
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
Presented with support from the Bernard G. and the Louise B. Palitz Fund and the Amelia and Robert H. Haley Memorial Lecture Fund.
Upcoming
Master Series | Master Series Third Thursdays | ||
---|---|---|---|
![]() |
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. |
Register Now |
![]() |
The Iconic Jersey:
Exhibition |
Thursday, June 17, 2021, 6pm Speaker: Todd Radom |
Register Now |
Past
Master Series | Master Series Third Thursdays | |
---|---|---|
![]() |
The Kimono in PrintExhibition |
Thursday, April 15, 2021, 6pm Speaker: Monika Bincsik, PhD, Diane and Arthur Abbey Associate Curator for Japanese Decorative Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. |
![]() |
The Lancaster Plaza Project |
Thursday, March 18, 2021, 6pm Speaker: Seth Wiseman |
![]() |
Reginald GammonHoly Family |
Thursday, February 18, 2021, 6pm Speaker: Kimberly Bobier, PhD, Assistant Visiting Professor in the Department of History of Art and Design at Pratt Institute. Image left: detail, © 2019 Estate of Reginald Gammon / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY |
![]() |
Paula Modersohn-BeckerThree Boys Bathing by a Canal |
Thursday, November 19, 2020, 6pm Speaker: Diane Radycki |
![]() |
Beyond Midnight: Paul Revere |
Thursday, February 20, 2020, 6pm Speaker: Ethan Lasser, PhD, John Moors Cabot Chair, Art of the Americas at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Image left: detail, photograph © 2019 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston |
![]() |
Photo Revolution: |
Thursday, November 21, 2019, 6pm Speaker: Diana Tuite, Katz Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Colby College Museum of Art. 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 |
![]() |
With Child: |
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. Image left: detail, © 2019 Artists Rights Society (ARS), NewYork/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn |
![]() |
Thomas EakinsThe Spinner |
Thursday, May 16, 2019, 6pm Speaker: Erin Corrales-Diaz, PhD, Assistant Curator of American Art at the Worcester Art Museum. |
![]() |
Lee MingweiStone Journey |
Thursday, April 18, 2019, 6pm Speaker: Lee Mingwei, contemporary artist. |
![]() |
Utagawa HiroshigeTravels with Hiroshige |
Thursday, March 21, 2019, 6pm Speaker: Kit Brooks, PhD, Independent Curator. |
![]() |
Claude MonetMonet's Waterloo Bridge |
Thursday, February 21, 2019, 6pm Speaker: Gloria Groom, Ph. D., David and Winton Green Curator at The Art Institute of Chicago |
![]() |
Persian and IndianPreserved Pages: Book as Art in Persia and India, 1300–1800 |
Thursday, November 15, 2018, 6pm Speaker: David Roxburgh, Ph. D., the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Professor of Islamic Art History at Harvard University. |
![]() |
Louis C. Tiffany and
Radiance Rediscovered: Stained Glass by Tiffany and La Farge |
Thursday, 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. |
![]() |
Attributed to Leonardo da Vinci and Lorenzo di CrediA Miracle of Saint Donatus of Arezzo |
Thursday, 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 PaintingsOn the Relationship of Big and Small |
Thursday, 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 DynastyMing Huang and Yang Guifei Listening to Music |
Thursday, 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 Genius |
Thursday, 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 HomerThe Gale |
Thursday, 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 BullardReuben Griffin Leaning Against a Tree |
Thursday, 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. |
![]() |
ChineseLady with a Red Box |
Thursday, May 18, 2017, 6pm Speaker: Vivian Li, Assistant Curator of Asian Art, Worcester Art Museum |
![]() |
GreekMaster Vases |
Thursday, April 20, 2017, 6pm Speaker: Paula Artal-Isbrand, objects conservator, Worcester Art Museum; Amanda Reiterman, Archaeologist. |
![]() |
Gaspar Miguel del BerríoOur Lady of Mount Carmel with Bishop Saints |
Thursday, 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. |
![]() |
Mary CassattReine Lefebvre Holding a Nude Baby (Mother and Child) |
Thursday, February 16, 2017, 6pm Speaker: Heather Lemonedes, Chief Curator, Cleveland Museum of Art. |
![]() |
Pierre-Auguste RenoirThe Jewish Wedding |
Thursday, November 17, 2016, 6pm Speaker: Judith Dolkart, Mary Stripp and R. Crosby Kemper Director, Addison Gallery of American Art |
![]() |
Jacob LawrenceThe 1920's...The Migrants Cast Their Ballots |
Thursday, October 20, 2016, 6pm Speaker: Valerie J. Mercer, Curator of the General Motors Center for African American Art, Detroit Institute of Arts Image: © 2016 The Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation, Seattle / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York |
![]() |
IndianThe 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 MeyerDie 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 |
![]() |
RomanHelmet for a Gladiator |
Thursday, March 17, 2016, 6pm Roman Spectacular Blood Sports: |
![]() |
Pierre BonnardDining Room in the Country |
Thursday, February 18, 2016, 6pm Explore Bonnard's enigmatic and delightful country scene through this exciting loan. Speaker: Worcester Art Museum Director Matthias Waschek |
![]() |
OlmecIncised Standing Figure |
Thursday, 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 PriestStatic Variations: Blue x 2 |
Thursday, 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 Coffin |
Thursday, 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 YoshitoshiFujiwara no Yasumasa Playing the Flute by Moonlight |
Thursday, 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." |
![]() |
RembrandtThe Three Musicians and The Stone Operation |
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 DyckPortrait of a Man |
Thursday, 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. |
![]() |
RaphaelThe Cowper Madonna |
Thursday, 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. This lecture is generously supported by the Robert and Amelia Hutchinson Haley Lectures Fund. |
![]() |
Norman RockwellStudy 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 HogarthPortraits of William Jamesand Elizabeth James |
Thursday, 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. |