“SILENCE IS SO ACCURATE”: MARK ROTHKO’S LIFE and CAREER 

Mark Rothko (1903-70) is one of the most beloved artists in the western canon, and arguably one of the most misunderstood. He immigrated to America from Russia (now Latvia) in 1913, at just ten years old, with little more than the Buster Brown suit he wore that confirmed (for him) that he was an outsider. That feeling of not belonging haunted him throughout his life and inspired his iconic Abstract Expressionist canvases. He believed his signature canvases and the architectural environments they created ca. 1949 onwards gave viewers a “place” to wrestle with what he called the most raw “basic human emotions,” and that his lusciously colored canvases arranged to his precise specifications would function like ancient Greek tragedies, providing the springboard for our respective catharses. One of the unfortunate tragedies of his journey is how he came to believe most viewers misunderstood that point, favoring the decorative aspects of his paintings over the function he prescribed. 

 

Smithsonian Associates, The Smithsonian Institution

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December 2026

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Detail, "Rothko in Florence" exhibition, Palazzo Strozzi 

WHAT IS ART? MARCEL DUCHAMP 

Few artists have altered the direction of art to the extent that Marcel Duchamp did. This four-part lecture series explores Duchamp, from his notorious big splash at the 1913 Armory Show to his secret Étant donnés project, and how he refused to play by the same rules (and with the same materials) as the artists around him. Discover how his “anti-art” marked a shift away from what he called “retinal art,” ultimately laying the foundation for conceptual art, assemblage, and performance art. With the major retrospective on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (2026-27) in mind, unpack how Duchamp used his work to question what the very nature of art is and indeed how it functions in a modern world. 

 

The Barnes Foundation​

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November 2026

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Detail, Marcel Duchamp, Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2, 1912, Philadelphia Museum of Art
 

THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART 

What makes a museum a world treasure? What does a museum say about its city? Unpack what makes The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) so enduring. Explore highlights of the collection. Learn about some of the key figures that helped make it so special. Dig deeper to investigate how the architecture of the museum relates to the city it represents. Remind ourselves why New York is one of the greatest places in the world for experiencing art. 

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MyHealthAngel​

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November 2026

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Detail, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
 

“YOU EITHER DIED OR CAME OUT FAMOUS”: LA RUCHE ca. 1910 

In 1902, just two years after he won the Grand Prix for sculpture at the l’Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1900, French sculptor Alfred Boucher founded La Ruche, an artist’s residence in Montparnasse. Named for its circular structure, La Ruche (“the beehive”) became legendary for the many iconic artists that lived and worked there. Cheap rent and a lenient eviction policy meant that artists were free to experiment without worrying about the sale of their work. This four-part lecture series explores some of the most important artists who called La Ruche home ca. 1910: Marc Chagall, Amedeo Modigliani, Constantin Brâncuși, and Diego Rivera. Explore how each, in their own way, emigrated to Paris and went on to significantly advance the avant garde. Unpack why Chagal famously quipped, that at La Ruche “you either died or came out famous.” 

 

Roundtable by 92nd Street Y​

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October/November 2026

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Detail, Constantin Brâncuși, Bird in Space, 1923, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

ART & WW2 

Artists working in America during and just after the Second World War grappled with the War from a variety of perspectives. The Nazi “Degenerate Art” exhibition of 1937 codified precisely which artists the Nazis deemed undesirable and sparked a systematic purging of artists and artworks. The inhospitable climate for vanguard artists in Germany also impacted French art, precipitating in an exodus of some of the most important artists of the era to the USA. Explore how this transatlantic shift led by Mark Chagall and others ultimately opening the doors to a radically different artistic epicenter in New York. Unpack how Americans responded to the War, from depictions inside Japanese internment camps to Edward Hopper’s nighttime scenes.

 

Smithsonian Associates, The Smithsonian Institution

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October 2026

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Detail, Jacob Lawrence, No. 2, Main Control Panel, Nerve Center of Ship, 1944, U.S. Coast Guard Museum, New London, CT
 

ICONIC AMERICAN ARCHITECTURE 

Discover some of the most beloved works of American architecture in a day-long seminar through the lens of four thematic categories: residences, commercial buildings, spaces for enrichment/reflection, and public buildings and monuments. From Mesa Verde to Hearst Castle, explore what our homes say about us. Dig deeper to unpack what buildings like the Chrysler Building and Apple Park reveal about commerce in their respective eras. How does the architecture of places of worship, university buildings, and museums move us to connect, learn, and inspire? Investigate how the USS Arizona Memorial and the National September 11 Memorial & Museum remind us to take a moment out of our busy lives to slow down and appreciate the here and now.

 

Smithsonian Associates, The Smithsonian Institution

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September 2026

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Detail, WTC, New York

ERAS IN AMERICAN ART & CULTURE: THE 1970S 

In some ways, the 1970s was two decades, one dominated by Vietnam and Watergate, at the beginning, and a nation in transition in its aftermath. Against a backdrop of the energy crisis and inflation peaking at around 14% at the end of the decade, art and design nonetheless boldly busted out. Roe v. Wade encouraged a decade full of fascinating art by women about women. And boundary-breaking became associated in art and design with the “elongated,” in everywhere from long hair to long jeans, Halston gowns, the sprawling 70s ranch house, disco poses, and yes, elongated art. All of it was chic.

