Certif icate Prog ram i n World Art H i story

Art is all around us. It excites us, enriches our lives, and enlivens our imaginations. But to truly appreciate any work of art, we need to understand the context and culture in which it was produced. That’s why Smithsonian Associates offers an exciting certificate program in World Art History.

The wide-ranging offerings are designed to provide a global perspective on art and architecture and draw on the Smithsonian’s world-class collections and the rich resources of other Washington institutions.

The core courses and electives in our program are selected from among Smithsonian Associates’ ongoing courses, seminars, study tours, and Studio Arts classes. Look for “World Art History Certificate” throughout the program guide to see current listings.

Complete the program requirements at your own pace. Credits are counted from the day of program registration and are not given retroactively.

Register now and receive invitations for special tours and informal gatherings with course leaders and other program participants.

To learn more about the Smithsonian Associates certificate program in World Art History, visit SmithsonianAssociates.org/ArtCertificate

World Art History Certificate core course: Earn 1 credit Introduction to American Art

From the glorious vistas of landscape painting to the bold splashes and strokes of Abstract Expressionism, American artists have captured the nation’s enormous energy and tumultuous growth. Art historian Bonita Billman introduces major artists and movements in American painting from the late 18th century to the present, revealing the connections between historical changes and artistic choices.

APR 13 Early American Art

APR 20 Landscape Painting

APR 27 Realism and Impressionism

MAY 4 Early Modernism

MAY 11 Modern and Contemporary Art

5 sessions: Thurs., April 13–May 11, 12–1:30 p.m.; CODE 1M2253; Members $85; Nonmembers $95

World Art History Certificate elective: Earn ½ credit Artists and Friends in the World of Manet

Cézanne and Pissarro, Van Gogh and Lautrec

The lone artist, wrestling with their genius and isolated by their obsession with work, is a popular stereotype. But it’s often through their close friendships with other artists that great creative leaps are made. When thinking of great painters who painted Provence, two names jump to mind: Vincent van Gogh and Paul Cézanne. But before they created their celebrated works there, these outsiders had profound experiences and friendships in Paris that would alter their artistic paths.

Popular Smithsonian Associates speaker Paul Glenshaw examines two such relationships: Paul Cézanne’s friendship with Camille Pissarro and Vincent van Gogh’s with Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec in the vibrant avant-garde art scene pioneered by Édouard Manet.

APR 13 Paris and Manet

APR 20 Curious Kindreds: Cézanne and Pissarro

APR 27 Curious Kindreds: van Gogh and Toulouse-Lautrec

3 sessions: Thurs., April 13–27, 6:45 p.m.; CODE 1K0-362; Members $60; Nonmembers $70

Smithsonian Associates’ Digital Digest is a lively monthly e-newsletter filled with information about programs and experiences that are entertaining, informative, eclectic, and insightful. Be sure to catch every issue by subscribing at: smithsonianassociates.org/digital-digest

All Smithsonian Associates online programs are closed captioned

Write Into Art

Creative Writing Inspired by Visual Art

Discover how visual art can inspire creative writing and how writing can offer a powerful way to experience art. Join Mary Hall Surface, the founding instructor of the National Gallery of Art’s popular Writing Salon, for three online workshops that explore essential elements of writing and styles through close looking, word-sketching, and imaginative response to prompts.

The sessions spotlight a diverse range of visual art chosen to inspire writers of all experience levels to deepen their process and practice. Each workshop has a limited enrollment to maximize interaction among the instructor and students.

APR 18 Capture Sensation

APR 25 Unveil Stories

MAY 2 Explore Place

3 sessions: Tues., April 18, 25, and May 2, 10–11:30 a.m.; CODE 1K0-352; Members $105; Nonmembers $115

Individual sessions: Tues., April 18 (CODE 1K0-353); Tues., April 25 (CODE 1K0-354); Tues., May 2 (CODE 1K0-355); 10-11:30 a.m.; Members $40; Nonmembers $45

World Art History Certificate elective: Earn ½ credit

Three Masterpieces of Etruscan Art

The Etruscans hold a reputation for mystery, but we do know a lot about them and their remarkable contributions to the history of art. Art historian and author Laura Morelli explores what makes Etruscan culture unique in the Mediterranean world. She spotlights three Etruscan masterworks excavated from tombs in central Italy; examines how the Etruscans adorned the places where they planned to spend eternity; and describes the incredible luxury objects they took with them. She discusses the hallmarks of Etruscan visual art and why Etruscan archaeology is a vibrant field of study today.

