An afternoon of art lectures scheduled for 2022

Cummer Amelia
Press Release
November 30, 2021

 

Cummer Amelia is pleased to announce it will host the popular lecture series, An Afternoon of Art, again this winter. Dr. Debra Murphy, the inaugural chair of the Department of Art and Design at the University of North Florida will return to Amelia Island to explore The Works and Life of Vincent Van Gogh; Tribulations and Triumphs in a three-part series beginning in January at Story & Song Bookstore Bistro, 1430 Park Avenue, Fernandina Beach. All lectures will begin at 2 PM, and will last approximately an hour and a half.

Lectures are free of charge to members of the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens in Jacksonville. There will be a charge of $10 per lecture or $25 for the series of three for non-members. Seating is limited to 85. Registration is required at cummermuseum.org/Amelia.

During her presentations, Dr. Murphy will explore and examine Van Gogh’s life and artistic production. She will consider his biography, his major works, significant influences on his artistic development, and the greater context surrounding his life. Selected works from the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens’ modern collection will also be discussed. Topics Dr. Murphy will cover include:

January 18  

In search of Identity and Purpose: From Struggles in Holland to Revelations in Paris

This lecture traces the artist’s unsuccessful forays into art dealing and the ministry, his early creations, such as the Potato Eaters, and his move to Paris, which transforms his work.

February 15

Flourishing and Decline in Arles: Astonishing Creativity, the “Ear Incident,” and Hospitalization

Hoping to escape the stress of urban Paris, Van Gogh travels south to Arles with a vision of forming an artist’s colony. A period of tremendous productivity ensues, which is fractured by the mutilation of his ear and subsequent commitment to an asylum where he paints Starry Night.

March 1

 Painting the fields of Auvers “boundless as the sea, delicate yellow” and Death at 37 

From May to July 1890, Van Gogh produced 70 paintings in about as many days in Auvers-sur-Oise north of Paris, including the iconic Wheatfield with Crows. In addition to an examination of his last works, the controversy surrounding the circumstances of his death (suicide or accidental shooting?) and his legacy will be addressed.

Cummer Amelia is one of two Affinity Groups of the Cummer Museum. Currently, more than 100 Nassau County residents who are interested in the visual arts support the Museum through social and educational programs. The group offers Museum members unique opportunities to become more involved in the Museum’s mission “to engage and inspire through art, gardens, and education”. Annual membership in the Cummer is included when members of the Museum living in Nassau County “opt-in” when they join.

Over the past 15 years, Cummer Amelia has provided educational programs for children and adults in Nassau County. The group has funded tours of the Museum’s permanent collection, gardens, and special exhibitions for thousands of students and recently has begun offering virtual programming and tours.