 

MyHealthAngel​

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September 2026

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Detail, Louise Bourgeois, Arch of Hysteria, National Gallery of Canada

MANET & MORISOT: A CLOSER LOOK 

The special connection between French painters Édouard Manet and Berthe Morisot is legendary in the art history canon. Championed as the proverbial “painter of modern life,” Manet quoted from masterworks of the past to critique and update the academic system for the emerging modern era. A founding member of the Impressionist group, Morisot also broke boundaries, as the only woman to exhibit in the paradigm-changing first Impressionist exhibition (1874) and as a prolific painter who left a legacy of hundreds of works. With the recent Manet & Morisot exhibition (2025-26) in mind, this talk unpacks their mutual admiration, from their first official encounter at the Louvre in 1868 to their fifteen-year artistic and personal relationship.

 

Smithsonian Associates, The Smithsonian Institution

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August 2026

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Detail, Édouard Manet, The Balcony, 1868, Musée d'Orsay, Paris

FOUR EUROPEAN ART CAPITALS 

Four-part series explores four iconic European art capitals: Rome, Paris, London, and Amsterdam. Learn more about Rome by examining masterworks of the staggering collection inside the Vatican Museums. From the Louvre to the Musée d’Orsay, unpack why Paris is truly one of the most spectacular places to be with profound art. Journey to London to explore highlights of the National Gallery and the Tate, among other iconic venues. Unpack why the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam never seem to disappoint. A bucket-list journey indeed.

 

Road Scholar

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August 2026

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Detail, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

IMPRESSIONISM and JAPONISME 

Four part lecture series examining the impact of Japonisme on Impressionism. What is Japonisme and how did it inspire so much great Impressionist art? When trade between France and Japan resumed (in the 1850s) for the first time in nearly 220 years, the impact of Japanese art and design on Impressionism and later Post Impressionism was extraordinary. Claude Monet covered the walls of his Giverny home with prints by Hokusai, Hiroshige, and Utamaro. His Japanese-inspired gardens continue to attract visitors from around the globe. In this immersive four-part lecture series, we’ll unpack how Berthe Morisot, Vincent van Gogh, James McNeill Whistler, and others incorporated Japanese themes and imagery into their respective work. Unpack Camille Pissarro’s proclamation (in 1893) that “Hiroshige is a marvelous impressionist. Me, Monet and Rodin are filled with enthusiasm.”

 

Roundtable by 92nd Street Y​

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July 2026

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Detail, Claude Monet, Water Lilies, 1906, The Art Institute of Chicago

ERAS IN AMERICAN ART & CULTURE: THE 1910s 

The art of the 1910s offers a glimpse into a wildly unpredictable decade. The sinking of the Titanic (1912), World War One (1914-18), antitrust complexities, and the Women’s suffrage movement, among other historical milestones, dominated headlines and changed the course of American culture. Meanwhile, the iconic Armory Show (1913) exhibition inspired a presidential response and, along with the “291 Gallery” (1905-17), changed the direction of modernist American art indefinitely.    

 

MyHealthAngel​

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July 2026

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Detail, George Bellows, Cliff Dwellers, 1913, LACMA

DECADES OF CHANGE: AMERICAN ART & CULTURE ca. 1950-70

Four part series that looks into how art is always a product of its era. Between 1950 and 1970, American art vividly reflected a period of rapid technological, political, and social change. The Cold War triggered poignant art of all kinds, inspiring a flourishing moment for creativity and improvisation, w ith Jackson Pollock’s drips flowing to the same beat as Jack Kerouac, Martha Graham, and Charlie Parker. Discover how the Space Age, suburban expansion, and mass media influenced influential artists and shaped new styles like Pop Art. Explore the ideas of electronic age theorists such as Marshall McLuhan and see how the turbulent 1960s, marked by counterculture, Vietnam, and civil rights, are vividly depicted in art and design. The 1970s brought bold experimentation with themes of identity and gender amidst energy crises and societal shifts. This series offers an engaging insight into how art both shaped and responded to a transformative era of innovation, unrest, and cultural change in America.​ ​

 

The Barnes Foundation

 

May-June 2026

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Detail, Jasper Johns, Flag, 1954-55, Museum of Modern Art

AMERICAN ART and CULTURE: 1950s

In the 1950s, art and culture merged more, and on a global scale, with each side reflecting the other. The “space age” was in, and with it came tailfins on cars, sci-fi on television, and Sputnik’s launch in October 1957. A postwar economic boom fueled rapid suburbanization, and a culture increasingly hooked on television and mass-production. “Atomic age” anxieties from The Cold War triggered poignant art of all kinds, thankfully inspiring a flourishing moment for creativity and especially for improvisation, with Jackson Pollock’s drips flowing to the same beat as Jack Kerouac, Martha Graham, and Charlie Parker. The decade really was “far out.”​

