Winter 2017
Events
In Praise of Women: Pietro Rotari in Russia
March 18, 2017
To mark the installation of the Museum’s eight Pietro Rotari paintings in the exhibition Serial Flirtations: Rotari’s Muses, Togneri discusses the last phase of this 18th-century painter’s career. After his success as a painter of religious images and aristocratic portraits, Rotari found his hallmark style outside of Italy when he ventured far from Verona to Vienna, Dresden and finally St. Petersburg. His hundreds of depictions of anonymous country girls in various costumes, posing and emoting, are easily recognizable images. His Russian studio was prolific in its output, making the artist’s own hand in a work sometimes indiscernible from that of one of his students.
ArtNight Pasadena
March 10, 2017
Enjoy free admission and extended hours at the Norton Simon Museum and other cultural destinations around Pasadena on ArtNight. Free shuttles transport you from site to site, making for a fun and easy way to experience the city’s remarkably rich arts community. More information and a complete list of participating venues can be found at www.artnightpasadena.org.
From Unrecognized Genius to Global Icon: Vincent van Gogh Then and Now
February 25, 2017
Today Vincent van Gogh is one of the most famous, if not the most famous artist in the world. Every time something momentous happens such as the discovery of a lost or unknown work or the recovery of a stolen work, it is at once global news. It is a well-known fact that during his lifetime Van Gogh only sold one painting and otherwise remained known only to a small circle of friends. Rüger traces the artist’s short career to remind us of his enormous achievements as a painter and draughtsman, and then describes the artist’s road to fame, the heroic role a female family member played in this and what this means for the museum that deals with the artist’s legacy now, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.
Harold and Maude (1971)
February 24, 2017
When Harold (Bud Cort), a death-obsessed young man from a wealthy family, meets Maude (Ruth Gordon), a devil-may-care, bohemian octogenarian, an emotional and romantic bond develops. Equal parts gallows humor and romantic innocence, the film dissolves the line between darkness and light along with the ones that separate people by class, gender and age.
Barefoot in the Park (1967)
February 17, 2017
In this film based on a Neil Simon play, newlyweds Corie (Jane Fonda), a free spirit, and Paul Bratter (Robert Redford), an uptight lawyer, share a sixth-floor apartment in Greenwich Village. Soon after their marriage, Corie tries to find a companion for mother, Ethel (Mildred Natwick), who is now alone, and sets up Ethel with neighbor Victor (Charles Boyer). Inappropriate behavior on a double date causes conflict, and the young couple considers divorce.
A Night in Focus: Picasso
February 11, 2017
Join us for an evening looking at one of history’s most celebrated artists, Pablo Picasso. Interact with the Museum’s staff to learn about Picasso as a printmaker through the works on view in States of Mind: Picasso Lithographs 1945–1960, and explore his paintings in the modern art galleries. Work alongside fellow artists to create your own scratchboard art inspired by Head of a Young Girl or make a Valentine print for one of your muses.
Ball of Fire (1941)
February 10, 2017
Hoping to update his chapter on modern slang, encyclopedia writer Professor Bertram Potts (Gary Cooper) ventures into a chic nightclub. Inside, he meets the snarky burlesque performer "Sugarpuss" O'Shea (Barbara Stanwyck). Fascinated by her command of popular jargon, Potts invites her to stay with him. But, unknown to Potts, she is the fiancée of a mobster (Dana Andrews) and wanted by the police. In the ensuing mayhem, Potts must stay on his toes or be swallowed up by bigger fish.
Highlights of the Collection
February 4, 2017
Join a Museum Educator for a tour of masterworks from the 14th through the 20th centuries.
It Happened One Night (1934)
February 3, 2017
Spoiled heiress Ellie Andrews (Claudette Colbert) impetuously marries the scheming King Westley, leading her tycoon father (Walter Connolly) to spirit her away on his yacht. After jumping ship, Ellie falls in with cynical newspaper reporter Peter Warne (Clark Gable), who offers to help her reunite with her new husband in exchange for an exclusive story. But during their travels, the reporter finds himself falling for the feisty young heiress.
The Story of Ferdinand
January 29, 2017
Rather than fighting, Ferdinand the bull enjoys smelling flowers under a cork tree. Find out what happens when he mistakenly gets sent to Madrid for a bullfight—all because of a little bee. Take a look at Picasso’s Bulls, and draw some flowers that Ferdinand and Picasso’s bulls might want to smell.
Happy Rooster New Year!
January 28, 2017
Celebrate Chinese New Year and the Year of the Rooster at the Museum. Roosters are said to be honest, bright, communicative and ambitious. Can you find the roosters in Jacopo Bassano’s Flight into Egypt? As a family, trace each other’s hands to create the bodies of roosters. Then, decorate your personal roosters with feathers, color sticks and more.
Conversing with the Masters: Variation as an Artistic Process in Picasso’s Work
January 21, 2017
Throughout his seven-decade career, Picasso conducted artistic dialogues with his predecessors, even as he continually innovated and invented new formal languages. The tension of this push and pull is made explicit in his variations on works of the past. Tracing this process from youth to old age in selected examples, Galassi considers the ways in which the collaborative nature of printmaking added new dimensions to Picasso’s engagement with the past, opening the way to his final grand series.
Design the Trend
January 18, 2017
Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, one of the finest painters of the 18th century, had an eye for fashion and the skill to depict clothing in great detail. In Portrait of Theresa, Countess Kinsky, notice the floral embroidery on Countess Kinsky’s sash and the subtle pattern of lines and dots along the edges of her golden scarf. Gather inspiration from the details and patterns of Countess Kinsky’s ensemble to create your own design on cloth using fabric pastels.
The Hero's Journey
January 15, 2017
Viewing great works of art, explore the hero’s journey as identified by scholar Joseph Campbell. Begin with one of the cornerstones of Hindu mythology, the epic journey of Rama in the Ramayana, before discussing Rubens’s archetypical David Slaying Goliath. As you move into the 19th century, decide whether Manet’s Ragpicker or Van Gogh’s Peasant are heroes or anti-heroes.
Vincent & Theo (1990)
January 13, 2017
Vincent & Theo centers on the relationship between Vincent van Gogh and his brother, Theo. Vincent’s works are ignored during his lifetime, despite the best efforts of Theo, a struggling gallery owner. When Theo fails to make a profit from his brother’s work, he finds himself torn between art and commerce, a conflict deepened by Vincent’s increasing emotional neediness. Soon the situation worsens, and both brothers are forced to struggle with depression and madness.
The Story of Ferdinand
January 8, 2017
Rather than fighting, Ferdinand the bull enjoys smelling flowers under a cork tree. Find out what happens when he mistakenly gets sent to Madrid for a bullfight—all because of a little bee. Take a look at Picasso’s Bulls, and draw some flowers that Ferdinand and Picasso’s bulls might want to smell.
Van Gogh’s Bedrooms: Making and Meaning
January 7, 2017
Van Gogh’s Bedroom at Arles is arguably the most famous chambre in the history of art and the painting the artist considered his finest. This lecture draws from Dr. Groom’s involvement with the exhibition and catalogue of the Art Institute’s 2016 exhibition Van Gogh’s Bedrooms to explore the significance of the motif for the artist’s life and what can be learned from the documentary, scientific and physical evidence pertaining to all three versions of this painting.
Highlights of the Collection
January 6, 2017
Join a Museum Educator for a tour of masterworks from the 14th through the 20th centuries.
Highlights of the Collection
January 6, 2017
Join a Museum Educator for a tour of masterworks from the 14th through the 20th centuries.