IN FOCUS LECTURE SERIES

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The Dark Side of the Eiffel Tower

Sunday, March 24, 3- 4:30 pm RSVP

Headshot of Hollis "Holly" Clayson

This lecture is drawn from Hollis (Holly) Clayson’s current book which examines forgotten and
suppressed meanings once carried by the Eiffel Tower. When the 1000-foot iron colossus arose
in Paris in 1889, it was the tallest structure on earth, and the centerpiece of that year’s vast
World’s Fair (Universal Exposition) which marked the 100 th anniversary of the French
Revolution. Beloved and wildly popular today, it was controversial and surprising in many ways
when it was new.


Clayson specializes in the study of Paris-based art practices of the 19th century and has lectured
about them around the world. She taught Art History at Northwestern University for thirty-five
years, advising many students, and winning many teaching awards and fellowships along the
way. She is currently Professor Emerita of Art History and Bergen Evans Professor Emerita in
the Humanities at Northwestern. Her books include Painted Love: Prostitution in French Art of
the Impressionist Era (1991), Paris in Despair: Art and Everyday Life Under Siege (1870-71)
(2002), Is Paris Still the Capital of the Nineteenth Century? Essays on Art and Modernity, 1850-
1900 (2016), co-edited with André Dombrowski, and Paris Illuminated: Essays on Art and
Lighting in the Belle Époque (2019). An important fact: she is a Printmaking and Drawing
student at the Evanston Art Center.


Landscape in Light: The Art Institute's Tiffany Memorial Window with Rachel Sabino

Sunday, April 14, 2024, 3- 4:30 pm RSVP

Rachel Sabino Headshot

Rachel Sabino is director of Objects and Textiles Conservation at the Art Institute of Chicago and has been a member of the department of Conservation & Science since 2011. She specializes in structural issues related to large-scale objects and has been responsible for the conservation aspects of some of the museum’s most ambitious projects, notably the Tiffany Hartwell Memorial Window. Her research interests lie primarily in the realm of ancient art, and she is a co-author of the museum’s online scholarly catalogue of Roman Art. She has held previous positions at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, National Gallery London, and Chicago Conservation Center; internships at Metropolitan Museum of Art and the J. Paul Getty Museum; and a sabbatical at the Corning Museum of Glass. She received her formal training in conservation at West Dean College in West Sussex, England and is a fellow of both the International Institute of Conservation and the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works.


PAST

2024

The Artistic Practice of Marion Mahony Griffin, Enviromentalist and Architect Featuring Debora Wood

Encouraging Young Artists on to Higher Education: The Latino Art Beat Story

2023

Dorothy Marks, How I Wrote a Book

Rebecca Keller What Color is the Sea? What Color is the Sky

In Focus Lecture Series: Film Premiere - At Home in Evanston: Diverse Perspectives of Our City

Sharon Hoogstraten, Dancing for Our Tribe: Potawatomi Tradition in the New Millennium

In conversation with Shonna Pryor and Matt Morris

Joyce Marter, The Financial Mindset Fix for Artists: How to Change Your Money Story to Welcome Greater Prosperity

Debora Wood, Echoes: Contemporary Trends in Printmaking

2022

Cortney Lederer: How Art is Getting Us Through the Pandemic

Nika Levando: Mural Commissions on the South Side of Chicago - Lessons Learned

Ignatius Valentine Aloysius: Digging Deep into Revision

Poems While You Wait: A Panel Discussion on Poetry on Demand

Katrin Schnabl: Portal

LP "Larry" Lundy: Journey Through an Artist's Life

Onyx Montes: Playing with Pay

In conversation with Connie Noyes and Tricia Van Eck

2021

Holly Clayson: Modern Art and Light/s

Rebecca Zorach: Abolition Art

Alpha M. Bruton & Liza Simone: Pop-Up Research Station

Cindi Strauss: Exploring Contemporary Ceramics: Shifting Tastes and New Expressions

Rachel Sabino: The Inner Life of a Bronze Dionysos

Tanner Woodford: Designing a New Museum

Julius L. Jones: City on Fire: Chicago 1871

Donna Gabanski and Joan Winstein: Chicago Architecture Center Docents

2020

Richard Townsend: The ABCs of Art Collecting

Angela Tate: That's What A Song Can Do

Dan Hill: The Inside Scoop on How We Experience Art

 

 

 


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