About the Course
We take art for granted but what purposes does it serve? What roles does it play in our lives and societies and, if these have changed over time, how? In this three-session course, join Giulia Bernardini, art historian and founder of art travel company Wonderfeast, to explore the place art occupies in our world and what the questions we ask about it ultimately tell us about ourselves. With the gallery as our playground, optional reading and viewing materials at hand, and lively group discussion, this participatory experience will leave attendees with a new perspective on the question: Why Do We Art?
Course Pricing
- Tickets for Museum Friends are $50 for the full course or $15 for an individual session
- Tickets for Members are $60 for the full course or $20 for an individual session
- Tickets for Non-Members are $70 for the full course or $25 for an individual session
- Tickets for Students are FREE with a valid student ID
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Qur'an leaf in Kufic script (detail), late 9th century-early 10th century. Gold on blue vellum. Bj Averitt Islamic Art Fund. 1999.78.
Session 1: What is Art?
March 2, 2024, 2–3:15 pm
In this first course session, explore the many reasons for which humans have made, and continue to make, objects we refer to as art. How has this remained the same and how has it changed over time and what does this mean for us today?
LISTE Art Fair Basel, 2013
Session 2: The Business of Art
March 16, 2024, 2–3:15 pm
Aside from the illegal drug market, art is considered the biggest unregulated market in the world. What does it mean that a piece of canvas with paint on it can be sold for the equivalent of a small country’s GDP or that art dealers bid in auctions to drive up the value of the artists whose work they represent?
Marcel Duchamp, Bôite, Series D (green version), 1961. Leather, linen, glass, wood, paper, and plastic. Funds from Colorado Contemporary Collectors, George Berkey and Suzanne Farver, Jan and Frederick Mayer, Beverly and Bernard Rosen, Kuyper Foundation, anonymous donor, the Hendrie Endowment Fund, and the Francis Hendrie Memorial Collection, by exchange, 1992.431A-R.
Session 3: Demystifying / Remystifying
April 6, 2024, 2–3:15 pm
Pop artist Roy Lichtenstein famously stated, "art doesn’t transform. It just plain forms." Where does the mystique surrounding art come from and what does it mean? Is it a vehicle for transcendence or is it a mirror we hold up to better see ourselves?
About the Speaker
Giulia Bernardini holds master’s degrees in art history and in museum studies and is a regular guest lecturer on Italian Renaissance and Baroque art as well as the Parisian Belle Époque. She is the founder of Wonderfeast, a boutique art travel company that specializes in unforgettable on-site seminars in her native Europe for small groups of inquisitive art-, food-, and culture-lovers.
Lifelong Learning and Accessibility programs are supported by the William Randolph Hearst Endowment for Education Programs, Nancy Benson Education Endowment Fund, CenturyLink Endowment, Jim Kelley and Amie Knox Education Endowment Fund, and the Cooke-Daniels Fund. Support is also provided by the Michael and Karen Fried Community Education Fund and the residents who support the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD).
