The Worcester Art Museum's Master Series highlights selected works of art and projects throughout the Museum. Each is the focus of a Third Thursday art talk presented by a scholar the field, allowing for a more in-depth appreciation of the piece and artist. See our upcoming online events listed below.
To ensure the safety of all participants due to the pandemic, Master Series talks are currently being offered via Zoom.
Access to all events is by advance registration only. To register for an event, click on the associated 'Register Now' button in the table below. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information on how to join the event.
Cost: Members free; Regular admission $10; Seniors $8; Students $5.
Hosted by the WAM Members' Council
Sponsored by: 
Presented with support from the Bernard G. and the Louise B. Palitz Fund and the Amelia and Robert H. Haley Memorial Lecture Fund.
Past
The Iconic Jersey: Baseball x Fashion
ExhibitionThursday, June 17, 2021, 6pm
Speaker: Todd Radom
Talk: Baseball by Design: Looking at the Rich Visual History of Our National Pastime. Todd Radom will speak on his expertise of the graphic design for professional sports, the aesthetics of baseball, and the dynamics of brand loyalty between consumers and professional sports franchises.
The Kimono in Print
ExhibitionThursday, April 15, 2021, 6pm
Speaker: Monika Bincsik, PhD, Diane and Arthur Abbey Associate Curator for Japanese Decorative Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Art Talk: Kimono Fashion in Kyoto.
Reinstallation of WAM's Asian Art galleries
Thursday, May 20, 2021, 6pm
Speakers: Laura Weinstein, Ananda Coomaraswamy Curator of South Asian and Islamic Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and Karina Corrigan, Associate Director of Collections and the H.A. Crosby Forbes Curator of Asian Export Art at the Peabody Essex Museum.
Art Talk: Multiple Voices on Asian Art Collection Reinstallation Display in the 21st Century.
The Lancaster Plaza Project
Thursday, March 18, 2021, 6pm
Speaker: Seth Wiseman
Talk: Lancaster Plaza: Vision, Process + Future. The Lancaster Plaza begins the process of resolving issues with guest circulation and experience. Join us to learn more about the project vision, the design and construction process, as well as how it fits into the bigger picture.
Reginald Gammon
Holy FamilyThursday, February 18, 2021, 6pm
Speaker: Kimberly Bobier, PhD, Assistant Visiting Professor in the Department of History of Art and Design at Pratt Institute.
Art Talk: Reginald Gammon: Notes on Assembly.
Image left: detail, © 2019 Estate of Reginald Gammon / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY
Paula Modersohn-Becker
Three Boys Bathing by a CanalThursday, November 19, 2020, 6pm
Speaker: Diane Radycki
Art Talk: Paula Modersohn-Becker's Three Boys Bathing by a Canal. Diane Radycki will discuss WAM's recent acquisition of German painter Paula Modersohn-Becker's Three Boys Bathing by a Canal. Radycki will also highlight Van Gogh's Portrait of Postman Roulin, which is currently on loan to WAM from the Detroit Institute of Arts.
Thursday, February 20, 2020, 6pm
Speaker: Ethan Lasser, PhD, John Moors Cabot Chair, Art of the Americas at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Art Talk: Paul Revere and John Singleton Copley: Making an American Icon.
Image left: detail, photograph © 2019 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Thursday, November 21, 2019, 6pm
Speaker: Diana Tuite, Katz Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Colby College Museum of Art.
Art Talk: Paraphotography: Doing Things with Images.
Presented with support from the Michie Family Curatorial Fund, the Amelia and Robert H. Haley Memorial Lecture Fund, the Bernard and Louise Palitz Fund, and the Spear Fund for Public Programs.
Image left: detail, © Estate of Robert Heineken, courtesy of Cherry and Martin Gallery
Thursday, October 17, 2019, 6pm
Speakers: Ute Tellini, former editor of the Woman's Art Journal and author of Images of Women During the Weimar Republic in Germany and Michelle Vangen, PhD, Art History Professor, Kingsborough Community College, CUNY.
Art Talks: Images of Women during the Weimar Republic and Images of Maternity in Otto Dix.
Image left: detail, © 2019 Artists Rights Society (ARS), NewYork/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn
Thomas Eakins
The SpinnerThursday, May 16, 2019, 6pm
Speaker: Erin Corrales-Diaz, PhD, Assistant Curator of American Art at the Worcester Art Museum.
Topic: Thomas Eakins' The Spinner.
Lee Mingwei
Stone JourneyThursday, April 18, 2019, 6pm
Speaker: Lee Mingwei, contemporary artist.
