I have lectured on topics ranging from the history of still-life painting in European art to feminism’s impact on late twentieth-century American art. In many cases, the talk has focused on works of art either currently on view in the museum where I am presenting or on works related to local collections. Regardless of the topic, I always ground my discussion and analysis in the specific formal qualities of specific works of art. In so doing, my goal is for my audience to literally “see” the subject of my talk with a new and fresh perspective. For a full list of talks (and conference papers) organized by date, see CV.
From Judy Chicago to Cindy Sherman and Beyond: Transformations in Art and Feminism from the 70’s to Now. Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University, California
Artistic Transformation in the Renaissances of Italy and Spain. Legion of Honor Museum, San Francisco, California
Existence, Emotion, Experience: The Art of Nathan Oliveira. Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University, California
Art of the Russian Revolution and Beyond. Corte Madre Library, Corte Madre, California, (in conjunction with One Book One Marin)
The Art and Science of Impressionism. Mill Valley Library, Mill Valley, California
Experience and Memory in the Art of the American West. M.H. de Young Museum, San Francisco, California
People and Places of the Bay Area Figurative Movement. Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University, California
Concrete to Abstract: Representation, Experience, and Reality. Crocker Museum of Art, Sacramento, California
Nature, Culture, and The Many Lives of Still-Life. M.H. de Young Museum, San Francisco, California
Revivals, Renaissance, and Reform: Jacksonian American to the Gilded Age. M.H. de Young Museum, San Francisco, California
Fragments, Distortions, and Other Aesthetic Challenges in Art of the Sixties and Beyond. Crocker Museum of Art, Sacramento, California
Bodily Encounters: Experience, Objecthood, and American Sculpture. M.H. de Young Museum, San Francisco, California
Themes and Trends in Contemporary California Art. Oakland Museum of California, Oakland, California
Illusionism and Deception in Nineteenth-Century Trompe l’Oeil Painting. M.H. de Young Museum of Art, San Francisco, California
Fact and Fiction in Nineteenth-Century Genre Painting. M.H. de Young Museum of Art, San Francisco, California
Picturing Everyday Life in the 20s and 30s. M.H. de Young Museum of Art, San Francisco, California
California and American Art: Gold Rush to the Present. Six Part Lecture Series for Oakland Museum of California, Oakland, California
Part One: The Victorian Nineteenth Century.
Part Two: The Turn of the Century.
Part Three: The Rise of Modernism.
Part Four: Mid-Century Modernism.
Part Five: Modernism and Its Discontents.
Part Six: Post-Modernism: Art, Identity, and Politics.