Jan Matejko’s 'Astronomer Copernicus’ (1873) was, in some ways, the dying star of history painting.
While the painting was and remains iconic, the genre waned in the decades following its creation. Yet, Matejko’s star burns bright to this day and the legacy of history painting continues in some contemporary art.
Christopher Riopelle, curator of ’Conversations with God: Jan Matejko’s Copernicus’ joins guest speakers including award-winning international artist Katie Paterson, art critic Waldemar Januszczak and Andrzej Szczerski, Director of the National Museum in Kraków, to discuss the impact of Matejko’s painting on the Polish cultural imagination, the current revival of Matejko beyond Poland, and the continuing relevance of history painting, past and present for art today.
This event is organised in association with the Polish Hearth Society.
Speakers include:
Waldemar Januszczak is Britain’s most distinguished art critic. Formerly the art critic of The Guardian, he now writes for The Sunday Times and has twice won the Critic of the Year award. Renowned for his feisty opinions, Waldemar has been making television art films for many years, as both presenter and director. Since 1997, he has run his own production company ZCZ Films.
Katie Paterson is known for her conceptual artworks that have involved broadcasting the sounds of a melting glacier live, mapping all the dead stars in the universe, custom-making a light bulb to simulate the experience of moonlight, burying a nano-sized grain of sand deep within the Sahara desert, and sending a re-cast meteorite back into space. Katie has exhibited internationally, from London to Seoul, and her works have been included in major exhibitions, including Tate Britain and the Guggenheim Museum New York.
Christopher Riopelle is the Neil Westreich Curator of Post 1800 Paintings. He previously held curatorial positions at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the J. Paul Getty Museum, California. He has curated many exhibitions, including 'Gauguin’s Portraits’ (2019), 'Sorolla: Spanish Master of Light’ (2019), 'Thomas Cole: Eden to Empire’ and 'Ed Ruscha: Course of Empire’ (2018), and 'Australia’s Impressionists (2017).
Andrzej Szczerski is an art historian and critic, lecturer at the Institute of Art History of the Jagiellonian University and Director of the National Museum in Kraków. He is the author of several books including 'Transformation: Art in East-Central Europe since 1989′ (2018) and co-editor of 'Young Poland: The Arts and Crafts Movement, 1890-1918′. He was the curator of 'Symbolism in Poland and Britain’ at Tate Britain in London (2009) and '#heritage’ at the National Museum in Kraków (2017).
WHEN: Thursday, 3 June 2021,6.30 – 8.15 pm BST
WHERE: online
TICKETS: free
REGISTRATION: here
