A Colloquium in Honor of Theodore Reff, Professor Emeritus, Columbia University

Professor Theodore Reff, Professor Emeritus, Columbia University
photo from www.columbia.edu

On Friday, April 9, 2010, I attended an all day academic tribute to Theodore Reff, Professor Emeritus European painting and sculpture 1840-1940 in Schermerhorn Hall. In the Columbia University
Directory for the Department of Art History and Archaeology (2010 edition) his biography reads:

"He has lectured and written extensively on the principal movements of that period (1840-1940): Realism, Impressionism, Post-impressionism, Fauvism, Cubism and Surrealism; and above all on the artists Manet, Degas, Cezanne, Matisse, Picasso and Duchamp. His work is aimed at understanding the relations between an artist's work and 1) the earlier or exotic art on which he drew, 2) the social and cultural milieu in which he worked and 3) the aspects of his personality that helped shape his art."

"Reff has specialized in identifying artistic traditions and sources, in studying the interaction of art and literature, and in applying psychoanalytical models to the study of art. Recent and continuing work includes a book of essays on Cezanne and a critical edition of the letters of Degas based on archival research on his artistic and social circles."

His students flew in from all over the United States to pay tribute to their Professor. Over the next 6 hours, 13 of his students each spent about 30 minutes exploring subjects as diverse as

1. "To Imitate the Chinese....": Henri Matisse and Far-Eastern Art

2. Joseph Cornell's Observatories: Cases for the Stars

3. Sleuthing Toward Matisse: Roy Lichtensteins's Artist Studio and The Dance

4, Why So Sad? The Changing Image of Pierrot, 1684-1870

5. Olympia's Wink

6. An Amateur in Africa: Inanke Cave Art as a Celebration of Life

Olympia, painted by Manet in 1863, Musee d'Orsay, Paris

I found each guest lecture fascinating and stimulating. Two in particular stand out. Jane Roos, a teacher at Hunter College and Graduate Center of CUNY, delivered an amusing 15 minute visual discussion of how Manet's subject in his Olympia is depicted in a version of the painting winking toward Manet, perhaps a 'nod' of admiration by the painter to his nude subject and vice versa.  It is a delightful re-imaging and re-imagining of a great work of art.

Inanke Cave Art, Motobo National Park, Zimbabwe

This giraff has been called the best giraffe art in Zimbabwe

Michael FitzGerald, Professor of Fine Arts at Trinity College in Hartford, is a knowledgeable and entertaining art critic for the Wall Street Journal. To my delight, here he was giving us a slide show and enthusiastic discussion of his visits to modern day Zimbabwe's Matobo National Park --on this fascinating treasure of prehistoric Inanke cave art of about 10,000 years ago. To hear Michael in person was particularly enjoyable as I deepened my knowledge of the San people's culture (the Bushmen) who contributed to this 30 foot long frieze of exquisite giraffes, elands, kudu, ostrich, duiker and others--over a period of perhaps several millennia. You can read Michael's Wall Street Journal article, Magnificence on Cave Walls and see a marvelous slide show by clicking here.

Frances Beatty of the Richard E. Feigen Gallery,a self-proclaimed dealer in the 'dark side', enlightened and delighted us with a slide show of great works of art related to the life of Ted: Presenting Ted (e.g. Raphael's 'School of Athens': is that Ted surrounded by Plato and all his adoring/argumentative students?)

This illuminating day was capped off with a wine reception for Dr. Reff at the Stronach Center.

For an illuminating portrayal of another TED, Edward Tayler, Lionel Trilling Professor of the Humanities, Columbia University see Milton Redux: Professor Edward "Ted" Tayler Revisited.

Image source (1)

Image source (2)