The Athenaeum sponsors an ongoing series of popular evening lectures
in arts appreciation, including topics in classical music and jazz,
visual art, art history, and architecture.
A new series of noontime presentations is designed to highlight
the Athenaeum's significant artists’ books collection.
The Athenaeum's Erika and Fred Torri Artist' Books Collection
was started by Executive Director Erika Torri in 1991 with a
book by Harry Sternberg: A Life in Woodcuts. Today
it includes more than 1,200 volumes by various artists and has
become one of the most important collections in the region.
The collection includes almost complete series of artists' books
by important conceptual artists like Ed Ruscha, John Baldessari,
Lawrence Weiner, Sol Lewitt, Bruce Nauman, Christian Boltanski,
and Ido Applebroog. For each talk we will introduce the work of
one of these artists and then invite our patrons to look at the
valuable artists' books themselves (under the supervision of our
head librarian Kathi Bower Peterson and while wearing white cotton
gloves). The series will continue monthly in the fall with presentations
on John Baldessari and Ida Applebroog.
Art historian James Grebl, Ph.D., presents a series of four lectures exploring the artistic achievements of ancient Greece and Rome from the Bronze Age through the fall of the Roman Empire. Lavishly illustrated with images of the key monuments and sites, the lectures trace the development of art forms that served the religious, political and social aims of their era, and that profoundly shaped the art and architecture of the Western world from the mid-14th century until the revolutionary changes that occurred in the mid-19th century.
Beginning with the emergence of Geometric art in the 9th century
B.C.E., the first lecture traces the gradual development of
distinctly Greek types of art and architecture through the Archaic
and Early Classical periods. This development culminated
in the High Classical era of the 5th century B.C.E. when artists
achieved strikingly realistic though idealized images of the
human form as well as extremely refined and harmonious architectural
creations.
The temples and sculptures erected on the Athenian Acropolis shortly after the middle of the 5th century B.C.E., which many consider to be the climax of the High Classical style, served as a basis for the further evolution of Greek art in the 4th and 3rd centuries B.C.E. The art of the Late Classical and Hellenistic periods was marked by increasing diversity, complexity and elaboration as Greek art forms were adapted and transformed through colonial contacts and the conquests of Alexander the Great.
The Etruscans of Italy were among those profoundly transformed by contact with the Greeks, and they in turn had a crucial impact on the development of the art and architecture of their neighbors, the Romans. During the Republic (509 - 27 B.C.E.), the Romans developed a new type of architecture based upon the use of concrete and the vault, while in the pictorial arts they created a unique blend of native Italic, Etruscan, and Greek elements. During early imperial times (27 B.C.E. – 98 C.E.) Rome came increasing under the spell of Greek culture, and much of their formal, public art was cast in a very refined classical mode.
The High Empire (98 – 192 C.E.) saw a continuing dialogue
between the classical and the native or plebian forms of art
while Rome ’s architectural achievements reached new levels
of monumentality and technical daring. With the demographic,
economic and military challenges that occurred from the 2nd
century C.E. onward, Roman official art turned increasingly
toward its native, popular roots. Late Roman (192 –
400 C.E.) art exhibits the sort of symbolic and non-naturalistic
qualities that are characteristic of much of the art of the
Middle Ages.
Join us for three warm summer nights on the patio of the Athenaeum in La Jolla for classic films and wines! Wine expert Barbara Baxter will introduce the wines that each relate to the movies on screen!
August 7: Watch the classic 1946 Hitchcock movie Notorious in which Ingrid Bergman must try to catch a spy in an Argentinean wine cellar. Sip some choice Argentinean wines while enjoying the movie outdoors.
August 14: Join Anthony Quinn as “Zorba, the Greek” in the 1964 film of the same name, as he enjoys Greek wine—a lot of it—and women! Barbara Baxter will introduce a white and red Mediterranean wine with this movie!
August 21: The 2006 film A Good Year takes place on a vineyard in the Provence, France! Just like the stars of the movie, Russell Crowe and Marion Cotillard, you can enjoy a glass of French wine of that region, while you revel in the beauty of the French countryside!
The Athenaeum, in conjunction with San Diego Book Arts, will present a visual lecture by Emily Martin, owner of Naughty Dog Press, entitled Where I Have Been and Where I Am Going, a survey of recent and ongoing projects. Martin’s recent books have addressed both her past and her future in artist’s books combining images, texts and sculptural formats. Her work can be seen at www.emilymartin.com.
The Athenaeum is proud to present a lecture series by Dr. Ronald Shaheen on six of the operas that will be broadcast to local theatres by the Metropolitan Opera. A knowledgeable and entertaining speaker, Dr. Shaheen will present background on the composers and the stories of the operas, insights into the music, discussions of the starring singers, and how the operas themselves fit into the overall history of opera. Dr. Shaheen employs a rich array of multi-media resources in lectures that appeal to general audiences as well as to longtime opera aficionados. All lectures fall on the Mondays before the simulcasts. For information on tickets for the simulcasts visit www.metoperafamily.org.
Verdi's longstanding affinity for Shakespeare
is explored in Adrian Noble's dark yet exhilarating vision for
this disturbing work. James Levine conducts and acclaimed baritone
Lado Ataneli stars in the towering title role.
Diva Karita Mattila adds another landmark role
to her rep with the free-spirited Manon Lescaut. The story of
the magnetic attraction between two young lovers. James
Levine conducts. Ron Shaheen explores the details that make this
opera such a favorite.
Ron Shaheen discusses Peter Grimes, who is under
investigation for unthinkable transgressions. Shaheen explores
the nature of guilt and judgment, implicating an entire fishing
village. Featuring what may be 20th century opera's most impress
tenor role, Peter Grimes, with its sweeping orchestral beauty,
will be an engrossing and haunting theatrical journey.
Deborah Voigt, one of the world's most celebrated Wagnerian sopranos,
undertakes this iconic role for the first time at the Met. Ron Shaheen
gives you the low down on the archetypal couple on their mystical
journey of love, sex, and death.
Ron Shaheen discusses Franco Zeffirelli's iconic production of the
Puccini favorite. The mesmerizing diva, Angela Gheroghiu, sings
Mimi for the first time in twelve years, opposite golden-toned tenor
Ramon Vargas as her lover, Rodolfo.
Fresh from Covent Garden, Natalie Dessay's fearless coloratura and
impeccable comic timing dazzles all as the daughter of the regiment.
Coupled with Juan Diego Florez's musicality (along with all those
high CDs), this is opera at its funnest!
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