Virtual Talk - Masterpieces of the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
In December 1936, Andrew W. Mellon donated to the Nation, through President Franklin D. Roosevelt, his priceless art collection and a projected $8-9 million to build the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Since then the Museum has amassed a magnificent, world-class collection in its mission to serve the nation by welcoming all people to explore and experience art, creativity, and our shared humanity.
Join us for today’s virtual talk in which we’ll take a deep dive through history to be dazzled by works that have captivated visitors for hundreds of years.
American Sign Language at the Timken
FREE Tour for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Individuals
Sat Nov 2
11:00-11:45am
The tour of the Timken Museum of Art galleries is led by our knowledgeable docents who will be accompanied by an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter from Palomar College ASL-English Translation and Interpreting Studies Program, who will interpret for the deaf and hard of hearing.
The ASL enhanced tour takes place the first Saturday of each month.
No need to register. Simply come to the Timken just before 11am this Saturday!
#timkenmuseum #balboaparksandiego #americansignlanguage #asltimkentours #aslpalomarcollege
Video courtesy of Jon Savage.
Virtual Talk - Spanish Baroque Painting
The Spanish Baroque arose in response to Mannerist distortions and the idealization of beauty in excess. Artists such as El Greco for example seemed to follow the Mannerist styles during the late Renaissance while developing their own unique approach to painting. However, during the Counter Reformation, the Catholic Church's demand for decorum created a shift in imagery. The church's main objective was to allow the viewer to easily understand the scenes depicted using realism and drama. The naturalism typical of the followers of Caravaggio in Italy and dramatic illumination of tenebrism which was introduced in Spain after 1610 was to dominate painting in the region.
The emerging style was also influenced by many gifted Flemish Baroque painters, such as Peter Paul Rubens, who was producing art in Spain beginning in 1603 and later from 1628-29. It is important to note that the Spanish Habsburgs ruled over the Flemish reign during this era. The Habsburgs thus became great patrons to many artists at this time along with the Catholic Church, both entities trying to combat the spread of Protestantism. Artists such as Diego Velasquez, Francisco de Zurbarán, and Juan Sánchez de Cotán produced some of the most remarkable works of art during this period. Their work and that of other great Spanish Baroque painters will be reviewed in this docent-led talk.
Virtual Talk - Savoldo's Torment of St. Anthony
Speaker: Florence Gillman, Timken Docent, and emeritus faculty member of USD's Department of Theology and Religious Studies
What made Anthony so famous and thus the subject of many paintings? Savoldo brilliantly brings to life the fascinating story of this Egyptian hermit, who inspired thousands to follow him into the desert. Interestingly, there are some who still emulate him, as we will discuss in this docent-led talk.
Florence Gillman, PhD, STD, has been a docent at the Timken since 2022. She is an emeritus faculty member of USD's Department of Theology and Religious Studies. She currently is an adjunct faculty member at the Franciscan School of Theology.
Virtual Talk - Understanding Mannerism
Mannerism originated primarily in Italy. It lasted from approximately 1530 to 1600 and was a reaction to the harmonious classicism and idealized naturalism of High Renaissance art as practiced by Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael. Mannerist artists created a style that was characterized by artificially and unique coloration. A thoroughly self-conscious cultivation of elegance and technical facility are part of this artistic movement. Sophisticated indulgence in the bizarre helped to distinguish its artists.
The figures in Mannerist art frequently had graceful, but strangely elongated limbs, small heads, and stylized facial features while their poses seemed difficult or contrived. Painters such as Jacopo Pontormo and Francesco Parmigianino exemplified this unusual and fascinating style of painting. Mannerism however began to wane after 1600 as the Baroque began to take hold throughout Europe.
Virtual Talk - Manet: Challenging Convention
When Edouard Manet began to study painting in 1850, Paris' familiar, broad, tree-lined streets didn’t yet exist, and the life of the city was not a subject artists explored. Young artists could expect to succeed only through the official Academy exhibitions known as Salons, whose conservative juries favored biblical and mythological themes and a polished technique. Within twenty-five years, however, both Paris and painting had new looks. Renovations had opened the wide avenues and parks we know today, and painting was transformed when artists abandoned the transparent glazes and blended brushstrokes of the past and turned their attention to new techniques and to life around them. Contemporary urban subjects and a bold style, which offered paint on the canvas as something to be admired in itself, gave their art a strong, new sense of the present.
