Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art Style and History in the Decorative Arts, 1850–2000
What’s the inspiration behind a clawfoot chair or a lamp shaped like a pill? Why are we enticed by the houses of Frank Lloyd Wright? What distinguishes your grandmother’s porcelain from the set you use today? Over the centuries, everything from politics to technology has influenced craftspeople, designers and architects in their work to create the buildings we inhabit and the objects we use every day. Join Kati Woock, senior curatorial assistant at Denver Art Museum and self-professed object lover, to explore decorative arts and architecture of the past two centuries in Europe and the U.S. Begin with the Arts & Crafts Movement, which rejected mass-produced items in favor of craftsmanship (e.g. Gustav Stickley’s furniture). Next, the Aesthetic Movement emphasized “art for art’s sake,” such as Christopher Dresser’s surprising silver teapots. Later, Art Nouveau (Paris’s famous Metropolitan train station entrances) and Art Deco (Empire State Building) were the rage. Move on to Modernism, which celebrated innovation and new materials, and Postmodernism, which produced irreverent and confounding works that remain divisive to this day (New York’s AT&T Building). Conclude the course with a visit to the newly opened Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art to see vivid examples of decorative arts from each movement. Come away with the ability to identify the stylistic movements you encounter every day in objects and architecture and an understanding of the meaning behind them. 10% discount to Kirkland members.
Four sessions
Mon., 7–9 pm, Sept. 10, 17, 24, 2018 Kirkland tour, Sat., 11 am, Sept. 29 $175
Kati Woock is senior curatorial assistant for Architecture, Design & Graphics at the Denver Art Museum. She earned her graduate degree in the Winterthur Program for American Material Culture at the University of Delaware.
Images courtesy of Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art
Call 303-871-2291 or visit www.universitycollege.du.edu/enrichment
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