This program provides some of the most eminent colleges and universities in the U.S. with a unique opportunity to connect with their local Florida alumni by sharing recent scholarship with Museum members and the public. The Museum partners with a limited number of institutions to offer this elite series of informative and enlightening presentations each winter.

Individual Tickets: $20 ($15 Museum Members)
 Alumni/ae of featured schools enjoy the Museum membership price

A “Trinity of Romanticism” is how the prominent nineteenth-century critic Théophile Gautier described the collective artistic force of the painter Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863), the composer Hector Berlioz (1803-1869), and poet Victor Hugo (1802-1885). And the three converged in their artistic celebration of Shakespeare. But while they played the same theater, they did not always sing the same tune. This presentation will uncover some of the areas in which Berlioz and Delacroix crossed paths, if not swords. Through images and music the subject of La Mort d’Ophélie, the death of Ophelia (in Hamlet), will be explored, which was taken up by both musician and painter on more than one occasion. The stories of their encounters with Shakespeare, and with the French Academy of Fine Arts, are decidedly similar, but their artistic styles, despite their contemporaneity, are not perfectly akin.

As a selective preview of the anticipated VBMA exhibition The Golden Age of European Painting, this lecture will focus on the Flemish and Dutch examples, addressing questions that labels don’t have room to answer: How typical of Rembrandt’s painting style is the carefully detailed Portrait of a Forty-Year Old Woman and did this tight style influence other artists? Rubens’s The Princes of the Church Adoring the Eucharist functioned as a modello painted to show patrons and guide his studio assistants, but how often did artists make such modelli? Why is A Bacchanal attributed to two Flemish artists rather than to one? Are there any substantial differences between the paintings identified as Flemish or as Dutch? An excellent opportunity for expert insight before the visitors arrive!

Almost as soon as photography was first introduced to Africa in the mid-nineteenth century, Africans began embracing the photographic profession, and through it captured images that often, but not always, conformed to the colonialist vision of their European counterparts. This slide and video presentation explores the photographic work of Jonathan Adagogo Green, who is now recognized as the first professional photographer of Nigerian birth. From 1890 until his untimely death in 1905 at the age of 31, J.A. Green was a highly successful and respected photographer whose rich repertoire of photographs reveal his working both for the British as they lay the groundwork for the colonization of Nigeria, and for his own Ijo people as they struggled to maintain control of their land, their culture, and their dignity amidst the dramatically changing landscape of time.

In this presentation, Prof. McInnis will build the fascinating historical context around the Museum’s current exhibition on The Golden Age of European Painting with the interchange through exploration and settlement of the New World. From this side of the Atlantic, the discoveries and riches derived from the New World influenced the direction of European painting, while at the same time European art influenced the development of art and architecture in the Americas.

In 1938, after a flood of bad notices from her latest film caused her to be labeled Box Office Poison, Katharine Hepburn returned to Connecticut, having decided to wash her hands of Hollywood. However, when playwright Philip Barry approached the actress with an outline for what would become The Philadelphia Story, Hepburn returned to Broadway with great acclaim. Current suitor Howard Hughes purchased the film rights as a gift for the star, and the subsequent deal she made with studio giant Louis B. Mayer both ensured her dazzling return to Tinsel Town and laid groundwork for every strong-minded woman who sought to have their way in an industry famously ruled by men. This lecture will look at the life of this iconic American woman and her influence on the business of show business, the art of acting, and how her common sense made her a style icon for every generation.

If you prefer to order by phone, please call (772) 231-0707 x136 to reserve your space today.

VBMA Adult Public Programs Refund Policy

All Sales Are Final; please review your reservations carefully before submitting. We are unable to offer refunds or exchanges beginning sixty (60) days before a scheduled program. However, the value of cancelled reservations may qualify as a tax-deductible donation; please notify the Museum at your earliest opportunity before the program date. Occasionally, programs are cancelled or postponed due to circumstances beyond the Museum’s control. When this occurs, you may elect to have your reservation honored for the rescheduled date or you may receive a refund if applicable. In some cases, the performance contract may set refund limitations. All refunds or exchanges are subject to a $10 non-refundable convenience fee.