Topic: Five Stories.
Utagawa Hiroshige
Travels with HiroshigeThursday, March 21, 2019, 6pm
Speaker: Kit Brooks, PhD, Independent Curator.
Topic: Blending into the Woodwork.
Claude Monet
Monet's Waterloo BridgeThursday, February 21, 2019, 6pm
Speaker: Gloria Groom, Ph. D., David and Winton Green Curator at The Art Institute of Chicago
Topic: New Light on Monet
Persian and Indian
Preserved Pages: Book as Art in Persia and India, 1300–1800Thursday, November 15, 2018, 6pm
Speaker: David Roxburgh, Ph. D., the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Professor of Islamic Art History at Harvard University.
Topic: Illustrating Epic Poetry and History in Persian manuscripts from the Mongols to the Timurids.
Louis C. Tiffany and John La Farge
Radiance Rediscovered: Stained Glass by Tiffany and La FargeThursday, October 18, 2018, 6pm
Speakers: T. Amanda Lett, Ph.D. Candidate, History of Art and Architecture Boston University; Diane Rousseau, stained glass conservator; and Amanda Chau, Andrew W. Mellon Fellow in Objects Conservation. Topic: The Techniques, Conservation, and History of John La Farge's Stained Glass.
Watch a video of this event filmed by Troy B. Thompson Photography
Attributed to Leonardo da Vinci and Lorenzo di Credi
A Miracle of Saint Donatus of ArezzoThursday, May 17, 2018, 6pm
Rediscovering Leonardo: Laurence Kanter, chief curator and the Lionel Goldfrank III Curator of European Art, Yale University Art Gallery, delves into the fascinating story behind this mysterious panel painting.
Byron Kim's Paintings
On the Relationship of Big and SmallThursday, April 19, 2018, 6pm
Issues in Contemporary Art: contemporary artist Byron Kim will speak about his captivating life and work, including his unique approach to portraiture.
Early Ming Dynasty
Ming Huang and Yang Guifei Listening to MusicThursday, March 15, 2018, 6pm
A Reinterpretation of Ancient Music at the Chinese Tang Court: enjoy a cello concert with College of the Holy Cross visiting musician-in-residence, Jan Muller-Szeraws. This performance will be introduced by Shirish Korde, composer and professor, College of the Holy Cross.
Assyrian (Nimrud)
A Winged GeniusThursday, February 15, 2018, 6pm
In the Company of Genies: Ada Cohen, professor of Art History and the Israel Evans Professor in Oratory and Belles Lettres at Dartmouth College, contextualizes WAM's winged genius within the palace of the 9th-century BCE Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II at Nimrud in modern-day Iraq, where it was one of many such figures.
Winslow Homer
The GaleThursday, November 16, 2017, 6pm
Color and Line: Homer's Studies in England. Looking at Homer's English work for changes in color and line, Judith Walsh, Professor Emerita of Paper conservation, SUNY Buffalo State College, will show that this period was critical to his later success as demonstrated in the painting, The Gale.
William Bullard
Reuben Griffin Leaning Against a TreeThursday, October 19, 2017, 6pm
Maurice Wallace, associate director of the Carter G. Woodson Institute for African-American and African Studies, University of Virginia, will present the topic “We Look Like Men: Early Photography, War, and the Double-Bind of Black Manhood.” Strong Eagle Daly, Nipmuc flutist, will play a tribute to his ancestors preceding the lecture.
Chinese
Lady with a Red BoxThursday, May 18, 2017, 6pm
Speaker: Vivian Li, Assistant Curator of Asian Art, Worcester Art Museum
Greek
Master VasesThursday, April 20, 2017, 6pm
Speaker: Paula Artal-Isbrand, objects conservator, Worcester Art Museum; Amanda Reiterman, Archaeologist.
Gaspar Miguel del Berrío
Our Lady of Mount Carmel with Bishop SaintsThursday, March 16, 2017, 6pm
Devotion, Illusion, Curtains, and Candles: The Virgin Mary in Colonial Peru
Speaker: Michael Schreffler, Associate Professor, Art and Architecture of Spain and Latin America in the 16th and 17th centuries, University of Notre Dame.
