Lectures

 
Featured
The Beginnings of the Buddha Image in India and Central Asia | Ronald M. Davidson Art History Lecture
Mar 3
Athenaeum Music & Arts Library
Art History Lecture
The Beginnings of the Buddha Image in India and Central Asia | Ronald M. Davidson Art History Lecture
Athenaeum Music & Arts Library
Art History Lecture

Tuesday, March 3, 2026
7:30 PM

Images of the Buddha are among the most widely distributed religious representations. While the Buddha himself was South Asian, the origins of the image of the Buddha remain something of a paradox. The earliest descriptions of him were extraordinary, but Indian Buddhists curiously decided not to represent the Buddha as a human figure for some centuries, only denoting him by symbols. Around the beginning of the Common Era, two traditions of the Buddha image suddenly emerged, essentially fully developed from the schools of Mathurā in North India and of Gandhāra, bordering Central Asia. What had happened to make this dramatic change palatable to the Buddhist communities in India and Central Asia? We will look at images of the Buddha configured by Alexander the Great’s incursions, by image-driven forms of prevailing religion in India, temples to Central Asian kings, and North Indian spirit cults. Working through these influences—and more—the Buddhists managed to convey the Buddha’s sense of spirituality and interiority, spreading a legacy across Asia.

Athenaeum Music & Arts Library
Art History Lecture
Art Deco—Paris | Diane Kane Art History Lecture
Apr 2
Athenaeum Music & Arts Library
Art History Lecture
Art Deco—Paris | Diane Kane Art History Lecture
Athenaeum Music & Arts Library
Art History Lecture

Thursday, April 2, 2026
7:30 PM

Due to its 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, Paris is often credited as the birthplace of Art Deco. Known as the City of Lights, its sophisticated urban lifestyle and historical association with cutting edge art and architecture made Paris an international magnet. In the aftermath of World War I, creative designers and intellectuals flocked to Paris. Receptive to new and imported materials and exotic designs, they incorporated motifs from Africa, Asia, Mesoamerica—and especially Egypt—in meticulously crafted luxury items. This first lecture in the series explores Art Deco’s popularity during the waning days of colonialism and rise of modernism.

Athenaeum Music & Arts Library
Art History Lecture
Art Deco: From Paris to New York, Los Angeles & Miami | Diane Kane Art History Lecture Series
Apr 2
Athenaeum Music & Arts Library
Art History Series
Art Deco: From Paris to New York, Los Angeles & Miami | Diane Kane Art History Lecture Series
Athenaeum Music & Arts Library
Art History Series

Thursdays, April 2, 9, 16 & 23, 2026
7:30 PM

Art Deco, a structured, geometric, and elegant aesthetic, is strongly identified with urbanism, electricity, and modernity. An extension of early 20th century Art Nouveau, it gained full expression in the 1920s before morphing into 1930s Streamlined Moderne.  Deco’s refined stylized forms appealed to architects, decorators, and manufacturers, who used new exotic and synthetic materials to produce luxury products, often with limited output. Nonetheless, Art Deco embodies a vibrant era marked by a thirst for novelty, speed, exoticism, and freedom. It touched every field of creation, from architecture and transportation, to furniture, fashion, jewelry, and graphic arts. Join Architectural Historian Diane Kane for a 100th Anniversary overview of the style, highlighting Art Deco’s Jazz Age expression in America. Discover how, from its origins in Paris, uniquely local identities in New York, Los Angeles, and Miami under the influence of high finance, radio, film, flappers—and cocktails!

Athenaeum Music & Arts Library
Art History Series
Art Deco—New York | Diane Kane Art History Lecture
Apr 9
Athenaeum Music & Arts Library
Art History Lecture
Art Deco—New York | Diane Kane Art History Lecture
Athenaeum Music & Arts Library
Art History Lecture

Thursday, April 9, 2026
7:30 PM

A burgeoning hub of international trade, New York invented the defining icon of Art Deco architecture—the ziggurat-formed skyscraper. This result of a 1916 zoning requirement enabled light to penetrate at street level in the forest of the ever taller buildings demanded by high finance. Housing offices, apartments, restaurants, boutiques, and nightclubs, resplendent with Art Deco art, furniture, and fashion, and highlighted in glowing neon, these buildings epitomized the bustling energy of Gatsby Era America. This race to the top produced an outstanding collection of distinctive skyscrapers, culminating in the Empire State Building of 1935.

Athenaeum Music & Arts Library
Art History Lecture
Art Deco—Los Angeles | Diane Kane Art History Lecture
Apr 16
Athenaeum Music & Arts Library
Art History Lecture
Art Deco—Los Angeles | Diane Kane Art History Lecture
Athenaeum Music & Arts Library
Art History Lecture

Thursday, April 16, 2026
7:30 PM

When everyone is an immigrant and anything is possible, fantasy and reality collide, overlap, and blur. Home to the incipient film, oil, and aircraft industries, Los Angeles, with its sunny weather and varied topography, attracted an international crowd of risk-taking entrepreneurs and bohemians. Flat plains were quickly gobbled up by film studios, outdoor back lots, and film support industries, all tied together by a sprawling road network traversed by automobiles. Art Deco movie palaces and glamorous lifestyles associated with—and glorified by—the film industry spread Art Deco fashion, interiors, and design across the country.

Athenaeum Music & Arts Library
Art History Lecture
Art Deco—Miami | Diane Kane Art History Lecture
Apr 23
Athenaeum Music & Arts Library
Art History Lecture
Art Deco—Miami | Diane Kane Art History Lecture
Athenaeum Music & Arts Library
Art History Lecture

Thursday, April 23, 2026
7:30 PM

With over 800 buildings in the Streamline Moderne style, Miami Beach hosts the highest concentration of Art Deco buildings in the world. Sadly, the style’s origins and uniformity came about as a response to the Great Miami Hurricane of 1926 that left 25,000 people homeless. Comprising seasonal hotels, commercial strips, and small apartments, the quickly rebuilt area epitomized the optimistic futurism extolled at the 1933 Chicago and 1939 New York World Fairs. Originally developed for middle-class seasonal tourists, this internationally famous tropical playground materialized into a cohesive urban resort that was neither centrally planned nor haphazardly built. Its prevailing non-traditional architecture charted a path toward mid-century modern, locally known as MiMo (or Miami Modern).

Athenaeum Music & Arts Library
Art History Lecture