Johannes Vermeer, Girl with a Pearl Earring, 1665
Thursdays, September 5, 12, 19 & 26 & October 3, 2024
7:30 PM
“Art is a mirror held up to the society which birthed it, a whisper from long ago history. It is a code message sent to a timeless future: this is who we were; what we believed; what we valued.”
It is not an overstatement to refer to 17th century Dutch art as the Golden Age, for it is one of the most glorious eras in Western art. In the space of just three to four generations, tiny Holland bursts forth with genius—Rembrandt, Vermeer, Frans Hals, and many other brilliant, inventive artists. In addition, the Golden Age is uniquely innovative: true landscape painting is conceived; still-life paintings acquire new, expressive language; Europe’s very first genre art is created; and portraiture is enlarged by canvases that define and expand the depiction of our humanity. Join us for this dip into one of the most productive periods in art history on five Thursdays this fall: September 5, 12, 19, and 26, and October 3.Tickets are available for the series or individual lectures.
September 5 » Historic Context
Art must be placed within its historic context; this first lecture will examine Dutch economic, political, and religious factors in a search for clues to explain how such artistic genius flourished in this time and place. An overarching factor is 17th century Holland’s uniqueness within the European experience. It becomes the first Protestant nation, and its long, ultimately victorious war of independence from Spain frees the Dutch from the only power structures Europe had ever known—King and Church. Power now comes from Holland’s maritime empire and spreads laterally to a solid middle class that reaps immense riches–a wealth that was funneled into art patronage. (There were more artists than bakers in mid-century Amsterdam.)
September 12 » Paintings the Dutch Loved to See
In the second week, we examine in greater depth the paintings the Dutch loved to see on their walls: landscapes that evoke a land dearly wrested from the sea; still lifes ranging from glorious floral bouquets sparkling with butterflies to dour skulls and smoking candles; genre painting that presents often humorous portrayals of everyday people and everyday lives; and, of course, brilliant portraiture from the easels of artists like Rembrandt and Frans Hals. Dazzling art, to be sure, but also puzzling. How is it that this flat and uninspiring land gives birth to landscapes? Or that this newly minted Protestant nation produces still lifes suffused with religious symbolism? Or that this sober and reserved society invents genre painting, evidence of a people able to laugh at themselves.
September 19 » Vermeer
This lecture will be a meditation on Jan Vermeer, an artist celebrated in literature and movies today, but after his death, forgotten until the 1850s, when a French art critic stumbled upon a masterpiece (View of Delft) by a mysterious artist he thought might be named Meer and devoted the rest of his life to searching out more “Meers.” Today, of course, Vermeer’s crystalline cubes of light-filled space, masterful reflections, and enigmatic, contemplative women make him one of the most revered painters in art history.
September 26 » Rembrandt
When the young Rembrandt arrives in Amsterdam in 1631, he is not only ambitious, but, judging from his self-portraits of that period, brash, cocky, and confident of his artistic power. Determined to prove that he is the equal of the great Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens, Rembrandt paints in Rubens’s Baroque style. A decade later, Rembrandt realizes that—despite the drama and theatrical lighting effects of Baroque art (characteristics he will retain)—he needs to capture deeper truths, greater profundity. In short, his unrelenting need for drama deepens, but now, buffeted by tragedy, he moves toward the drama of the soul.
October 3 » Rembrandt
In his last years, having lost all whom he had loved, along with his large fortune, Rembrandt turns inward; the cockiness of youth yields to a tragic vision of age and loss. Western art has never experienced such magnificent examinations of what it is to be human. Rembrandt’s portraits present compelling, sentient beings, who think … feel … remember. In these lectures, we always speak of the role of art within its given society, but with Rembrandt’s evocations of a human’s inner life and of the tragedy of life, art becomes universal, transcending boundaries and borders, time and place.
About Linda Blair:
Linda Blair has taught art history for many years, at the La Jolla Athenaeum and UC San Diego Osher; she was a docent at The Cloisters. She holds a BA from Mills College and an MA from USD. She is an active volunteer at UC San Diego, dedicated to raising scholarship funds.
Series tickets: $70/95
Individual lectures: $16/21
The lecture will be in person at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library. There are no physical tickets for this event. Your name will be on an attendee list at the front door. Doors open at 7 p.m. Seating is first-come; first-served. This event will be presented in compliance with State of California and County of San Diego health regulations as applicable at the time of the lecture.