On December 5, 2013 the New-York Historical Society will welcome Dr. Judith Barter, who will deliver the 2013 C. Richard Hilker Lecture on the relationship between trompe l'oeil and modernism in America at the close of the nineteenth century.
Despite a surge of popularity during the 1870s, trompe l'oeil-an illusionistic style of painting- was continually dismissed as an artistic technique appropriate only for trickery, deception, or humor. Dr. Barter's lecture will present trompe l'oeil as a style of painting that contained modern narratives reflecting a new consumer culture, standardization and professionalism, memory and reality, and the very nature of painting itself. Dr. Barter contends that set against the background of department stores, photography, and optics, trompe l'oeil works by Harnett, Peto, Haberle, and Cope actually redefined the meaning of contemporary painting and consequently foreshadowed issues of twentieth century American art.
The lecture will begin at 6:30 pm. Seating is extremely limited, and reservations are required; please call (212) 873-3400 ext. 359 or e-mail sansomrsvp@nyhistory.org to reserve seats.
Dr. Judith Barter is the Field-McCormick Chair and Curator of American Art at the Art Institute of Chicago. She is the author of numerous books and exhibitions, including Mary Cassatt: Modern Woman (1999), Edward Hopper (2007), and American Art in the Age of Impressionism (2011) as well as two major collection catalogs: American Art at the Art Institute of Chicago (1999) and American Modernism at the Art Institute of Chicago (2009). Her recent publications include For Kith and Kin: Folk Art at the Art Institute of Chicago (2012) and the forthcoming Art and Appetite: American Painting, Culture and Cuisine (November 2013).
The C. Richard Hilker Lecture Series is sponsored by the Sansom Foundation. The Foundation, named for the Philadelphia street where the American painter William J. Glackens was born, was established in the 1950s by the artist's son Ira Glackens and his wife Nancy. In 1990, after the founders' deaths, C. Richard Hilker assumed leadership of the Foundation until his death in 2001, when the Sansom Foundation inaugurated a series of scholarly lectures to celebrate and commemorate his leadership.
ABOUT THE NEW-YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY: The New-York Historical Society, one of America's pre-eminent cultural institutions, is dedicated to fostering research, presenting history and art exhibitions, and public programs that reveal the dynamism of history and its influence on the world of today. Founded in 1804, New-York Historical is the oldest museum in New York City. New-York Historical has a mission to explore the richly layered political, cultural and social history of New York City and State and the nation, and to serve as a national forum for the discussion of issues surrounding the making and meaning of history.
New-York Historical is recognized for engaging the public with deeply researched and far-ranging exhibitions, such as Alexander Hamilton: The Man Who Made Modern America; Slavery in New York; Nature and the American Vision: The Hudson River School at the New-York Historical Society; Grant and Lee in War and Peace; Lincoln and New York; the Grateful Dead: Now Playing at the New-York Historical Society; Audubon's Aviary: the Complete Flock; and WWII & NYC. Supporting these exhibitions and related education programs is one of the world's greatest collections of historical artifacts, works of American art, and other materials documenting the history of the United States and New York. On October 11, 2013, New-York Historical will open its landmark fall exhibition, The Armory Show at 100: Modern Art and Revolution, which brings together more than 100 works of art from the legendary 1913 Armory Show, remembered as a turning point in American art history and one of the most important exhibitions ever held in the United States.
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