Home Michael Taylor to deliver annual Pamela H. Simpson Lecture
Local News

Michael Taylor to deliver annual Pamela H. Simpson Lecture

Contributors
Michael R. Taylor
Michael R. Taylor. Photo courtesy Washington and Lee UIniversity.

Michael R. Taylor, chief curator and deputy director for art and education at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, will deliver this year’s Pamela H. Simpson Lecture in Art History at Washington and Lee University on Nov. 30 at 5 p.m. in the Wilson Hall Auditorium

From 1997 to 2011, Taylor served as the Muriel and Philip Berman Curator of Modern Art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. He then worked at Dartmouth College from 2011 to 2015 as the director for the Hood Museum of Art. In 2015, he was appointed as chief curator and deputy director for art and education at the VMFA.

Taylor’s study in art focuses on Dada and surrealism, and he has curated several exhibitions of such works, including “Giorgio de Chirico and the Myth of Ariadne,” “Salvador Dalí: The Centennial Retrospective,” “Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective” and “Marcel Duchamp: Étant donnés.”

At W&L, Taylor will discuss the current exhibition at the VFMA, “Man Ray: The Paris Years,” which is open through Feb. 21, 2022.

“Man Ray: The Paris Years” is a collection of portrait photographs created by the American artist, Man Ray (the pseudonym of Emmanuel Radnitzky), in Paris between the two world wars. This collection established Ray’s reputation as one of the leading artists of his era.

Ray’s portraits were not inanimate objects, they were people, including Barbette, Ruby Richards, Jean Cocteau, Marcel Duchamp and Gertrude Stein. The portraits reflect the artist’s vision in negotiation with the self-image and desires of the subjects.

Taylor’s lecture at W&L will surround Ray’s Black subjects, such as Henry Crowder, Adrienne Fidelin, Elsie Houston and Ruby Richards. Ray’s work tells the subjects’ stories, including their contribution to making the portraits and their friendship with him.

The Pamela H. Simpson Endowment for Art, established in 2011, is a permanently endowed fund to support the hosting of distinguished academics and professional visitors to campus to work directly with students and faculty in Washington and Lee’s Department of Art and Art History.

Simpson served on the W&L faculty for 38 years. She was the first female tenure-track professor at the university and the first female professor to receive an endowed chair at W&L.

 

Contributors

Contributors

Have a guest column, letter to the editor, story idea or a news tip? Email editor Chris Graham at [email protected]. Subscribe to AFP podcasts on Apple PodcastsSpotifyPandora and YouTube.

Latest News

How to Bet On the Daytona 500 in California
Sports

How to Bet On the Daytona 500 in California

ron sanchez uva basketball vt
Basketball, Sports

The tweak UVA Basketball coach Ron Sanchez would need if he were to get the job full time

One lesson Ron Sanchez could take with him into next year, if he, indeed, ends up getting the UVA Basketball job on a full-time basis after the season, would be, succession planning.

george mason
Basketball, Sports

George Mason rallies, beats Saint Joseph’s, to stay atop A-10 standings

George Mason took the lead for good on a Brayden O’Connor bucket with 1:18 to go, then got a couple of stops on defense to complete the 58-57 win over Saint Joseph’s, to maintain the lead in the A-10.

isaac mckneely uva basketball
Basketball, Sports

Five Observations: UVA Basketball gets more good offense in road win

Daytona 500 Odds, Picks, & How To Bet
NASCAR

Daytona 500 Odds, Picks, & How To Bet

uva basketball
Basketball, Sports

Live Coverage: UVA Basketball grits out 73-70 win at Virginia Tech

How To Bet On The Daytona 500 in Florida
Sports News

How To Bet On The Daytona 500 in Florida