This weeks free classes: from Irving Penn to Massaccio

Happy Sunday morning to everybody!

I hope this weekly hello finds you happy and enjoying a beautiful sunny, albeit hot and soupy, day.

I am doing a few programs this week that I’d like to share with you via zoom . They are all free and open to everyone.

The first one is tomorrow morning with Peninsula public library at 11 AM and will be focusing on important Jewish artists of the 20th century

Irving Penn Self portrait; Photo courtesy Irving Penn Foundation

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ZOOM: Jewish Artists in the Contemporary Art World

Join Prof Val Franco, for a look at some of the tremendous Jewish artists of the twentieth century. The history behind their lives and work, and a comparison of their various styles. We’ll be focusing on artists whose work has pushed the boundaries while also bringing important issues to the forefront of popular culture. 

Registration is not required.

Click the link below to join the Zoom Meeting:

Meeting ID: 721 207 3003

Passcode: PenPubLib

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My second class this week is Tuesday night at 7 pm with the Crestwood Library – again via zoom, free and open to everyone. We’ll be doing slow looking, focusing on a few select masterpieces and discussing the works as a group. 

San Giovenale Triptych, Masaccio, 1422

Virtual -Tuesday, June 27, 2023. 7:00pm – 8:00pm

Event Details

Join Prof. Val Franco as we find a new way to view art. By taking our time and getting to the heart of a painting or sculpture, we can get in touch with what the artist was trying to share with us about the world around them and their subject. By looking at a few select masterpieces from Renaissance art and the Impressionist period, we’ll discuss all the elements that make an artwork great as well look at paintings in a slow, meaningful way.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://ypl-org.zoom.us/j/87381066479?pwd=UFhTL2FEMGFSQ282R0Y3ZzYwTGdiZz09

Meeting ID: 873 8106 6479
Passcode: 443085

Contact Info

Name:  Z BairdEmail: z@ypl.orgPresenter: Val Franco

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The third one of the week is our regular Wednesday night Art zoom, sponsored by me,ProfValFranco, for free at 7 pm on Wednesday. We’ll be looking at Renaissance artist Massaccio and discussing the important aspects of dimensional painting and how Masaccio’s practice changed painting forever.

Masaccio self portrait from Brancusi Chapel Fresco

The lecture is free and open to everyone everywhere, and starts at 7 pm. Zoom is my standard Art zoom : Topic: ProfValFranco’s Armchair Art

Zoom 
Meeting ID: 878 0879 9248
Passcode: 683628

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Finally, back by popular demand, we are doing our monthly museum visits in person! The next trip is Monday, July 10 in New York and you can send an email for further info if you are interested!

This week’s art & film posts will go up in a few days and will focus on the art collection of Catherine the Great & the incredible film Eadweard about the man behind the beginnings of the modern moving image!

Looking forward to seeing you this week.

Regards

ProfValFranco

Naked, Nude, Art, Porn…

Probably most of you, or hopefully all of you, recognize this statue, Michelangelo’s David. It’s most likely one of the most famous sculptures in the contemporary western world.

Michelangelo’s David, courtesy Galleria dell’Accademia Firenze

Created between 1501 & 1504, this 17 foot marble masterpiece is an interpretation of one the Judeo-Christian world’s most galvanizing biblical figures. Because of that, it came to represent the defense of civil liberties in Florence, which was threatened by powerful rivals on all sides, as well as the intense force of the Medici family.

^{The Michelangelo David kerfuffle in Florida involves a charter school, the Tallahassee Classical School, that showed images of David during an art appreciation class to a group of sixth graders.
A letter usually goes out before the class so the parents are aware of the subject matter for the day. In this case, for some reason, the notice did not go out. Parents were upset that their young children were exposed to nudity in the art and the principal was forced to resign.}

Tallahassee Classical School was licensed to use Hillsdale College’s classical education curriculum, but the college just announced that the school’s license was “revoked and will expire at the end of the school year.”

Hillsdale College is a  small, Christian classical liberal arts college in southern Michigan that provides K-12 curriculum in partnership with dozens of charter schools across the country.

According to a spokesperson from the college., “This drama around teaching Michelangelo’s ‘David’ sculpture, one of the most important works of art in existence, has become a distraction from, and a parody of, the actual aims of classical education,” spokesperson Emily Stack Davis wrote in a statement. “Of course, Hillsdale’s K-12 art curriculum includes Michelangelo’s ‘David’ and other works of art that depict the human form.”This event brings an interesting focus to art censorship, arts education, and the exposure of children to various images outside of, ( and maybe also -inside of) the home. It’s also spurred numerous parodies, tweets, and Op-Ed responses throughout the world.

One, maybe the saddest,is this cartoon from artist Cathy Wilcox, for the Sydney Morning Herald:

Courtesy Cathy Wilcox, Sydney Morning Herald

As events unfold around us concerning censorship, education, freedom of speech, gender equality, etc. You might want to pause for a moment to consider a few questions, such as:

What does Art mean to you? 

What is the purpose of art? 

How should art history and art appreciation be taught to various audiences?

Is it acceptable to edit or censor works of art for considerations related to age, religion, or political affiliation? Does that dilute the original message intended by the artist? Does it weaken the image? Or does it serve to broaden basic exposure to a piece?

How is art tied into freedom of speech issues? 

Think of various issues related to art , censorship & freedom of speech ( Charlie Hebdo, nude Adam & Eve paintings painted with clothes by later generations, etc) – how do we as a free society deal with these actions?

How should we teach art?

What is the difference between Michelangelo’s David & other nude images?

Feel free to leave your ( respectful) comments below, or to ponder these issues on your own.

Until next time…

PtofValFranco