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CANCELED – Symposium: Jean-François Millet and Artistic Radicalism
Out of concern for the health and safety of our visitors, staff and volunteers, and the potential spread of COVID-19 in our city and region, the Saint Louis Art Museum will close for at least four weeks beginning March 16. All public programs and events are canceled.
Discover a fresh approach to the history of Modern art by examining an array of international artists who were influenced by Jean-François Millet’s progressive artworks and their critical reception. The symposium will explore the often overlooked formal and political radicalism of Millet’s work. It will also explore Millet’s fascinating avant-garde legacy in the output of artists from Vincent van Gogh to Giovanni Segantini and Salvador Dalí.
The symposium is held in conjunction with the exhibition Millet and Modern Art: From Van Gogh to Dalí, on view at the Saint Louis Art Museum, February 16–May 17, 2020.
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Jean-François Millet, French, 1814–1875; Summer, the Gleaners, 1853; oil on canvas; 15 1/16 x 11 9/16 inches; Yamanashi Prefectural Museum of Art 2020.80
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Symposium Ticketing
Friday’s keynote lecture and Saturday’s symposium programming can be attended together or as stand-alone events. Each day’s programming is ticketed separately to allow for this flexibility. Entry into the exhibition on Friday evening and Saturday is included with the purchase of a ticket to Saturday’s symposium programming.
Tickets are available through MetroTix or at the Information Centers at the Museum. A service fee applies to tickets purchased through MetroTix.
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Friday Keynote Lecture
French Landscape at the Margins of Survival
Thomas Crow, Rosalie Solow Professor of Modern Art, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University
Barbizon painters often celebrate France as an integral nation, its urban sophistication buttressed by the abiding continuities of the countryside. But one need not search far for motifs showing just how precarious and desperate rural life could be.
This lecture can be attended as a stand-alone event or in conjunction with the Saturday symposium programming. See Symposium Ticketing for details.
GET TICKETS
Friday, April 17, 7 pm
The Farrell Auditorium
$10 ($5 for Members and students)This keynote lecture is presented in partnership with the Department of Art History and Archaeology, Washington University, St. Louis.
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Saturday Symposium Programming
The symposium will explore the often overlooked formal and political radicalism of Millet’s work through expert lectures including:
“A Blind Revolutionary”?: Millet at the Paris Salon in the 1860s
Simon Kelly, curator and head of department of modern and contemporary art, Saint Louis Art Museum
“We do not live apart”: Millet, John Berger and the Radical Politics of Rural life
Maura Coughlin, professor of visual studies, Bryant University, Smithfield, Rhode Island
Millet, Van Gogh, and Later Realism
Marnin Young, associate professor and chair of art history, Stern College for Women, Yeshiva University
Millet on their Minds: Fin-de-siècle Artists Respond to the Legacy of the “Peasant-Painter”
Bradley Fratello, professor, design, visual and performing arts department, St. Louis Community College, Meramec
SALVADOR DALÍ AND THE TRAGIC MYTH OF MILLET’S ANGELUS
Michael Taylor, chief curator and deputy director for art and education, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
Additional speaker information will be updated periodically.
REGISTER
Saturday, April 18, 10 am–4:30 pm
The Farrell Auditorium
$55 / $45 for Members / $15 for students
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Registration and Check-In
Friday, April 17, 5–7 pm
Symposium registration and check-in for preregistered attendees
During this time guests are invited to visit Millet and Modern Art: From Van Gogh to Dalí (entry included with Saturday symposium badge) and enjoy a cash bar and live music in Sculpture Hall.
Saturday, April 18, 10 am
Symposium registration and check-in for preregistered attendees will take place in the Auditorium Lobby.