Celebrating 250 years of American independence, we explore 25 Iconic Works of Art, tracing the history of America through paintings, sculptures, land art and photography, including Grant Wood’s ‘American Gothic,’ Dorothea Lange’s ‘Migrant Mother, and ‘Hopper’s ‘Nighthawks’. These exemplify vital moments in American history like The Gold Rush, The Civil Rights Movement and more.
10.00am: Coffee available.
10.45am: 1st Lecture: The Making of the USA
11.45am - 12 noon: Comfort break
12 noon - 1.00pm: 2nd Lecture: A Country Divided
In the first half of the twentieth century, American art focused on internal issues from the influx of migrants captured in the Ashcan school, to the birth of skyscrapers that dominated the modern skyline, to the Depression and the alienation captured in Hopper's paintings and the flowering of African American culture.
1.00pm - 2.00pm: Sandwich Lunch
2.00pm -3.00pm/3.15pm: 3rd Lecture: American Values
From the impact of the Cold War and Abstract Expressionists like Pollock and Rothko, to the counterculture movements and Warhol's Pop of the 60s, the boom of the 80s art stars Basquiat and Sherman, land art spectacles, and today's talents.
Dorothea Lange's poignant Migrant Mother photograph
Hopper's Lonely Night Hawks
Dr Marie-Anne Mancio, MPhil, DPhil, is an art historian, writer, experienced tour leader and Arts Society accredited lecturer. Marie-Anne originally trained as an artist before gaining a DPhil in Art and Critical Theory at the University of Sussex. She has written and presented courses for Tate and Dulwich Picture Gallery. She has lectured in art history for the City Lit, Tate Modern, the Course, Art in London, V&A, Dulwich Picture Gallery, HENI films, Ben Uri gallery. She also runs art history study tours abroad for ACE and is a Director of InFems art collective for whom she curates exhibitions and writes.
She writes reviews, catalogue essays and historical fiction and is a frequent visitor to Italy. She is currently writing a book about Caravaggio.
DPhil in Art and Critical Theory, University of Sussex
MPhil Creative Writing, University of Glasgow