The Meadows Museum hosted Louis Martin Lecture Series in the Humanities, where SMU alum, Rebecca Teresi, discussed one of the great artists of the Spanish Golden Age, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo on March 16.
“Murillo: Artistic Intelligence and the Spanish Golden Age” is a five part lecture series discussing the life, career and impact of Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, an influential painter of Spanish Golden Age, while examining the five paintings permanently held at the Meadows Museum.
Rebecca Quinn Teresi, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Art History, Johns Hopkins University, and a former Meadows/Kress/Prado Curatorial Fellow at the Meadows Museum said, “Murillo was the most famous Spanish painter outside of Spain in the mid-nineteenth century but fell out of critical favor as his work began to be considered saccharine and vapid in the 20th and 21st centuries. Close inspection of the paintings… (and attendance of the lecture series) reveals otherwise.”
When asked what was most significant about the lecture series and exhibition, Scott Winterrowd, Director of Education at the Meadows Museum, said, “Murillo is one of the most important painters of Spain’s Golden Age and the Meadows is fortunate to hold five paintings by the artist in its collection.” Winterrowd added, “The occasion of his four-hundredth birthday is a perfect occasion to revisit the artist’s work and reevaluate his importance.”
Carrie Sanger, Marketing and Public Relations Manager at the Meadows Museum, said that for SMU students, “Rebecca Quinn Teresi is an entertaining and engaging speaker who can bring this artist… to life for a modern audience.”
Teresi commented on the lecture by saying, “A student who is looking to learn more about an artist or an artistic period for pure intellectual enrichment and the joy of discovery would enjoy attending these lectures, whether or not that student had a background in art history. And unlike taking an art history class, there are no grades and no preparatory work is required–all you have to do is sign up, show up, and enjoy.”
