OLD LYME — On Tuesday, Feb. 15, at 7 p.m., Lyme Academy of Fine Arts presents a virtual discussion with Emily M. Weeks, PhD titled, “I See Things Beautifully” — Lennart Anderson and the Relevance of American Representational Art.Weeks is the Principal Lecturer in the Histories of Art at Lyme Academy of Fine Arts in Old Lyme, Conn.
All are welcome. Preregistration is required in order to obtain the Zoom link.
This event is presented in partnership with The Essex Library.
An exhibition titled, LENNART ANDERSON – A Retrospective, is currently on view in the Chauncey Stillman Gallery through March 18, 2022 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.
Described by the New York Times as one of the “most prominent and admired painters to translate figurative art into a modern idiom”, Lennart Anderson (1928-2015) was an American artist renowned for his mastery of tone, color, and composition, and for a teaching career that deeply influenced future generations of painters.
In this lecture, presented in conjunction with the first retrospective of Anderson’s art since his death in 2015, Weeks considers the inspiration and execution of Anderson’s works and the legacy that his practice of “seeing beautifully” leaves behind.
Anderson (1928-2015) has been called the “elder statesman of American figurative painting.” Drawing from both the annals of art history and a tireless drive to observe, Anderson’s pictures have presented a vision of the everyday world through color, structure, and the connection of forms for the duration of his long and prolific career.
Weeks received her Ph.D. from the Department of the History of Art at Yale University in December 2004. Currently, she is an independent art historian and consultant for museums, academic institutions, auction houses, and private collectors in America, Britain, Europe, and the Middle East.
Weeks’s areas of expertise include Orientalism and 19th-century British and European visual culture; she is also the acknowledged expert on the artist Jean-Léon Gérôme and the leading authority on Ludwig Deutsch.
She has lectured widely on these topics and artists, both in the United States and internationally, and has acted as a consultant and guest lecturer for universities, museums, and other academic and commercial venues, as well as for the BBC.
Weeks has organized and contributed to a number of critically acclaimed exhibitions, including The Lure of the East: British Orientalist Painting, 1830-1925 (2008-2009; organized by Tate Britain).
Her extensive list of publications includes contributions to scholarly anthologies, academic and popular journals, books on Orientalist art, numerous exhibition and auction catalogues, book and exhibition reviews, and content for museum and institutional websites.
Weeks’s first book, Cultures Crossed: John Frederick Lewis (1804-1876) and the Art of Orientalism, was published by Yale University Press in 2014.
Books on Orientalist picture frames, the relationship between amateur photography and Orientalist art, the influence of artist’s tools and materials on their craft, a critical catalogue featuring Ludwig Deutsch’s Egyptian and Orientalist works, and a revised print and digital catalogue raisonné for Jean-Léon Gérôme are in progress. For more on the latter, visit @theofficialgerome.