Skip to content Skip to footer

Tuesday, July 28, 11am – noon

#SeeArtDifferently

Paul Cézanne. The Card Players (detail), 1890–92. The Barnes Foundation, BF564

About the Class

Introducing New Mini On-Site Classes

Meet our instructors and learn something new! For more than a century, we’ve welcomed generations of students into our galleries to learn more about human creativity—ever wondered what this experience might be like? In this new series, we invite anyone who might be “Barnes curious” to join us for an hour of close looking and guided conversation while seated inside our storied collection. See you in the galleries!

Capacity: 25

Barnes classes will:

  • Sharpen your observational and critical-thinking skills.
  • Improve your ability to communicate about art.
  • Deepen your appreciation for cultures and histories outside your own.

See all classes.

Instructor

William Perthes

Perthes is the Bernard C. Watson Director of Adult Education at the Barnes. He has taught courses at the Barnes as well as the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and West Chester and Villanova Universities. His scholarship focuses on American modernism and the abstract expressionist painter Robert Motherwell.

What Our Students Say

“The instructor is a gifted individual who is able to [engage] with all different kinds of learners and motivate us to want to learn more, see more, and experience more. I would highly recommend any course by this instructor.” —Collection Concentration: Medieval Modern with Kaelin Jewell

“Martha Lucy knows how to balance her lecture with fact, excellent painting selections, and inclusion of the students.” —The Art and Life of Toulouse-Lautrec with Martha Lucy

“The best class to understand the elements of art. The instructor’s expertise and warmth, along with the excellent discussions with my classmates, made it a truly wonderful experience.” —The Elements of Art with William Perthes

“This class offered rich insight into Picasso and his contemporaries—the gallery scene, turn-of-the-century politics, Catalan culture, along with Picasso’s approach to composition and contemporary European culture. It was so informative.” —Picasso in Focus: New Discoveries at the Barnes with Christine Romano and Naina Saligram

“Caterina loves the material she presents and infuses all her classes—of which I have taken many—with that infectious enthusiasm.” —Rendez-vous au Café: Café Culture in 19th-Century Art with Caterina Pierre