Janetta Rebold Benton, Ph.D. 


NEWS
  • Huffington Post, "Wit and Wisdom from Art Historian Janetta Rebold Benton,” interview by Ellen Dobbyn-Blackmore for article about my lectures at the Schimmel Center for the Arts and other aspects of my work, 2015, with photo. http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/6448342
  • Schimmel Center for the Arts, NY, NY: ARCHITECTURAL MASTERPIECES LECTURE SERIES: ITALY, FRANCE, ENGLAND, AND CONTEMPORARY GLOBAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS, February 2015

  • Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. FRANCE'S FASCINATING ART: FROM THE MEDIEVAL CATHEDRALS TO POST-IMPRESSIONISM, all-day seminar, Saturday, March 28, 2015

  • Smithsonian Journeys, Washington, DC: Study Leader on three trips in 2015

  • Book: HANDBOOK FOR THE HUMANITIES (Robert DiYanni, co-author),  Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2014

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

Schimmel Center for the Arts, NY, NY:

ARCHITECTURAL MASTERPIECES LECTURE SERIES: ITALY, FRANCE, ENGLAND, AND CONTEMPORARY GLOBAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS, February 2015   

Each of the first three lectures focuses on the architecture of a single major European country, examining its architectural accomplishments from antiquity onward, in a basically chronological sequence. The fourth lecture responds to the global nature of recent architecture that crosses all geographic boundaries.

February 4  Italy: Ancient Colosseum and Pantheon in Rome; Byzantine San Vitale in Ravenna; Romanesque “Leaning Tower” of Pisa; the Duomo of Florence; Baroque Saint Peter’s in Rome: Italian engineering ingenuity

February 11  France: Medieval churches of Vézelay and Notre-Dame-de-Paris; island monastery of Mont Saint-Michel; Renaissance châteaux of Chambord and Chenonceau; Baroque palace of Versailles and Louis XIV: refined French elegance

February 18  England: Prehistoric Stonehenge; Romanesque Barfreston; Gothic Wells Cathedral and  chapel of Henry VII; Henry VIII and Hampton Court; Sir Christopher Wren and Baroque Saint Paul’s; Neo-Classical Chiswick House; “The Gherkin”: English restraint and eccentricity

February 25  Extreme Architecture: Contemporary Global Accomplishments and Innovations. Frank Ghery’s Gugghenheim Museum, Bilboa; Xing Tonghe’s Shanghai Museum; Paul Andreu’s “Egg” in Beijing; Rem Koolhaas’s House of Music in Porto; Burg Khalifa in Dubai, takes the title of tallest building: world-wide quest for architectural novelty

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 just discussed.

For Information: http://schimmel.pace.edu/events/architectural-masterpieces-italy

Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.: 

FRANCE'S FASCINATING ART: FROM THE MEDIEVAL CATHEDRALS TO POST-IMPRESSIONISM, all-day seminar, Saturday, March 28, 2015

France is unequaled for her range of artistic styles and accomplishments--always with unparalleled French elegance and sophistication. Journey vicariously as these lectures examine the highlights of architecture, sculpture, painting, and decorative arts in France, from the late Middle Ages through Post-Impressionism, concluding atop the Eiffel Tower.

1. Middle Ages: Romanesque building methods, monsters, and moral instruction at Toulouse, Tournus, Vézelay, and Mont St-Michel. Soaring Gothic cathedrals and sparkling stained glass at Notre-Dame-de-Paris, Chartres, the Sainte-Chapelle, and Beauvais, too skeletal to avoid collapse. 

2. Renaissance and Baroque: Join French Renaissance royalty and enjoy life in the splendid châteaux and gardens of the Loire Valley at Chambord and Chenonceau. Dramatic Baroque paintings by Georges de la Tour and Nicholas Poussin. Visit with Louis XIV at the palace of Versailles.

3. Rococo, Neoclassicism, Romanticism, and Realism: The pendulum swung from light Rococo pastel fluff, to austere severe Neoclassicism, to Romantic escapes, and finally to everyday genre in Realist scenes. Boucher, David, Géricault, and Manet.

4. Impressionism and Post-Impressionism: The Impressionists painted in terms of light and atmospheric conditions, whereas the Post-Impressionists used color to express emotion and to analyze pictorial structure. Monet, Renoir, Degas, van Gogh, Gauguin, Cézanne, and Seurat.

For information: http://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/reserve.aspx?ID=230506

Smithsonian Journeys, Washington, DC

As the Smithsonian Expert on the following trips, I present several formal lectures on each, as well as informal talks.

HIGHLIGHTS OF ITALY, April 25 - May 11, 2015, land trip: Naples; Amalfi coast cruise; mountaintop Ravello; ancient Pompeii; Sorrento; Montecassino Abbey; Rome: Colosseum, Borghese Gallery, St. Peter's, Sistine Chapel; medieval Orvieto; San Francesco in Assisi; Deruta majolica; Perugia; medieval Siena; 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 des Vosges; 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/

SOUTHERN FRANCE: FROM THE PYRÉNÉES TO PROVENCE AND THE CÔTE D'AZUR, September 28-October 12, 2015, land trip: Toulouse; Sorèze; Albi; Carcassonne; Perpignan; Figueres (Spain); Collioure; Canal du Midi; Avignon; Pont du Gard; Arles; Saint-Remy-de-Provence; Aix; Roussillon; Saint-Paul-de-Vence; Maeght Foundation, Monte Carlo.
For information: http://www.smithsonianjourneys.org/tours/southern-france/

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:

VIRTUAL EXHIBITION PROJECT: FOSTERING TIES BETWEEN FUTURE MUSEUM CURATORS IN THE U.S. AND RUSSIA, The Museum and Museum Specialists: Problems of Professional Education Conference, Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia, November 14-15, 2014

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

MEDIEVAL MISCHIEF: WIT AND HUMOR IN THE ART OF THE MIDDLE AGES, European University, Saint Petersburg, Russia, Fall 2012

EXTREME ARCHITECTURE: GLOBAL AMBITIONS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS, Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia, Fall 2012

MEDIEVAL BESTIARIES: SIMILARITY AND DISPARITY OF TEXT AND ILLUMINATION, Word and Image Conference, European University, Saint Petersburg, Russia, Fall 2012: Click here for Conference Images

Moscow:
FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT: GENIUS OF 20TH CENTURY AMERICAN ARCHITECTURE, Moscow State University, Fall 2012

EXTREME ARCHITECTURE: GLOBAL AMBITIONS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS, Science Cafe Conference, Fall 2012


 

Janetta Rebold Benton is Distinguished Professor of Art History and University Director of Scholarly Initiatives at Pace University, NY. She was the recipient of a Fulbright Senior Scholar Award, 2012-13, as 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 HUMANITIES (Robert DiYanni co-author, Pearson, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2014), 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, 2012) 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 (1992). 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 of Arts degree in Art History from George Washington University; and Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Cornell University.

Email: JBenton@pace.edu