While several artists had already begun to challenge the stale conventions of the Academy, it was Manet whose succès de scandale made him a leader of the avant-garde. His embrace of what Charles Baudelaire termed the "heroism of modern life" and his bold manner with paint inspired the future impressionists, though Manet never exhibited with them.
In this docent-led talk we'll learn about what the public considered so scandalous in Manet’s works and why, today, no artist is arguably as responsible for setting modern art in motion.
American Sign Language at the Timken
American Sign Language at the Timken
FREE Tour for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Saturday, September 7
1:00-1:45pm
The tour of the Timken and its galleries is led by our knowledgeable docents accompanied by an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter from Palomar College ASL-English Translation and Interpreting Studies Program, who will interpret for the deaf and hard of hearing.
The ASL enhanced tour takes place the first Saturday of each month.
No need to register. Simply come to the Timken just before 1pm this Saturday!
For more information: [email protected]
#timkenmuseum #balboaparksandiego #americansignlanguage #asltimkentours #aslpalomarcollege
Video courtesy of Jon Savage
Virtual Talk - Iconic Thoughts
The Timken's superb collection of icons is an oasis of Russian Orthodox spiritual thought and art in the midst of the Timken's broadly European and American collection. For a museum visitor the presence of the icons literally suggests a dialogue between the different eastern and western Christian approaches to art. This virtual talk will review some major historical information on the role of icons in eastern Christianity in comparison with some of the differences in the approach to art by western Christians.
Florence Gillman, PhD, STD, has been a docent at the Timken since 2022. She is an emeritus faculty member of USD's Department of Theology and Religious Studies. She currently is an adjunct faculty member at the Franciscan School of Theology.
Virtual Talk - 19th-Century Painting in America: The Hudson River School
During the 19th century, the first truly American art movement began. This school embodied by a collective of landscape painters had an aesthetic vision driven by Romanticism. It was known as the Hudson River School of Painting. Importantly, Hudson River paintings mirrored three themes of America in the 19th century: discovery, exploration, and settlement. Initially, the artists focused on depicting the Hudson River Valley and the surrounding areas, including the Adirondack, Catskill, and White Mountains. Later, the second generation of painters expanded their vision to include other regions such as New England, The Maritimes, the American West, and South America.
Thomas Cole is generally recognized as the founder of the Hudson River School. We are indeed fortunate to have an amazing collection of Hudson River School paintings in the Timken's American Gallery. This docent-led talk will document the evolution of the movement and highlight some of the Timken's masterpieces.
American Sign Language at the Timken
FREE Tour for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Sat Aug 3
1:00-1:45pm
The tour of the Timken Museum of Art and its galleries is led by our knowledgeable docents accompanied by an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter from Palomar College ASL-English Translation and Interpreting Studies Program, who will interpret for the deaf and hard of hearing.
The ASL enhanced tour takes place the first Saturday of each month.
No need to register. Simply come to the Timken just before 1pm this Saturday!
For more information: 619.239.5548; [email protected]
#timkenmuseum #balboaparksandiego #americansignlanguage #asltimkentours #aslpalomarcollege
Video courtesy of Jon Savage
Virtual Talk - The Giants of Post-Impressionism: Cezanne, Gauguin, Seurat, and Van Gogh
Post-Impressionism was primarily a French art movement, which emerged around 1886 with the last Impressionist exhibition and ended approximately in 1905 with the advent of Fauvism. Post-Impressionism developed as a reaction to the Impressionists focus on the naturalistic depiction of color and light. In the art of George Seurat for example, there was a concentration on scientifically oriented theories about color and form. Paul Gauguin, however, was engaged in creating lush symbolism in his paintings. Regardless of the artist, the Post-Impressionists were very intent on portraying the subjective vision of each painter. The movement therefore brought in an era of painting which transcended its traditional focus on being a window to the world, and instead became a window to the soul and mind of the individual artists. Join us in this docent-led talk and discover the artists of Post-Impressionism.
