When Americans hear the word Impressionism, many think of France, Claude Monet's paintings of water lilies and his gardens at Giverny.
But an upcoming event, "The Artist's Garden," will encourage audiences to expand their understanding of Impressionism's international impact by introducing the artists associated with the American movement.
Through paintings, sculptures, books and gardening ephemera, lecturer Anna O. Marley, Ph.D., curator of historical American art at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, will reveal the visual arts of this period as manifestations of an emerging Progressive-era American identity. The lecture will take place on Oct. 5 in the Marvin & Betty Danto Lecture Hall at the Detroit Institute of Arts. It begins at 2 p.m. and is free with DIA admission.
Following Marley's presentation, a benefit reception and tour will be given from 3:30-5 p.m. at the historic Freer House on Wayne State's campus. General admission for the reception and tour will be $10. The event is co-sponsored with the Associates of the American Wing/DIA, Art and Flowers/DIA and with multiple sponsors including the University of Michigan Matthaei Botanical Gardens. The cost for students and members of AAW, UM-MBGNA, and the Freer House will be $5.
Marley's lecture will highlight the art and gardens of Maria Oakey and Thomas Wilmer Dewing, favorite artists and friends of Detroit's Charles Lang Freer, who contributed to the decoration of Freer's home and the design of his gardens, now scheduled for restoration.
She also will employ both horticultural and art historical methodologies to explore the far-reaching effects of Impressionism on American aesthetics and culture. In addition, the intertwining stories of American artists, Impressionism and the growing popularity of gardening as a middle class pursuit will be discussed.
In 1920, the Freer House became what is known today as the Merrill-Palmer Skillman Institute. The Freer House is the location for MPSI/WSU faculty offices and meeting room facilities.
For more information, contact Rose Foster or William Colburn at 313-664-2500. You also can reach Colburn at william.colburn@wayne.edu.