This spring the Richard R. Brettell Lecture Series will present Dr. Danielle M. Johnson, Director of Curatorial Affairs at the Eskenazi Museum of Art at Indiana University, who will examine Salvador Dalí’s Female Nude (1928), a painting-collage made on the cusp of his triumphant arrival onto the Surrealist artistic scene. Before the lecture, explore the galleries to sketch your own abstract figure and listen to jazz guitarists Adam Hernandez and Sean Torres, along with bassist Guillermo Lopez, as they set the tone with jazz music from the 20th century.
Female Nude belongs to a small group of works that combine unusual materials such as cork, sand, and shells with oil paint. Dr. Johnson discusses this unique work in the context of the highly experimental early phase of Dalí’s career, when he was engaging with abstract art, Surrealism, and a new concept prevalent within his circle, the “assassination of painting.”
Previously, Dr. Johnson was Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Vero Beach Museum of Art, Florida, and Curatorial Assistant in the Department of Painting and Sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, where she worked on an exhibition on Surrealist artist René Magritte. She has also taught at New York University, the CUNY Graduate Center, Hunter College, and Florida Atlantic University. Dr. Johnson earned her PhD from the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University and her BA in Art History and French Language and Literature from Colgate University. Her scholarship focuses on Surrealism, particularly Magritte, Dalí, and Max Ernst, and she is working on a study of the responses of museums in the United States to the rise of fascism in the 1930s.
Schedule of Events:
Art Activity: Abstract Figure Drawing in the Galleries, 6:00–6:45 p.m.
Pick up a pencil and sketch pad and create your own abstracted figure drawing like Dalí’s Female Nude. Local artist Jay Bailey will be on hand to share drawing techniques with you.
Performance: Jazz in the Galleries, 6:00–6:45 p.m.
As you explore the European Art galleries, jazz guitarists Adam Hernandez and Sean Torres, along with bassist Guillermo Lopez, will set the tone with jazz music from the 20th century.
Talk: Assassinating Painting: Salvador Dalí’s Female Nude, 7:00–8:00 p.m.
This lecture is presented by the Richard R. Brettell Lecture Series.