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MyHealthAngel

 

May 2026

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Detail, Helen Frankenthaler, Mountains and Sea, 1952, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

ART HISTORY: A TRANSATLANTIC VOYAGE ON QM2

A travel program on land and at sea. Discover some of the masterworks of art in Paris, at Claude Monet's gardens in Giverny, and at the Rouen Museum of Art. Part 1 includes the lectures "War, Politics, Haussmann, and Japan: Historical Factors that Shaped Impressionism" in Paris and "Monet and Pissarro" in Rouen. Next, dig deeper in a six-part lecture series (“Van Gogh and Gauguin," "Cézanne and Seurat," "Picasso,” "Matisse," "Chagall and Modigliani," and "Crossing the Pond: WW2, Parisian Art, and New York”) aboard the RMS Queen Mary 2 on a special westerly crossing from Le Havre to New York.​

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Road Scholar

 

April-May 2026

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Detail, Louvre, Paris

FOUR ICONIC AMERICAN MUSEUMS

What makes a museum a world treasure? What does a museum say about its city? Four-part lecture series unpacks what makes The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), the National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.), the Art Institute of Chicago, and the J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles) so enduring. Explore highlights of each collection. Learn about some of the key figures (benefactors, curators, and so on) that helped make each museum so special. Dig deeper to investigate how the architecture of each museum relates to the city it represents. Remind ourselves why the United States is one of the greatest places in the world for experiencing art. 

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Road Scholar

 

April 2026

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Detail, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

MODERN & CONTEMPORARY SCULPTURE

Discover the dynamic world of sculpture in this four-part lecture series. Explore the evolution of figurative sculpture since 1850, delving into how artists like Auguste Rodin revolutionized the representation of the human body. Learn how contemporary sculptors continue to push boundaries and what Happenings revealed about figuration’s deeper meaning. Unpack the essence of abstract sculpture, from Constantin Brancusi’s quest to capture the soul of things to the minimalist movement’s clean lines and complex challenges. Explore how Marcel Duchamp’s groundbreaking readymades transformed conceptual art, inspiring artists like Yoko Ono to incorporate language and new ideas into three-dimensional work. Additionally, examine assemblage, a vital aspect of modern sculpture, and see how artists Pablo Picasso, Robert Rauschenberg, and Jasper Johns use everyday objects and collage techniques to challenge traditional notions of art. Whether you’re an art lover or a curious newcomer, this series will deepen your understanding of how sculpture continues to evolve and reflect our world. Don't miss this opportunity to explore the avant-garde and the everyday in art’s three-dimensional realm.​

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Kendal on Hudson

 

March 2026

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Detail, Marcel Duchamp, Bicycle Wheel, 1951 (3rd version after lost 1913 original), Museum of Modern Art

AMERICAN ART and CULTURE: 1940s

Bracketed chronologically by the Great Depression and the postwar boom, the 1940s is among the most profound and widely studied decades of the 20th century. Most popular vehicle of the decade? The Willys Jeep, the ruggedness of which coincidentally mirrors the temperament of a young Jackson Pollock, who by the end of the decade had become perhaps the most famous artist in America. Great art by European artists in exile also stands out for how it encapsulates so much of a moment in time. From Citizen Kane (1941) to Casablanca (1942), see how advances in film documented the era for posterity. Unpack why the phrase “keep calm and carry on” – a slogan coined in 1939 – says so much about the art and culture of the 1940s.​

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MyHealthAngel

 

March 2026

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Detail, Jacob Lawrence, No. 2, Main Control Panel, Nerve Center of Ship, 1944, U.S. Coast Guard Museum, New London, CT

REVOLUTIONARY WAR and ART

Celebrate the main highlights of American art ca. 1776! How did Charles Willson Peale, once an officer in the Pennsylvania militia and the Continental Army, impact the museums of our own time? What makes the iconic art of Loyalist John Singleton Copley, who fled to London in 1774, so enduring? What does the architecture of the era reveal about an emerging nation? Celebrate the United States of America's semiquincentennial in 2026 through the looking glass of the most memorable art of the era.

 

Road Scholar

 

February 2026

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Detail, Gilbert Stuart, Landsdowne Portrait, 1796, National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.

AMERICAN ART and CULTURE: 1930s

Sprouted in the climate fueled by The Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, global economic uncertainty, and the prelude to the Second World War, the art and architecture of the 1930s paradoxically flourished. Floor by floor the great Empire State Building (1930-31) rose at a mindboggling rate, defying the turmoil swirling around beyond 5th Avenue. Art of the period reflected how things seemed to get more “real” in the 1930s. As E. E. Cummings declared in his No Thanks poetry collection (1935): “let’s start a magazine… to hell with literature… we want something redblooded.”   

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MyHealthAngel

 

January 2026

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Detail, The Wizard of Oz, 1939