Art History

Why did artists start raising two goats? To create a open, transparent center where people gather and interact with one another – and with goats.

The recent issue of ARTnews spotlights Nicole Berry, alum (‘05) and executive director of The Armory Show, in an extensive interview.  Berry discusses her career, education at UC Davis, staging this year’s fair, the art market’s general outlook, and the future she has in store for the Armory Show.

A Companion to Viceregal Mexico City, 1519-1821, a new book edited by Assistant Professor John Lopez, has just been released by Brill Press. A Companion to Viceregal Mexico City is the third volume in Brill’s Companions to the Americas series.

Professor Katharine Burnett’s new book Shaping Chinese Art History: Pang Yuanji and His Painting Collection has made Book Authority’s 16 Best New Art History Books To Read In 2021. Congratulations Professor Burnett!

In addition to Burnett, alumna Jennifer Dasal’s (B.A., ‘02) ArtCurious: Stories of the Unexpected, Slightly Odd, and Strangely Wonderful in Art History​ has made the list.

The Verge Center for the Art’s original documentary series About the Artist: Making Art in the Golden State premiers Thursday, July 22 with an episode featuring alum and Sacramento-based artist Manuel Fernando Rios (M.F.A., ‘11). The new film series which highlights local artists also showcases the work of alum from the Department of Art and Art History.

Sculpture Collections in Europe and the United States 1500-1930: Variety and Ambiguity includes a chapter contribution — “Porcelain as Sculpture: Medium, Materiality, and the Categories of Eighteenth-Century Collecting” — by Professor Michael Yonan. The book evolved from a symposium “Sculpture Collecting and Display, 1600-2000,” organized by the Center for the History of Collecting, that was held at The Frick Collection on May 19 and 20, 2017.

Michael Yonan, Professor of Art History and the Alan Templeton Endowed Chair in the History of European Art, recently published an article in Materia: Journal of Technical Art History entitled “Technical Art History and the Art Historical Thing.”

Professor Talinn Grigor, chair of Art History, has just launched her most recent book The Persian Revival: The Imperialism of the Copy in Iranian and Parsi Architecture. This book, published by Penn State University Press, will be released July 8.

The Courtauld Institute in London recently conducted a panel discussion on “Post-conflict: Art History and Cultural Heritage in Dialogue” which featured Professors Heghnar Watenpaugh and Talinn Grigor.

Join in on a conversation comparing tea culture and practices as found in China, Japan and Korea.

The Rethinking Iran Initiative at The Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) is sponsoring a conversation between Leili Sreberny-Mohammadi and Professor Talinn Grigor on ”Art, Politics, and U.S. Sanctions on Iran.” This event will take place Wednesday, June 2 from 12-1 PM EST and is remote and open to the public.

The Rethinking Iran Initiative explores the cultural, societal, and political changes and continuities taking place in present-day Iran.

Alum Daniel Trejo’s (BA, Art Studio and Art History, 2013) solo exhibition “Gravity Don’t Pull Me,” is on view at the East Gallery Space (Axis Gallery) for the month of May. This exhibition is an examination of personal narratives and experiences when environments become unreachable, alter through time, and a reconciliation for the discrepancies are exigent. 

Axis Gallery
625 S Street
Sacramento, California

New  Gallery hours: Saturday and Sunday 12 – 5pm

Join Justina Martino (MA, Art History, ‘15) for a Verge Art Center Lunchtime Art Chat with Muzi Li Rowe (MFA, Art Studio, ‘17) on April 30 at 12:00 PM (PST). Muzi, a Verge Center Ali Youssefi Project alum, will share a slideshow about her art, inspirations and processes and attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions. 

In this series, host Justina introduces regional artists. Each chat features a brief interview with the artist, a slide show of the artist’s art and inspirations, and an audience Q&A. 

Congratulations to Dada Wang (MA candidate, ‘22) on her ArtTable fellow award!

The Art History Program is seeking a new leader for the Art History Club. For this voluntary position, we are hoping to find an art history major with junior or senior standing who has completed at least one upper division art history course, excited to be a leader, and has ideas about different ways students can engage in art history beyond classroom learning. Your role would be supervised by Professor Strazdes and funds are available to visits to museums (with social distancing of course).