Sunday series will feature talks on museum's global art collection

Rembrandt van Rijn, Self Portrait, 1639. Collection of the Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell.

An introduction to world art taught by art historians from the Cornell community will be offered in a series of free Sunday afternoon talks at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art open to the general public.

The series begins on Sunday, Sept. 19, at 2 p.m. when Frank Robinson, director of the Johnson Museum, talks about European art in the Renaissance and Baroque periods. Using prints and paintings from the museum's permanent collection as well as some slides, Robinson will highlight major artistic concerns and issues of that rich period of European art.

"This is a great opportunity for people to learn about our global collections from some of Cornell's leading experts," said Cathy Rosa Klimaszewski, curator of education at the museum. "We are very pleased to be able to present this impressive group of speakers who are gifted teachers as well."

The series includes sessions on European, American, African, Asian and Southeast Asian art, using paintings, sculpture, prints, ceramics and other objects pulled from storage and on display in the museum's galleries. The schedule for the Sunday sessions is as follows:

• Oct. 3, African Art: Salah Hassan, assistant professor of African and African American art, will discuss both traditional and contemporary African art.
• Oct. 17, the American Landscape: Art historian Sean Ulmer, assistant curator of painting and sculpture at the museum, will discuss examples of American landscape traditions in the permanent collection; Ulmer will also talk about environmental artist Andy Golds-worthy's installation in Fall Creek gorge.
• Oct. 31, Southeast Asian Art: Stanley O'Connor, history of art professor emeritus, will highlight selected works in the museum's collections and discuss them in the context of their cultures.
• Nov. 14, Pre-Columbian Art: John Henderson, professor of anthropology, will provide a context for viewing pottery and other pre-Columbian objects from the museum's permanent collection.
• Nov. 28, Asian Art: An-Yi Pan, assistant professor of art history, will focus on the influence of Buddhism on the arts of Asia.

All events start at 2 p.m. and are planned for about one hour.

Exhibitions this fall at the Johnson Museum include:

"Posed from Life: Japanese Studio Photography from the Meiji Period (1868-1912)," through Oct. 24; "The Art of Looking: Unlocking the Mysteries of Objects and Images," through Oct. 17; "Netsuke: The Japanese Art of Miniature Carving," through Oct. 24; "Seeing the Unseen: Photographs of Harold Edgerton," through Oct. 17; "Reflections to Astound: 17th Century Dutch Prints," through Nov. 7; "Voyage of Discovery: African American Art from the Collection of Donald Byrd," through Oct. 31; "Andy Goldsworthy: The Fall Creek Project," Oct. 1-16; "Identity and Empire: 2000 Years of Ancient Coins from the Ostrander Collection," Oct. 30-Jan. 9; "Recent Gifts in Southeast Asian Art," Nov. 6-Dec. 19; "Views of Rome and Venice," Oct. 23-Dec. 19; "Cornell Art Faculty," Nov. 6-Dec. 19; and "Where We Are Now: Recent Acquisitions in Contemporary Prints and Drawings," Nov. 6-Jan. 16.

The Johnson Museum of Art, on the Cornell campus, is open Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, call 255-6464 or visit http://www.museum.cornell.edu.