Collection Concentration: Searching for Paradise: Arcadian Landscapes from Antiquity to the Modern World

About the Class

Henri Matisse’s monumental Le Bonheur de Vivre shocked audiences when it was first exhibited in 1906. Its bold colors, jarring shifts in scale, and distorted anatomies were seen by academic critics as an improper way to depict Arcadia, an ancient landscape long imagined as a place of abundance. For thousands of years, writers and artists mythologized Arcadia as a utopia where humans lived in perfect harmony with the natural world.

In this 14-session course, held in the Barnes galleries, we’ll explore how the image of Arcadia evolved from its roots in the ancient world through the Renaissance and into the modern era. Guided discussions and close-looking exercises will focus on the ways artists reinterpreted Arcadian themes across historical periods and aesthetic movements.

Special attention will be given to works by Matisse, Paul Cézanne, Georges Seurat, and other artists whose radical approaches to color, form, and composition transformed the tradition in unexpected ways. Together, we’ll consider how artists used imagined landscapes not simply to depict paradise but also to question modernity, memory, leisure, and the role of art itself.

Capacity: 18

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.

Barnes Method

Barnes Method courses follow the teachings of Albert Barnes and Violette de Mazia. Classes focus on rigorous formal analysis and direct visual engagement with works of art. In this method, close looking at art helps build critical-thinking skills that can be carried beyond the gallery walls.

What Students Are Saying

“Joe Tokumasu Field was a wonderful instructor. He’s patient, caring, and skilled at interacting with students’ questions and comments.” —The Japanese American Century with Joseph Tokumasu Field

“This was an exciting course with fascinating and informative lectures and well-chosen pictures. Franits is a brilliant teacher.” —17th-Century Dutch Art’s “Holy Trinity”: Hals, Rembrandt, and Vermeer with Wayne Franits

“The instructor was outstanding in every way—an expert in the subject, enthusiastic about the material, solicitous and supportive of students’ observations, and brilliant in expanding our discussion as warranted. The best Barnes instructor I’ve had, by far.” —The Nabis: Late 19th-Century Prophets of the New with Larissa Bailiff

“I enjoyed the course very much and liked how each week focused on a different topic relevant to the subject. Caterina is an engaging speaker, and you can tell she loves what she is teaching. Her enthusiasm and sense of humor come through.” —Famous Heists: Crimes in the History of Art with Caterina Pierre

“I felt at peace afterward and appreciated the art so much more than before.” —Being Present with Art: Cultivating Balance for Spring with Roksana Filipowska