Tues., April 18, 12–1:15 p.m.; CODE 1H0-763; Members $20; Nonmembers $25

World Art History Certificate elective: Earn 1 credit

Cultural Heritage Sites of India

From India’s elaborately decorated Ajanta Caves to the splendor of the Taj Mahal, UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites offers a spectacular window into South Asia’s past. Art historian Robert DeCaroli highlights historic palaces, grand temples, royal mausoleums, and more that showcase how India’s rich religious traditions have inspired the creation of many of the subcontinent’s abundant historically and culturally significant destinations.

9:30 a.m. Rock-cut Wonders

11 a.m. Sacred Sites (Part 1)

12:30 p.m. Break

1:30 p.m. Sacred Sites (Part 2)

2:45 p.m. Seats of Power

Sat., April 22, 9:30 a.m.–4 p.m.; CODE 1J0-252; Members $80; Nonmembers $90

World Art History Certificate elective: Earn ½ credit

Isabella Stewart Gardner: A Global Vision of Art

Isabella Stewart Gardner (1840–1924) assembled an extraordinary collection of art from diverse cultures and eras—and built a Venetian-style palazzo in Boston to share her exquisite treasures with the world. Diana Seave Greenwald, assistant curator of the collection at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, shines new light on Gardner. As one of the authors of Isabella Stewart Gardner: A Life, Greenwald provides a multifaceted portrait of a trailblazing patron who used her varied collection, including Italian Renaissance paintings and Chinese antiquities, to create a museum unprecedented in its curatorial vision.

Tues., April 25, 6:45 p.m.; CODE 1L0-510; Members $20; Nonmembers $25

World Art History Certificate elective: Earn ½ credit

20th-Century Oceanic Art

Ten thousand islands dot the Pacific Ocean, a vast expanse of water that covers one-third of the Earth’s surface. For over 40,000 years, people have lived and traveled among these islands, establishing thriving and interconnected states and societies, and creating artworks that express the excitement and vitality of their lives.

Art historian Kevin Tervala surveys the artistic practice across 20th-century Oceania, examining the ways that European colonization and decolonization, the Pacific theater of World War II, and the increasingly globalized nature of the economy transformed the work that artists did and the forms that they produced.

Tues., April 25, 6:45 p.m.; CODE 1D0-012; Members $20; Nonmembers $25

Lesser-Known Museums of Rome

Private Art Collections of Rome, Part 1

A number of Rome’s greatest art treasures are displayed in the private collections of historically influential Roman families. Not surprisingly, some of these families produced popes such as Innocent X (Pamphilj), Urban VIII (Barberini), and Martin V (Colonna). Fortunately, a number of these art collections are now museums open to the public.

Renaissance art expert Ruggiero explores four of these private collections—the Doria Pamphilj Gallery, the Barberini Palace Museum, the Villa Farnesina, and the Colonna Palace—and explains how the artworks they held helped shape the Italian Renaissance.

Mon., May 1, 6:30 p.m.; CODE 1J0-258; Members $30; Nonmembers $35

World Art History Certificate elective: Earn ½ credit

Kandinsky: Abstraction’s Architect

Art historian Joseph Cassar explores Russian-born Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944), a leading figure in the development of abstract painting. His illustrated lecture begins with Kandinsky’s initial years as a lecturer in law at the University of Moscow and proceeds with his friendship with artist Gabriele Munter and their travels to Tunisia. Cassar offers a special focus on works Kandinsky produced in the pre-World War I Murnau period and as part of the avant-garde Blaue Reiter group. He connects Kandinsky’s publications with his teaching years at the Bauhaus in Weimar and Dessau and provides a critical analysis of Kandinsky’s abstract paintings and his final years in Paris during the 1930s and ’40s.

Tues., May 9, 6:30 p.m.; CODE 1K0-363; Members $30; Nonmembers $35

World

Art History Certificate elective:

Earn ½ credit

Byrdcliffe: An American Arts and Crafts Colony

Founded in 1903, the Byrdcliffe Arts Colony was born out of the late 19th century’s Arts and Crafts movement and a passion for building a utopian community with like-minded writers, poets, painters, and craftspeople.

Overlooking the scenic Catskills in Woodstock, New York, the colony was an idealistic venture founded by Ralph and Jane Byrd McCall Whitehead and two friends, Bolton Brown and Hervey White. Offering a place where artists could train and acquire practical skills, the colony was intended to be self-sufficient through the sale of furniture, ceramics, and weavings. Curator and author Nancy Green explores how Byrdcliffe began as a community of talented artists and artisans, students and teachers, and their commitment to the goals of joy and fulfillment in their labors and an appreciation of a simple aesthetic harnessed to a simple lifestyle.

