February 1st 5-6PM: "Looking at the Overlooked in Modern and Contemporary Art" with Aneta Georgievska-Shine, Ph.D. Professor of Art History

The survival of still-life and its meanings in the art of the present - painting, sculpture, photography, and installation art. 

Aneta Georgievska-Shine is a scholar of Renaissance and Baroque art, whose interests range from the classical to contemporary art. Her academic publications include numerous journal articles and two books, Rubens and the Archaeology of Myth: Visual and Poetic Memory (2009) and Rubens, Velázquez and the King of Spain (2014), which she co-wrote with Larry Silver. She has also written essays on modern and contemporary art, most recently for the monograph of Emilie Brzezinski, The Lure of the Forest (2014). In addition to her lecturing appointment at the University of Maryland, she frequently presents at museum institutions such as the Smithsonian, the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Walters Art Museum, and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. She is also a co-founder of Insight Institute, a non-profit organization that promotes innovation and critical thinking through art-based initiatives and programs.

February 8th 5-6PM: "The Abstract Expressionists: an American Idea" with Claudia Rousseau, Ph.D. Professor of Art History

A consideration of the origins and early development of abstract Expressionism, in its New York and specifically American context, including the importance of  the critical response and the variations in approach among the artists in the group. 

Born and raised in New York City, Dr. Rousseau completed a B.A. at Hunter College (C.U.N.Y.), and the M.A. and Ph.D. in Art History at Columbia University in New York. Dr. Rousseau is Professor of Art History at the School of Art and Design at Montgomery College in Silver Spring, MD where she has been teaching since fall 2001.

Dr. Rousseau is an internationally published scholar, a recognized critic and a curator of art exhibits in the region, including an ongoing exhibition of sculpture at the Katzen Center of American University.  She was art critic for the Gazette Newspapers in Montgomery, Prince Georges and Frederick Counties for eleven years, publishing extended monthly reviews of exhibitions of contemporary art.  In 2010 she received the honor of juried membership in the prestigious International Association of Art Critics (AICA) for her writing on art.

Dr. Rousseau has served on many important art juries in the area, including the Bethesda Painting Competition (the Trawick Prize), the fellowship committee for the DC Commission on Arts and Humanities, and the Awards Review Panel for the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County. She also serves as an active member of the Public Arts Trust Steering Committee of the AHCMC, as well as the Art Review Panel at Maryland Park and Planning for public art.  

February 15th 4-6PM: "Hot Issues in Art Law with a NYC Art World Insider" with Barbara Luse, Esq.

Her talk will identify key areas of interest in art law, with a focus on stolen art as well as the primary differences between Continental Europe and the United States regarding restitution cases and cultural heritage laws. 

Barbara Luse, Esq. is a graduate of Princeton University and Fordham University School of Law.  She is a member of the New York Bar and speaks four languages including bilingual French, Italian, and Spanish.  During the past year, she has worked as an associate at Cahill Partners, LLP, a boutique New York law firm with a thriving Art Law and Litigation practice.  While at Fordham Law School, she was also an active member of the Art Law program and the Fashion Law Institute.  She has worked in law firms in both the United States and Europe in a range of areas including Intellectual Property, Corporate Law, and Litigation.  

February 22nd 5-6PM "Fakes, Forgeries, and the Art of Deception" with Colette Loll, M.A., Curator/Art Forgery Research/Forensics

Colette Loll is the Founder of Art Fraud Insights, LLC a consultancy specializing in art fraud related lectures, training and customized investigation of artworks. Ms. Loll was the CEO of a marketing company before earning an MA in Art History and completing post-graduate studies in International Art Crime. She has participated in numerous projects relating to art forgery including documentary films, authentication investigations for private collectors and foundations, and curating exhibitions. Her current exhibit, Intent to Deceive, is touring museums nationally and she is also leading an anti-fraud initiative for a major online auction site. Ms. Loll lectures at universities, museums, and forensic institutes and trains Federal law enforcement agents in forgery investigations. Her work integrates the ideals she is passionate about: truth, authenticity and stewardship; and she is committed to educational outreach on the topics of art forgery, cultural heritage crimes, and the emerging role of forensic science in the attribution process.

Event is free, but space is limited.