On the occasion of the publication of Is Art History?, a definitive volume of writings by one of the most renowned art historians of the past half century Svetlana Alpers, BFA Visual & Critical Studies and Honors Program will be hosting a panel-discussion on the scholarship of this seminal figure in the field. She will be joined by colleagues Evelyn Lincoln (Brown University) and Richard Meyer (Stanford University), both distinguished scholars in their own right and former students of Alpers at UC Berkeley. This event will be both a celebration of Alpers′ career as well as a spirited discussion of the various subjects covered in the book as well as the changes that have taken place in the discipline over the last half century.

Is Art History? is a definitive volume of writings by one of the most renowned art historians of the past century. The book brings together Alpers’s contributions to the art historical discipline and her considerations of the continuing possibilities of painting as an art. Her writing spans over six decades beginning with seminal essays written in examination of the constraints of her chosen discipline, including a foundational essay on Vasari (1960), “Is Art History?” (1970), “Style is What You Make IT” (1979), and “Art History and Its Exclusions” (1982); two influential but never before published lectures and other unpublished public presentations; notable critical essays on art, and recent texts on contemporary artists including Alex Katz, Catherine Murphy and Shirley Jaffe and others. Is Art History? also includes new prefatory notes written by the author for this occasion, an unexpected introduction by her former student the esteemed scholar-critic Richard Meyer (Robert and Ruth Halperin Professor of Art History, Stanford University), and a revealing interview with the German author and critic Ulf Erdmann Ziegler. This extensive view of Alpers’s prolific and varied career appeals both to new readers in need of an introduction as well as to audiences familiar with her stimulating writing on the great European tradition of painting.

For more information about this event including brief bios of the participants, visit our event calendar.

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