The Art Museum of West Virginia University and The Friends of the Museum announce the first “Art Up Close!” event for the fall semester, focusing on individual works of art from the museum collection. The Sept. 4 presentation will feature a 15th century Flemish carving titled “Adoration of the Magi.”

This series of lectures is designed to give an in-depth look at a single work of art selected from the WVU Art Collection.

Titled “We Three Kings of Orient Are—a Close Look at WVU’s Fragment from a Flemish Altarpiece,” the lecture will be presented by Janet Snyder, head of the Art History program in the WVU School of Art & Design.

The “Art Up Close!” presentations are held from 5:30-6:30 p.m. in the Museum Education Center (formerly the Erickson Alumni Center) adjacent to the WVU Creative Arts Center. All the events are free and open to the public.

“The first time I saw this sculpture, I dismissed it as an unpleasant dark chunk of wood,” Snyder said. “Careful study has revealed a sweetness and delicacy in the carving of a particularly 15th-century portrayal of the Madonna and Child, the maker’s consciousness of linear perspective, and representations that acknowledge the patron’s understanding of the story told through this image as part of a larger construction.”

Audience members will have the opportunity to view the actual carving and participate in a question-and-answer session, followed by light refreshments.

Snyder, who joined the WVU faculty in 1997, received her doctorate in Art History from Columbia University, where her fields were Medieval art and architecture, and Native American art. She received her MFA in Design for Theatre from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Snyder’s book, “Early Gothic Column-Figure Sculpture in France: Appearance, Materials, and Significance” (Ashgate 2011), examines the representation of textiles and clothing in northern French stone sculpture and the production of this sculpture.

Her publications, papers, and lectures emphasize the context for Medieval sculpture.

She has presented papers at the British Museum, the International Congress for Medieval Art, the International Medieval Congress at Leeds, and meetings of the Southeastern College Art Conference, the Medieval Academy, the College Art Association and the Midwest Art History Society.

Her teaching fields are Ancient and Medieval European art and architecture, the art of northern Europe during the Renaissance, and the visual culture of Native North Americans.

The Art Up Close! Fall 2012 schedule is:

Tuesday, Oct. 2—WVU art professors Joseph Lupo and Bernie Schultz discuss an 18th century print by Giovanni Battista Piranesi, 5:30 p.m., Museum Education Center.

Tuesday, Dec. 4—Art Museum Curator Robert Bridges discusses Blanche Lazzell’s whiteline color woodblock print, “The Graveyard,” 5:30 p.m., Museum Education Center.

For more information, contact the Art Museum of WVU at (304) 293-2141 or see the website at: http://www.ccarts.wvu.edu/art_museum.

-WVU-

CONTACT: Charlene Lattea, College of Creative Arts
304-293-4359, Charlene.Lattea@mail.wvu.edu

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