Themes and Art Movements:

For many years, artists never thought of depicting the winter months. They were a cold and harsh time of year when people hunkered down and tried to keep warm. But as we see in this talk, that would change with artists like Pieter Bruegel the Elder who was one of the first artists to paint winter landscapes. Over the centuries many artists from all across the world produced beautiful winter scenes.

Join us as we take a journey through time and across many different countries to see how winter has been depicted in its own unique way throughout history. You will find these beautiful images a welcome respite from the heat of the summer months in Tucson! Bring a jacket!

Around the turn of the 20th century, the tiny village of Worpswede in north Germany became home to a thriving community of artists who longed to escape the stuffy confines of the art academies and find solace and inspiration in the sweeping landscapes and picturesque villages of the north German moors and the hard lives of the farmers who eked out a living there. 

In this talk we look at the beginnings of the Worpswede artists' colony and its development over the next several decades, examining the lives and works of the artists that lived there, with special emphasis on the landscape painter Otto Modersohn and his partner Paula Becker who became one of the greatest pioneers of German expressionism.

If you ask most people if they can think of a Scandinavian artist, they may only be able to come up with one name - the Norwegian painter Edvard Munch and his iconic painting The Scream. But there were many other talented Scandinavian artists who are less well known, who produced gorgeous paintings that capture the lives, the spirit, the scenic beauty, and the unique light of the North.

Join us on a journey north through the Scandinavian countries of Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland as we explore the work of the artists that lived and worked there.

In the 19th century artists from Europe and America started to venture to the East – the Orient as it was then  known – for centuries, to the West, a forbidding and mysterious region. They brought back images of people, cultures and traditions unlike anything they or their fascinated audiences had ever seen. 

For a time these paintings became controversial in the west, but nowadays they are highly sought after, particularly by museums and collectors from the region, as they seek to access images of their own heritage and a way of life that has now forever disappeared.

In this talk we look at the world of these artist-travelers – who became known as the Orientalists – and journey with them through North Africa, the Middle East, and even as far as Persia and India, exploring their lives and the extraordinary legacy of art that they left us.

In the mid-19th century, a small group of young and rebellious art students set out on an unlikely mission to overthrow the art establishment that they felt had been on the wrong track since the time of Raphael. They called themselves the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, and the revolution they started, and the movement that followed, would change the course of western art forever, and set the stage for the rise of modern art in the 20th century. 

We’ll be looking at the beginnings of this revolution and its evolution through three distinct generations of artists, from the original Brotherhood, through the second generation and the broadening of the movement, to the work of one of the most beloved of all the Pre-Raphaelite painters, John William Waterhouse. 

We’ll also be looking at the depiction and role of women in art at a time of change for women in society, as the early women’s movement and the push for equal rights and suffrage was starting to gain steam. 

The gift of motherhood is something that we can all relate to on a very personal level. But at a deeper level, there is perhaps no concept more important to humanity throughout the ages than motherhood. It represents the crucial continuity of life and has been depicted in innumerable ways since the beginnings of civilization. 

In this talk we take a look at how motherhood has been depicted in art throughout history and across many different cultures, from the ancient world to the present day.

There is no greater emotion in life than love, and artists have depicted its various aspects - romantic love, motherly love, unrequited love - since time immemorial. 

In this talk we look at the ways in which love has been depicted in art through the ages, from the ancient world to modern times, and across many cultures. 

In this talk we explore the evolution of early Western art  from the Middle Ages to the birth of the Renaissance over a period of 800 years, from about 700AD to 1500AD. We trace the path of art from the illuminated manuscripts of the monastic traditions, through the invention of books and the advent of universities, to the beginnings of the Renaissance.

We journey through the Medieval era with stunning images, often illuminated with gold and ground precious stones, following the path from predominantly religious art to more secular images from scientific texts, Arthurian legend, and delightful depictions of everyday life in the Middle Ages,  to the birth of the Renaissance both in Italy and in the Northern countries. Please join us for a fascinating journey through history and art!

In another of our Virtual Museum Visits we travel to Quito, the capital city of Ecuador in South America, to visit the fabulous Casa del Alabado Museum of Pre-Columbian art. One of the best-curated collections of the art of the ancient Americas that this commentator has ever seen, the Casa del Alabado Museum gives fresh perspectives into the lives, beliefs and art of the people of ancient America, and leaves us with a deeper understanding of these complex and fascinating cultures.