Thursday, February 16, 2017, 6pm
Speaker: Heather Lemonedes, Chief Curator, Cleveland Museum of Art.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
The Jewish WeddingThursday, November 17, 2016, 6pm
Speaker: Judith Dolkart, Mary Stripp and R. Crosby Kemper Director, Addison Gallery of American Art
Jacob Lawrence
The 1920's...The Migrants Cast Their BallotsThursday, October 20, 2016, 6pm
Speaker: Valerie J. Mercer, Curator of the General Motors Center for African American Art, Detroit Institute of Arts
Watch a video of this event filmed by WGBH Forum Network
Image: © 2016 The Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation, Seattle / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Indian
The Storm (A Lady Taking Shelter from the Monsoon Wind and Rain)Thursday, September 15, 2016, 6pm
The Figurative and the Narrative in Courtly and Contemporary Art of India. Speaker: Vishakha Desai, Special Advisor for Global Affairs to the President of Columbia University and Professor of Professional Practice at the School of International and Public Affairs
Joachim Meyer
Die Kunst des Fechtens ("The Art of Combat")Thursday, May 19, 2016, 6pm
Learn about this rare and important German fencing manual, and explore the fascinating prints it contains to illustrate the Art of Combat. Speaker: Jeffrey Forgeng, Curator of Arms, Armor, and Medieval Art, Worcester Art Museum.
Vision, Perception, and Art
Thursday, April 21, 2016, 6pm
Dr. Margaret Livingstone will explore the topic of Vision, Perception, and Art, focusing on objects in WAM's permanent collection, including Paul Signac's pointillist work Golfe Juan. Speaker: Margaret Livingstone, Takeda Professor of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School
Roman
Helmet for a GladiatorThursday, March 17, 2016, 6pm
Roman Spectacular Blood Sports:
Both magnificent and menacing, the Worcester gladiatorial helmet invites us to enter the world of the Roman arena with its spectacular combats of men against men and against beasts… Read more
Speaker: Donald G Kyle, Professor of History, University of Texas, Arlington
Pierre Bonnard
Dining Room in the CountryThursday, February 18, 2016, 6pm
Explore Bonnard's enigmatic and delightful country scene through this exciting loan. Speaker: Worcester Art Museum Director Matthias Waschek
Olmec
Incised Standing FigureThursday, November 19, 2015, 6pm
Although small in stature, this stone figure reveals much about Olmec religion and culture. Learn what research performed in WAM's conservation lab has uncovered about this figure's facial scarification, body modification, and other spiritual symbols. Speaker: John Garton, Clark University
Terri Priest
Static Variations: Blue x 2Thursday, October 15, 2015, 6pm
Work by Worcester native Terri Priest (who passed away in 2014) is as varied as it is loved. Learn more about the woman behind this newly acquired work by the Worcester Art Museum. Speaker: Roger Dunn, Bridgewater State University
John Brewster, Jr.
Portrait of Mary CoffinThursday, September 17, 2015, 6pm
A Deaf Artist in Early America: The World of John Brewster, Jr.: John Brewster Jr. (1766-1854) was a prolific, deaf itinerant painter, who produced many portraits of New England families, especially their children. Speaker: Paul D'Ambrosio, President and CEO at Fenimore Art Museum & The Farmers' Museum
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
Fujiwara no Yasumasa Playing the Flute by MoonlightThursday, May 21, 2015, 6pm
Yoshitoshi: Composer Shirish Korde will speak about the different types of historical Japanese flutes. Flutist Alice Jones will perform three musical pieces, including Korde's famed "The Tenderness of Cranes."
Thursday, April 16, 2015, 6pm
Rembrandt and Fallibility: Jon L. Seydl, director of curatorial affairs and curator of European art, shares insights on two early works by the Dutch master.
Anthony van Dyck
Portrait of a ManThursday, March 19, 2015, 6pm
Portrait of a Man: Matthew Cushman, project conservator at Yale University, and Jon L. Seydl, director of curatorial affairs and curator of European art, discuss what conservation has revealed about this painting by Anthony van Dyck.
Raphael
The Cowper MadonnaThursday, February 19, 2015, 6pm
The Cowper Madonna: Scholar Linda Wolk-Simon, Director and Chief Curator, University Collections, Bellarmine Museum of Art, Fairfield University, sheds light on the Renaissance master, Raphael.
Watch a video of this event filmed by WGBH Forum Network
This lecture is generously supported by the Robert and Amelia Hutchinson Haley Lectures Fund.
Norman Rockwell
Study for "The Nightwatchman"Thursday, November 20, 2014, 6pm
Reflections on Rockwell: Deborah Solomon, author of American Mirror: The Life and Art of Norman Rockwell talks about one of America's most beloved artists.
William Hogarth
Portraits of William James and Elizabeth JamesThursday, October 16, 2014, 6pm
Preserving Mr. and Mrs. James: Worcester Art Museum conservators Rita Albertson and Philip Klausmeyer discuss their work restoring the Hogarth paintings.
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