an avant-garde American painting exhibition. When the cubist-inflected canvas entered the permanent collection, the museum found itself in the midst of a highly publicized debate between leading New York critics and Virginia traditionalists. This lecture relates the unfolding scandal…
Request ProgramA Tale of Two Sofas: Belter at VMFA
Following several years of new research and an extensive conservation campaign, a magnificent pair of sofas in the VMFA collection have emerged with a captivating history and a distinctive look. Produced by the celebrated furniture maker John Henry Belter over 160 years ago, the near-identical sofas graced the homes of powerful American businessmen and socialites…
Request ProgramGesture: Abstract Expressionists
From brushstrokes to drips and palette knives to spray cans, this lecture explores the role of the artist’s mark in several iconic paintings from the Virginia Museum of Fine Art’s 20th- and 21st-century collection. While abstract expressionists such as Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning, whose bold, energetic, and seemingly messy applications of paint are best…
Request ProgramArmchair Adventures: Henri Rousseau and His Fantastical Landscapes
Join Jeffrey Allison, Paul Mellon Collection Educator and Manager, Statewide Programs and Exhibitions, as he explores the unique life and work of the French artist, Henri Rousseau. The essentially self-taught painter created cityscapes and portraits as well as dream-like exotic jungle scenes without stepping out of the city. During his lifetime his work was ridiculed by…
Request ProgramAwaken: Tibetan Buddhist Art at VMFA and Beyond
In his overview of the South Asian and Islamic Art holdings of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, John Henry Rice reviews the history of how one of North America’s finest collections of South Asian and Himalayan art came to richmond.
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