Tuesday, September 22 @ 5:00pm, Classroom 1
Pamela H. Smith, Professor of History at Columbia University
“Butter and Gold, Lizards and Vermilion: Art and Science in Early Modern Europe”

Butter, gold, vermilion, and lizards were all materials employed by sixteenth-century European metalworkers.  What understanding of matter and the transformation of materials stood behind the use of these substances?  This lecture describes a “vernacular science” of matter and nature that informed metalworking practices, and considers the origin and transmission of these ideas and techniques.

Funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Art Department's Baldwin Fund.

Thursday, Oct. 1 @ 5:00pm, Hallock Auditorium, A. J. Lewis Center for Environmental Studies
Frederick Ilchman, Mrs. Russell W. Baker Assistant Curator of Paintings, and
Rhona MacBeth, Eijk and Rose-Marie van Otterloo Conservator of Paintings
“Beneath the Surface of Tintoretto’s Nativity”

A curator and paintings conservator from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston describe the technical innovations that allowed Venetian Renaissance artists such as Titian, Tintoretto, and Veronese to create a startlingly new approach to painting.  They will share remarkable recent discoveries – made with the help of x-radiography, infrared reflectography, and other scientific methods – that allow us to look below the surface to reveal the complex genesis of Venetian painting.

Funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Art Department's Baldwin Fund.

Tuesday, Oct. 6 @ 5:00pm, Classroom 1
Gregory D. Smith, Andrew W. Mellon Assistant Professor of Conservation Science, Buffalo State College
“What's Wrong with This Picture? The Technical Analysis of a Known Forgery”

This lecture will explore the role of the conservator and conservation scientist in authenticity studies that straddle the Arts-Science interface. Dr. Smith will take the audience through the technical analysis of the famous Robert Lawrence Trotter American folk art forgery case and describe the construction of a typical folk art painting while highlighting the “red flags” that might indicate a fake or forgery.

Funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Friday, Oct. 9 @ 4:00pm, Ripin Print Gallery
Andria Derstine, Curator of Collections and Curator of European & American Art, will lead a tour of "Out
of Line: Drawings from the Allen from the Twentieth Century and Beyond."

Monday, Oct. 12 @ 5:00pm, Craig Lecture Hall, Science Center
Jay Pasachoff, Director of Hopkins Observatory and Field Memorial Professor of Astronomy,
Williams College
“Art and Astronomy”

Dr. Pasachoff, an internationally-recognized expert on total solar eclipses and co-author of Fire in the Sky: Comets and Meteors, the Decisive Centuries, in British Art and Science, will lecture on the intersections between astronomy in art in conjunction with the “Starry Dome” exhibition.   

Funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Department of Physics and Astronomy.

Friday, November 6 @ 4:00pm, Ripin Print Gallery
Franny Brock (OC '09) will lead a tour of "Out of Line: Drawings from the Allen from the Twentieth Century and Beyond."

Wednesday, December 2nd @ 5:00pm, Classroom I
Artist’s talk: Mary Miss

Sponsored by the Allen Memorial Art Museum and the Art Department’s Ellen Johnson Fund and Clarence Ward Fund.

Thursday, Dec. 3 @ 5:00pm, Classroom 1
Erik Inglis, Professor of Art, Oberlin College
“The Stars above Paris: Monuments to François Arago, the greatest astronomer in 19th-century France”

In conjunction with the “Starry Dome” exhibition, Professor Inglis will lecture on monuments to Francois Arago, a renowned astronomer in France in the 19th century and the subject of a major 1994 Parisian monument by the Dutch conceptual artist Jan Dibbets.