Virtual Art Seminar
Jewish Artists of the Ecole de Paris
Discover Jewish Artists who Made their Mark on Modern Art
In the early 20th century, drawn to the French capital by its museums, studios and salons, scores of Jewish artists flocked to Paris and revolutionized art. Our discussions will center on this unprecedented phenomenon and the international School of Paris (École de Paris), a vibrant and diverse artistic community on the Left Bank, wherein Jews played a formative role. In each class, we will learn about pioneering Jewish artists and their innovative styles and techniques in painting and sculpture. We will study prominent artists such as Sonia Delaunay, Amedeo Modigliani, Marc Chagall, Chaim Soutine, Jules Pascin, and more. We will also examine Jewish art dealers, collectors and intellectuals who reshaped the art world, including Gertrude Stein, Paul and Léonce Rosenberg, Daniel-Henry
Kahnweiler, and Berthe Weill.
No background in art necessary. All that's required is a curious mind. Sessions are led by Lauren Jimerson, PhD.
Live From Paris, where we go beyond the Louvre!
Discover art that you won't see at the Louvre or the Orsay. Uncover art from private collections and museum storage.
Connect with people from around the world to explore art, history, and culture.
Next Session:
Saturdays at 10:30 am est, November 7th-December 5th
Examine Jewish Artists who Revolutionized Modern Art
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Week 1: In Search of a PaintingWhen I first saw a reproduction of Marie Vassilieff’s Homme et Femme, a double-sided depiction of male and female Cubist nudes, I was determined to find the painting. This was the start of a three-year quest all over France and beyond. As we retrace my journey, we will study this lesser-known artist and the significance of her work. We will uncover her Cubist paintings, unknown to the public, which I found in private collections. We will learn what a woman artist risked a century ago by painting male nudes and challenging gender norms.
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Week 2: The Androgynous DollIn 1915, Marie Vassilieff pioneered a new kind of art form – the portrait doll. They represented various personalities of interwar Paris – Picasso, Matisse, Josephine Baker, and the artist herself. Vassilieff’s dolls were not merely craft – she considered her creations as works of art. As we examine her dolls, we will consider their role as objets d’art and the breakdown of artistic hierarchies they imply. We will learn about the Dada movement and the women involved. We will discuss the signification of the doll itself – its traditional link with femininity and discover the ways in which Vassilieff upends its meaning.
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Week 3: Defying GenderTravel back in time to Suzanne Valadon’s world in Montmartre. A model turned artist, Valadon devoted her career to the subject she knew best – the nude. As a lower-class woman and single mother, she must have assumed that she had nothing to lose. She audaciously exhibited male nudes at an important art Salon in Paris. Shocked, one critic called her an “old slut,” but that didn’t deter her. We will examine Valadon’s male nudes in paintings and in drawings. We will see how this artist became an active agent of her own sexuality and depicted the male body as shaped by her own desires.
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Week 4: The Model's GazeAs a former model, Valadon was acutely aware of the gaze – how the body is typically displayed as an object for male viewers – but she was also perceptive to the ways class and gender shape identity and subjectivity. From her unique and embodied vantage point, which I call the model’s gaze, Valadon reclaimed woman as subject. She painted female bodies that do not conform to standard ideals of beauty. She then turned the model’s gaze on herself. Toward the end of her career, she captured her aging body with a truthful and unflattering eye in the first known old-age nude self-portrait. We will look at Valadon’s female nudes and nude self-portraits and discuss the poignant ways in which they resonate with gender theory formulated over half a century later.
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Week 5: Painting PleasureIn her representations of the nude, Émilie Charmy explored female sexuality in paint. Often, she used her own body in lieu of a model’s creating daring self-portraits. Painting the female nude in a sensual manner with opulent brushwork and vivid color, she captured both a visual and tactile representation of the body. We will learn why Charmy hid some of her work from the public and where it can be found today. We will examine Charmy’s paintings up close and discover how a woman painted pleasure one century ago.
- The Experience -
Connect with friends around the world to explore art, history and culture
Join us!
Next Session:
Saturdays at 10:30 am est, November 7th-December 5th
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Webinars are sold in packs of 5.
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Each webinar is limited to a maximum of 12 people to enable lively and engaging discussions.
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Held on the same day and time each week, each session is 90 minutes.
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No background in art necessary. All that's required is a curious mind.
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Feel free to invite friends!
Try the first session at no risk! If you decide not to continue with the webinar for any reason,
I will refund 100% of the remaining 4 sessions.
*To streamline the booking process, only one date appears in the booking system. However, the event is
a series of 5 seminars and your booking includes them all.*
Join an intimate community of art enthusiasts or create your own experience exclusively for you and your friends.
If you would like to propose a specific date and time, or if you have any questions,