SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - Romanticism can be tricky to define and to this day still provokes hot debates and controversy.
So its just the right topic for museum director Eva Kirsch, who will discuss the recurring Romanticism in visual arts from the late 18th century until the recent past during a lecture Thursday, Oct. 8, at Cal State San Bernardino.
Her free presentation runs from 5-6:15 p.m. in the universitys Robert V. Fullerton Art Museum.
In her lecture "Romanticism and its recurrences throughout the 19th and 20th century," Kirsch will talk about the original, historical Romantics such as Caspar David Friedrich, Philip Otto Runge and Frederic Edwin Church; British Pre-Raphaelites; and German artists of the post WWII era, among others.
Romanticism is not an art movement from the distant past. Rather, its an attitude that originated in the 18th century and aimed at the future, said Kirsch. With its emphasis on emotions versus reason, and yearning for liberation through fantasy, the utopian, ideal, or the metaphysical, Romanticism has never truly ended.
It keeps resurfacing and renewing itself, she said. In the process, sometimes it reaches new heights and sometimes new lows, including being reduced to cheap sentimentalism, nostalgia or kitsch.
Kirsch will also briefly introduce the newest stream of emotional expression by artists born in the 1970s, including Kaye Donachie, Cathrine Opie and Laura Owens.
Similarly to the works of the historical Romantics, the visual manifestation of the works is only a mere pretext for the new Neo-Romantics to express their deeper psychic states.
Romantic is not only a sentimental candle light dinner date, says Kirsch. There is much more to it and we have got to understand it in order to understand our world today.
This lecture will serve as a prelude for a series of this years events dedicated to the 19th century, including the Pan exhibition this fall, highlighting one of the renowned and influential art and literary magazines of the German Art Nouveau (Jugendstil), as well as the 2010 spring events held in conjunction with the Ring Festival LA.
Established in 1996, CSUSBs Robert V. Fullerton Art Museum has accumulated a permanent collection of nearly 1,200 objects focusing on Egyptian antiquities, ceramics and contemporary art. With more than 7,500 square feet of gallery space, the RVF Art Museum magnificently displays a wide variety of art work from its permanent holdings to a dynamic schedule of visiting exhibitions.
This lecture is a free event. For more information on Eva Kirschs talk on the recurring romanticism call the Robert V. Fullerton Art Museum at (909) 537-7373.
General admission: $3. CSUSB students, faculty and staff and children under the age of 6 are free. Discounts are available for senior citizens and groups. Parking is $5 per vehicle.
Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., closed Sunday and Monday. Phone: (909) 537-7373. Web site: http://museum.csusb.edu. |
