Exhibition Seminar: Henri Rousseau: A Painter’s Secrets

About the Class

This course is your last chance to spend focused, quality time in our fall exhibition, Henri Rousseau: A Painter’s Secrets. Led by Martha Lucy, the Barnes’s deputy director for research, interpretation and education—and a contributor to the exhibition catalogue—this seminar unpacks the artist’s wonderfully enigmatic imagery and seemingly “naive” approach. Surrounded by masterpieces from collections around the world, including the Museum of Modern Art’s Sleeping Gypsy, we’ll connect Rousseau’s work to contemporary discourses about “primitive” cultures and the relationship between humans and nature. We’ll also discuss why this self-taught artist became a hero to avant-garde contemporaries like Picasso and Apollinaire.

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.

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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