Wed., May 10, 7 p.m.; CODE 1CV-014; Members $20; Nonmembers $25

World Art History Certificate elective: Earn 1 credit

Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo: Contrasts in Greatness

Leonardo and Michelangelo: These towering geniuses grew up in the same city, shared patrons, and also shared an intense dislike for each other. But their fraught relationship was fueled by a secret mutual fascination and a fierce competition that spurred them to new levels of artistic achievement.

Art historian Nigel McGilchrist depicts the two artists as perfectionists and brilliant craftsmen of radically different kinds who revolutionized the received methods of painting and sculpting.

10 a.m. The Consequences of Competition

11:30 a.m. Techniques and Conservation

12:45 p.m. Break

1:15 p.m. Obsessions and Recurring Themes

2:45 p.m. Writings, Dreams, and Nightmares

Sat., May 13, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.; CODE 1M2-260; Members $80; Nonmembers $90

World Art History Certificate elective: Earn ½ credit Art and Beauty in Siena

Siena’s beautiful townscape encapsulates everything we love about Tuscany—charming towns among rolling hills, rich history, and artistic and architectural treasures from its medieval heyday—rivaled only by its Tuscan neighbors, Florence and Pisa.

Art historian and author Laura Morelli leads an immersive virtual tour of Siena’s most iconic landmarks: the Gothic cathedral, Siena’s city hall or Palazzo Pubblico, and the unusually shaped town square, the Piazza del Campo. She also examines masterpieces by Siena’s most enduring artists: Duccio, Simone Martini, and the Lorenzetti brothers.

Tues., May 16, 12–1:15 p.m.; CODE 1H0-766; Members $20; Nonmembers $25

World Art History Certificate elective: Earn ½ credit How Catholic Art Saved the Faith

Not long after Martin Luther’s 95 Theses were posted in 1517, dialogue between Protestants and Catholics broke down and devastating religious wars erupted across Europe. Desperate to restore the peace and recover unity, the Catholic church turned to its longtime allies, the arts.

Convinced that to win over the unlettered, the best place to fight heresy was not in the streets but in stone and on canvas, prelates enlisted the century’s best artists, including Caravaggio, Guido Reni, Annibale Carracci, Federico Barocci, and Artemisia Gentileschi. Art historian and author Elizabeth Lev tells the story of the creation and successes of a magnificent, generations-long project: the affirmation through beauty of the Catholic belief in saints, sacraments, and salvation.

Wed., May 17, 12–1:15 p.m.; CODE 1H0-769; Members $20; Nonmembers $25

World Art History Certificate elective: Earn ½ credit The Mosque

Linking Religious and Architectural Traditions

The mosque is the defining element of an Islamic community. While there are a few essential components of a mosque, over time and across geographies an astonishing variety of form, building materials, and decoration in mosque architecture developed. With the spread of Islam around the world, mosques that were built for Muslim communities maintained the core components needed for the building’s function but developed regional styles depending on local building materials, architectural traditions, and climate.

Nancy Micklewright, a specialist in the history of Islamic art and architecture, looks closely at some of the most iconic and spectacular examples of mosques from different parts of the Islamicate world—including the Washington area—to survey this regional and temporal variety. From one of the smallest and oldest to one of the newest and most grand, she explores how these buildings maintain a connection with a building tradition that stretches back to the 7th century CE.

Thurs., May 18, 6:45 p.m.; CODE 1L0-514; Members $20; Nonmembers $25

World Art History Certificate elective: Earn 1 credit Great Castles of Great Britain From William the Conqueror to Elizabeth I

From foreboding fortresses to captivating castles, Great Britain is home to extraordinary buildings that were the locations of some of the extremes of British history, ranging from the viciously vindictive—such as the grotesque murder of Edward II at Berkeley Castle—to the glamorously amorous, such as the adventures of Bess of Hardwick Hall, ever richer with each of her four marriages. Art historian Janetta Rebold Benton takes you on a vicarious visit to castle life in medieval and Renaissance England, examining architectural styles, historic structures, and splendid settings.

