Thursday, February 14th, Tredway Library (2nd floor, south end)
3:45-5:00 p.m.
How will we be remembered? Can our actions today affect our enduring legacies? American expatriate artist James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) refused to let the press label him “the misunderstood genius of his generation.” Taking his legacy into his own hands, he responded to reviews, critiqued his critics, and hired a press-clipping agency while compiling multiple scrapbooks–his first attempts at bookmaking–in preparation for his infamous, reputation-establishing publication, The Gentle Art of Making Enemies (a first edition of which is held in Tredway Library’s Special Collections).
Please join Whistler specialist Dr. Catherine Goebel for a discussion of The Gentle Art of Making Enemies, the primary texts that influenced the work, and Whistler’s best-known painting, Whistler’s Mother. Dr. Goebel’s ongoing research will include an exploration of Whistler’s hand-annotated scrapbooks–to be loaned by the University of Glasgow–and will also provide Augustana students with an opportunity to gain first-hand experience in original archival research.
Refreshments and conversation will begin at 3:45. Hope to see you there!!!
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This is the fifth presentation in the year-long “Book Studies” lecture series, part of “From Parchment to Pixels: The Year of the Book.”
(Next in the series: Friday, March 28th - Dr. Jon Hurty, Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities)
(Next in the series: Friday, March 28th - Dr. Jon Hurty, Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities)
