Friday Evening Lectures

Evening lectures by distinguished guest speakers, held throughout the year, address a range of topics relating to the appreciation and interpretation of art. They are free and open to the public. Seating is limited.

Edgar Peters Bowron, former Audrey Jones Beck Curator of European Art, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

This lecture will trace the arc of Bellotto’s career, from his beginnings in the studio of his uncle Canaletto in Venice and his earliest works in Italy to his final years in Warsaw. Focusing on the artist’s views of Dresden and its surroundings, Bowron will demonstrate why Bellotto is such a remarkable painter and why his works have been so widely acclaimed, from his day to ours. The talk will examine the complexities of view painting, topographical painting, and history painting—all genres in which Bellotto excelled—and explore the reasons that the painter’s artistic production continues to astonish us. Bowron will also discuss Bellotto’s intellectual, literary, and cultural interests within the context of the Enlightenment.