FRI., MAY 19

10 a.m. Moat, Keep, Motte, and Bailey

11:15 a.m. Manor Manners

FRI., MAY 26

10 a.m. Castle Life Fit for a King—and Queen

11:15 a.m. Architecture and Ego

2 sessions: Fri., May 19 and 26, 10 a.m.–12:15 p.m.; CODE 1D0-015; Members $80; Nonmembers $90

World Art History Certificate elective: Earn ½ credit German Expressionism

German Expressionism emphasizes the artist’s emotions or ideas over replicating reality and is characterized by simplified shapes, bright colors, and gestural marks or brushstrokes. In a program that covers paintings, drawings, etchings, woodblock prints, and sculpture, art historian Joseph Cassar introduces and explores 20th-century German Expressionism as a movement. He discusses forerunners of Expressionism such as Gruenwald’s Crucifixion and Goya’s The Third of May, and the work of Die Brücke (The Bridge), an organization of German painters and printmakers that from 1905 to 1913 played a pivotal role in the movement’s development. He also examines the Degenerate Art exhibition of 1937, with an emphasis on artists such as Kirchner, Nolde, Otto Mueller, Schmidt-Rottluff, Grosz, Otto Dix, Beckmann, and others.

Fri., May 19, 12–2 p.m.; CODE 1K0-364; Members $30; Nonmembers $35

World Art History Certificate elective: Earn ½ credit

The Art of Christo and Jeanne-Claude Outdoors, Outsized, and Out of the Ordinary

From their New York City apartment, Christo Javacheff and Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon initiated some of the most enigmatic, ephemeral, and beautiful works of public art ever created around the world. Each used acres of colorful fabric to cover an entire building, line a path, or surround islands—on display for no more than two weeks.

Art historian Nancy G. Heller analyzes the couple’s most important projects and explains their significance in the history of contemporary art.

Wed., May 24, 12–1:30 p.m.; CODE 1M2-262; Members $25; Nonmembers $30

What time does the program end? Unless noted, Smithsonian Associates programs run 1 hour 15 min.–2 hours, including Q&A

World Art History Certificate elective: Earn ½ credit Renoir: The Gift of Joy

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, celebrated as a founding member of the Impressionists, is also hailed by modern realists for his painterly technique and happy subjects. His work reflected one central tenet: “To my mind, a picture should be something pleasant, cheerful and pretty. …There are too many ugly things in life as it is without creating still more of them.” No stonebreakers or railway stations for him.

Renoir reveled in lush color that can be seen in sensual nudes, family portraits, landscapes, and genre depictions such as The Luncheon of the Boating Party. Art historian Bonita Billman showcases selections from his prolific oeuvre of more than 4,000 works as she illustrates why Renoir is one of the most highly regarded artists of his time.

Thurs., June 8, 12–1:30 p.m.; CODE 1M2-266; Members $20; Nonmembers $25

World Art History Certificate elective: Earn ½ credit Hokusai’s Career in Prints

Internationally renowned for iconic works such as Under the Wave off Kanagawa, Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849) designed popular woodblock prints for more than five decades. His boundless creativity led to a prolific output on a range of subjects in a variety of genres. National Museum of Asian Art curator Kit Brooks examines the print works of this artist, who has come to be seen as an embodiment of Japanese artistic style.

Mon., June 5, 6:30 p.m.; CODE 1J0-268; Members $20; Nonmembers $25

World Art History Certificate core course: Earn 1 credit Understanding Modern Art

The radical innovations made by European and American painters and sculptors between 1900 and 1960 forever altered the way we think about visual art. Before World War I, Fauvist and Expressionist painters challenged the traditional Western concept of beauty, while Picasso and Malevich took on thousands of years of art history by exploring the controversial realm of abstraction.

Between the wars, artists as different as Salvador Dali and Frida Kahlo made images based on their own dreams and hallucinations. Later, American art finally achieved international recognition through the enormous, dramatic canvases of Jackson Pollock, paving the way for several decades of cultural prominence that began in the 1960s.

In this richly illustrated two-part course, art historian Nancy G. Heller, professor emerita of art history at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, discusses major works by the period’s seminal painters and sculptors, emphasizing their broader socio-political and aesthetic contexts.

FRI., JUNE 9

6:30 p.m. New Art for a New Century

SAT., JUNE 10

10 a.m. Empathy and Shock

11:30 a.m. Beyond Realism and Narrative

12:45 p.m. Break

1:15 p.m. Exploring the Subconscious

2:45 p.m. The Triumph of American Painting

2 sessions: Fri., June 9, 6:30–8 p.m. and Sat., June 10, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.; CODE 1M2-263; Members $85; Nonmembers $95