The next generation of art historians will be in Greenwich on February 7 and 21 for Baroque Brilliance, a series of two inaugural student symposia organized by the Bruce Museum. Eight student speakers have been selected from prestigious art history programs to present their research at the Museum. Doctoral students will present on February 7 and undergraduates will have their chance on February 21; both events run from noon to 4:00 p.m. and are open to the public.
“These symposia constitute a new and exciting chapter in the long history of education at the Bruce,” says Dr. Peter C. Sutton, executive director of the Bruce Museum. “For the first time we will be able to share the research of emerging scholars with the public, offering a glimpse at the thinking of tomorrow’s art historians.”
The Museum invited students to submit research on the art and culture of seventeenth-century Europe to complement the current exhibition Northern Baroque Splendor. The HOHENBUCHAU COLLECTION from: LIECHTENSTEIN. The Princely Collections, Vienna. Submissions were judged by a panel consisting of Dr. Sutton, who was the organizer of Northern Baroque Splendor; Deputy Director Susan Ball; and the Museum’s Samuel H. Kress Interpretive Fellow, Tara Contractor.
“These student symposia – our first ever – are a platform for tomorrow’s art historians to share ongoing research and to engage in conversation with the general public,” says Susan Ball, the Museum’s deputy director. “We certainly want to support young scholars, and this is a great way for us to do that while continuing the Bruce’s longstanding tradition of bringing the latest thinking in both art and science to Greenwich.”
The selected students will present on a variety of topics, from Italian Baroque painting to city planning in the seventeenth-century Netherlands. Titled Baroque Brilliance, the two symposia will be moderated by top scholars from local universities. Lisa Rafanelli, professor of art history at Manhattanville College, will moderate the February 7 graduate symposium, while Marsely Kehoe, lecturer and Mellon postdoctoral fellow at Columbia University, will moderate the February 21 undergraduate symposium. Each symposium will begin with light refreshments and open galleries, after which the speakers deliver 20- to 30-minute presentations on their research. Each day will conclude with a moderated session where speakers will answer questions from the audience.
The symposia will be held in the Bruce Museum’s Bantle Lecture Gallery, and are open to the public free with museum admission. Museum admission will be waived for members, students, and educators with ID. Reservations are strongly recommended.