The Iris Foundation Awards Lecture by Elizabeth Guffey (SUNY Purchase)

Monet was going blind and had to wear special cataract glasses. Renoir became so arthritic, he used a wheelchair and had paintbrushes strapped to his wrists. The history of French impressionist art is filled with legends about its most famous practitioners, their bodily impairments, and the ways these were believed to have shaped their art. This lecture uses the French impressionists and their art to introduce the notion of crip objects. In so doing, it suggests that material objects related to disability are useful in helping us understand a range of issues related to human embodiment and the sensorium, all the while raising more complex questions about artistic creativity.

Tuesday, April 25, 6 pm
38 West 86th Street, Lecture Hall

$15 General Admission | $12 Seniors
Free for people with a college or museum ID, people with disabilities and caregivers, and BGC members

26th Annual Iris Foundation Awards
In 1997 Susan Weber created the Iris Foundation Awards to recognize scholars, patrons, and professionals who have made outstanding contributions to the fields of decorative arts, design history, and material culture. Elizabeth Guffey will receive the Iris Award for Outstanding Mid-Career Scholar on April 26. Proceeds benefit the Bard Graduate Center Scholarship Fund. To find out more about the Iris Foundation Awards, visit us online or call 212.501.3071.