Janetta Rebold Benton, Ph.D. 


NEWS

  • Lecture Series at Schimmel Theater, NY, NY: GREAT MASTERS LECTURE SERIES: Botticelli, Goya, Rodin, Chagall.  October 2014

  • Smithsonian Journeys, Washington,DC,: Study Leader on  two trips in 2014, and two trips in 2015.

  • Smithsonian Associates, Washington, D.C.:  England's Extraordinary Architecture, All-Day Seminar.  Saturday, May 31, 2014
  • Book published: HANDBOOK FOR THE HUMANITIES (Robert DiYanni, co-author),  Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2013

  • Fulbright Senior Scholar, Lecturing Award, Graduate School of Art History, European University, St. Petersburg, Russia, August 2012 - January 2013.

Schimmel Theater NY, NY, announces a new lecture series,

GREAT MASTERS LECTURE SERIES: BOTTICELLI, GOYA, RODIN, CHAGALL. 

Fall 2014, Schimmel Center for the Arts, New York

October 1  Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510) and the Early Renaissance in Italy

October 8  Francisco Goya (1746-1828) and Romanticism in Spain

October 15  Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) and Impressionist sculpture in France

October 22  Marc Chagall (1887-1985) and Expressionism in Russia

4 Wednesdays at 12:15 PM.

The conversation continues: Each lecture is followed by a luncheon, hosted by Dr. Benton, at which the menu is based on foods from the country of the artist just discussed.

Smithsonian Associates, Washington, D.C.:  England's Extraordinary Architecture

If the walls of cathedrals, castles, and palaces could talk, they’d be able to narrate the sweep of England's social and cultural history. I will begin with solid Romanesque buildings where fantastic flora and fauna flourished in sculpture and graceful Gothic churches whose interiors were bathed in the colors of stained glass.  Domestic dwellings range from forbidding medieval fortresses to Renaissance palaces to charming half-timber manor houses. Later architects, especially those working in revival styles, looked to earlier eras—and at times other cultures—for inspiration, producing imposing public buildings and a royal pleasure pavilion. The day ends with a glimpse at some of the newest architectural works, including buildings that are redefining London’s skyline and Banksy's graffiti that serves as a clever—and controversial—accent to the cityscape.

Smithsonian Journeys, Washington, DC

As the Study Leader on the following two trips, I will present several formal lectures on each trip as well as numerous informal talks.

CRUISING THE RIVIERAS OF ITALY, FRANCE, AND SPAIN, September 19-27, 2014, cruise (sold out):

Embark in Civitavecchia (Rome), Corsica's fortified town of Bonifacio, Sardinia's Costa Smeralda, Florence (or Pisa and Lucca),cliff-side villages of Italian Riviera's Cinque Terre, Cote d'Azur, Monaco, Cannes, Nice, Marc Chagall Museum, fortified medieval town of Carcassone, disembark in Barcelona.  

For information: http://www.smithsonianjourneys.org/tours/riviera-cruise/

HIGHLIGHTS OF ITALY, April 25 - May 11, 2015, land trip:

Naples, Amalfi coast cruise, mountaintop Ravello, Roman city of Pompeii, Sorrento, Montecassino Abbey, Rome, Colosseum, Borghese Gallery, St. Peter's, Sistine Chapel, medieval Orvieto, San Francesco in Assisi, Deruta majolica, Perugia, medieval Siena, Renaissance Florence, Michelangelo's David, Brunelleschi's dome of the duomo, San Gimignano's towers, Venice.

For information: http://www.smithsonianjourneys.org/tours/italy/

PARIS: CITY OF LIGHT, May 26 - June 6, 2015, land trip:
Marais, Place de Voges, Georges Pompidou Center, cruise on Canal St-Martin and River Seine, Palace of Versailles, Musee d'Orsay, Musee du Louvre, high-speed train to Dijon, Rouen's Cathedral of Notre-Dame.

For information: http://www.smithsonianjourneys.org/tours/paris-stay/

FRANCE THROUGH THE AGES April 11-25, 2014, land trip.

Fulbright Senior Scholar Award, Graduate School of Art History, European University, St. Petersburg, Russia, August, 2012 - January, 2013

AMERICAN ART
This course offers a comprehensive overview of the art created in the United States, beginning with a brief look at very early cultures and then examining American architecture, sculpture, and painting in chronological sequence. Included are the unique Native American arts, Shaker architecture, and the competition for the title of "tallest building in the world" waged by the skyscrapers of New York City. Focusing on the art of the 20th and early 21st century, innovative styles, including Color Field Painting, Action Painting, Pop Art, Op Art, Psychedelic Art, Postmodernism, Feminism, Street Art, Installation Art, and the ways in which art and science have recently united are considered. Special attention is given to the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, the sculpture of Alexander Calder, and the painting of Georgia O'Keeffe.

