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We're now offering a greater number of art classes, at a lower cost. We also have need-based scholarships to help make art accessible for everyone.
Learn to connect works of art to history. What was happening politically, socially, and culturally at the time the piece was made? How did these circumstances shape the artist’s formal choices?
Art in Context / Understanding Materials and Techniques / The Barnes Method
The Barnes-de Mazia Certificate Program
Tuesday, September 4 – Tuesday, December 18
This special track offers an immersion in the Barnes method and an introduction to other interpretive approaches.
Art in Context
Painting with Pissarro:
The Journey into Modernism
Tuesdays, January 22 – February 26, 2 – 4pm
Learn about Pissarro’s relationships with his contemporaries and his central role in the development of modern art.
Art in Context
Matisse:
In Color and Light
Tuesdays, January 22 – April 23, 6 – 8:30pm
Study Matisse’s extraordinary life, which itself followed a trajectory from darkness into light and color.
Art in Context
Jewish Art and Artists in the Barnes Foundation
Mondays, January 28 – May 6, 6 – 8pm
Learn about the Jewish artists represented in the collection as well as Barnes faculty members Violette de Mazia and Harry Sefarbi.
Art in Context
Visions of Paris
Mondays, February 4 – March 4, 6 – 8pm
What lies beyond the “City of Light” postcard? This short course will use a variety of media to question Paris’s ever-evolving identity.
Art in Context
Histories of Photography
Tuesdays, February 19 – March 12, 4 – 6pm
Delve into the history and theory of photography through lectures and visits to our special exhibition.
Art in Context
Spirituals, Integration, and Social Justice: Black American Culture and Albert Barnes
Wednesdays, March 6 – March 27, 6 – 8pm
Explore the complex history of the civil rights movement and Dr. Barnes’s role in championing black culture and integration.
Art in Context
She Persisted:
Pioneering Women Artists Since 1900
Saturday, March 9, 10am – 4pm
This one-day workshop highlights the work of trailblazing women artists, from Georgia O’Keeffe to Marina Abramović and Pat Steir.
Art in Context
Painting with Pissarro:
The Journey into Modernism
Tuesdays, March 12 – April 16, 2 – 4pm
Learn about Pissarro’s relationships with his contemporaries and his central role in the development of modern art.
Art in Context
Exploring the Marvelous: Surrealism
Tuesdays, March 19 – April 23, 1 – 3pm
Journey into the marvelous world of dreams, psychic terror, and liberation from the ordinary in this short course on surrealism.
Art in Context
“Dear Barnes”:
Letters Between Albert C. Barnes and His Artist Friends
Tuesdays, March 19 – April 9, 6 – 8pm
Archivist and historian Barbara Anne Beaucar shares the history of the Barnes through authentic archival documents—including newly discovered letters.
Art in Context
Hot Art and Cold War:
American Art at Midcentury
Mondays, April 1 – April 29, 6 – 8pm
From abstract expressionism to pop, learn about the art and history of the United States at midcentury, when American artists moved to the forefront of the avant-garde.
Art in Context
Pennsylvania German Decorative Arts
Mondays, April 8 – April 29, 6 – 8pm
Explore the Pennsylvania German artifacts collected by Dr. Barnes and learn about the culture in which they were originally made and used.
Art in Context
Manet, Impressionism, and Modernism
Tuesdays, April 16 – May 7, 6 – 8pm
An introduction to the work of Édouard Manet, with special attention to his paintings of the 1870s.
Art in Context
Understanding Video Art
Tuesdays, April 16 – May 7, 6 – 8pm
Explore key works of video art and learn about the theories behind them.
Art in Context
The Battle Between Line and Color
Tuesdays, April 23 – May 14, 1 – 3pm
Trace the long-running debate on the relationship between line and color through close looking at paintings in the Barnes collection.
Art in Context
Homegrown Concerns:
American Modernism c. 1900–1950
Tuesday, June 4, 10am – 4pm
This one-day workshop explores key artists from one of the most prolific moments in American history, including Alfred Stieglitz, Jacob Lawrence, and Edward Hopper.
Art in Context
Bill Viola in Context
Saturday, August 17, 10am – 4pm
A look at the artist’s innovative contributions to video, sound, and installation art as well as the provocative themes that inspire his creations.