Calendar of Events
Lecture: Abstract Impressionism with William Perthes
November 13, 2025 · 6pm-7:00pm
$25 members, $35 non-members
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In the mid-1940s a group of young American artists settled in New York City and together forged a new visual language, mostly non-representational, that was to have a global impact on painting. Today called the Abstract Expressionism, the often mural size works of Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Clyfford Still, and Robert Motherwell relocated the epicenter of modern painting to the United States and their work continues to resonate with audiences today. Join us for an in depth look at these and other artists associated with this ground breaking movement.
William Perthes is an educator, author, and curator. He is the Bernard C. Watson Director of Adult Education at the Barnes Foundation. Bill has a background in philosophy and art history and is the author of “The Barnes Method” included in the recently published The Barnes: Then and Now. Much of Bill's work focuses on how experiences with works of art, both short and long term, can impact and inform fields as varied as business, medicine, law enforcement. and restorative justice. Bill is the curator of Faces of Resilience a traveling exhibition of original works of art created by currently and formerly incarcerated artists at the State Correctional Institute Phoenix. In addition, his scholarship has focused on American Modernism with a special concentration on the Abstract Expressionist painter Robert Motherwell. He is the former Director of Education for the Violette de Mazia Foundation.
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