Guest Lectures and Conference Papers:

Saint Petersburg:
MEDIEVAL MISCHIEF: WIT AND HUMOR IN THE ART OF THE MIDDLE AGES, European University

EXTREME ARCHITECTURE: GLOBAL AMBITIONS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS, Hermitage Museum

MEDIEVAL BESTIARIES: SIMILARITY AND DISPARITY OF TEXT AND ILLUMINATION, Word and Image Conference, European University: Click here for Conference Images

Moscow:
FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT: GENIUS OF 20TH CENTURY AMERICAN ARCHITECTURE, Moscow State University

EXTREME ARCHITECTURE: GLOBAL AMBITIONS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS, Science Cafe Conference

Albuquerque, NM
HOLY TERRORS: GARGOYLES ON MEDIEVAL BUILDINGS, University of New Mexico, Institute for Medieval Studies, Medieval Myths and Monsters Lecture Series, Spring 2013.

Janetta Rebold Benton is Distinguished Professor of Art History at Pace University, NY. She is the recipient of a Fulbright Senior Scholar Award, 2012-13, and was Visiting Professor at the graduate school of Art History, European University, St. Petersburg, Russia. 

Dr. Benton presents subscription lecture series at the Schimmel Center for the Arts, NYC, and subscription seminars at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. She presented subscription lecture series at the Metropolitan Museum of Art every season 1988-2011, and has also lectured at The Cloisters, NYC; National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; Boston Museum of Fine Arts; Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach; and elsewhere in America and abroad, including the Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russia and the Louvre, Paris, France. She is a lecturer on Smithsonian and Metropolitan Museum of Art trips throughout the world. A former resident of Paris, she taught courses in art history there as the Art Historian at the American Embassy.

   The author of eight books, her latest, HANDBOOK FOR THE HUMANITES (Robert DiYanni co-author, Pearson, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2013), is published in paperback and as an E-book. ARTS AND CULTURE: AN INTRODUCTION TO THE HUMANITIES (Robert DiYanni co-author, Pearson/Prentice Hall, two volumes and combined volume, fourth edition, 2011) is also published in Chinese (2011).  MATERIALS, METHODS, AND MASTERPIECES OF MEDIEVAL ART (Praeger Series on the Middle Ages, ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara, CA, 2009), is available in hardcover and as an E-book. MEDIEVAL MISCHIEF: WIT AND HUMOUR IN THE ART OF THE MIDDLE AGES (The History Press, Sutton Publishing, Stroud, Gloucestershire, 2004), studies an engaging aspect of medieval art. ART OF THE MIDDLE AGES (Thames & Hudson, London, 2002) is published in the acclaimed World of Art series. HOLY TERRORS: GARGOYLES ON MEDIEVAL BUILDINGS (Abbeville Press, NY, 1997) is also published in French as SAINTES TERREURS: LES GARGOUILLES DANS L'ARCHITECTURE MÉDIÉVALE, 2000). Dr. Benton was the guest curator and catalog author for the 1995 exhibition MEDIEVAL MONSTERS: DRAGONS AND FANTASTIC CREATURES at the Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah, NY. Her book, THE MEDIEVAL MENAGERIE: ANIMALS IN THE ART OF THE MIDDLE AGES (Abbeville Press, NY, 1992), a Book of the Month Club selection, is also published in French as BESTIAIRE MÉDIÉVAL: LES ANIMAUX  DANS  L'ART DU MOYEN AGE. Articles by Dr. Benton appear in the ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMOR STUDIES, Sage Reference, Los Angeles, CA, 2014; the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s exhibition catalog, SET IN STONE: THE FACE IN MEDIEVAL SCULPTURE, 2007, as well as in scholarly journals including Cahiers de Civilisation Médiévale, Poitiers, 1998; Arte Medievale, Rome, 1993; Artibus et Historiae, Vienna, 1989; and Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte, Munich, 1985.

Dr. Benton was educated at Harvard University, Graduate School of Education, MDP diploma; earned her Ph.D. in Art History at Brown University; Master's degree in Art History at George Washington University; and Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts at Cornell University.

Email: JBenton@pace.edu