Butler museum will present free art talks

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

The Butler Institute of American Art, 524 Wick Ave., will present a series of free illustrated art talks next month. Each will begin at 2 p.m. in the Beecher Center Auditorium. For information, call 330-743-1107, ext. 123.

On Aug. 16, Marlene Aron will discuss “The Magic and Mystery of Vincent van Gogh [1853-1890].” Van Gogh was never appreciated in his lifetime but has become one of the most studied artists of all time. Aron’s program will highlight the Butler’s current display of van Gogh’s “In the Dunes,” on loan to the museum from a private collector.

Butler director Louis Zona will discuss “Isms, Isms and more Isms!” in five illustrated talks Aug. 23, Sept. 13 and 27, and Oct. 11 and 18. The talks will cover two centuries of artistic movements from the Neo-Classicism of France’s Jacques Louis David through the Post-Modernism of America’s Jeff Koons. Highlights will also include the topics of cubism, surrealism, abstract expressionalism and post-modernism.

Finally, professor Richard Mitchell will explore “Block and Sully, The Family Photographic Album” on Nov. 8. Jesse Block (1901-1983) and Eva Sully (1901-1990) were a husband-and-wife vaudeville team from 1926 to 1948. The talk will take a look at the couple in an entertainment industry that was evolving from vaudeville to movies, radio and TV. The presentation highlights the Butler’s Block and Sully photo exhibition and is presented by the show’s curator.