History of Art and Design Dep.

Artwork Analysis — Edward Hopper, Nighthawks (1942) Hopper paints with precision and restraint: smooth brushstrokes, crisp edges, and light that feels almost architectural. The diner’s glow isolates its figures, turning an ordinary night into a study of stillness, distance, and modern urban life. #ArtHistory #ArtworkAnalysis #EdwardHopper #arthistory #historyofdesign #ArtHistory #ArtAndDesign #pratt #arthistory101 #art

This month's art post: Trust visions that don't feature buckets of blood, 1983-1984 by Jenny Holzer and Lady Pink. "In the 1980s, Holzer and Lady Pink used New York as a backdrop for their artworks: Holzer wheatpasted posters and slogans on walls throughout Manhattan, and Lady Pink spray-painted graffiti on buildings and subway cars. The two also collaborated on a series of paintings on canvas, such as this work, for which Holzer composed phrases and Lady Pink did the painting. Trust visions that don’t feature buckets of blood was based on a recent image by the documentary photographer Susan Meiselas, who worked extensively in Nicaragua during the armed conflict that roiled the nation for decades in the second half of the twentieth century." MoMA gallery label from 2019, (Source: /collection/works/290520) #ArtAndDesign #ArtHistory #historyofdesign #pratt #arthistory #arthistory101 #art

You are warmly invited to the 2026 HAD Student Symposium, featuring research presentations by HAD Undergraduate and Graduate students. Date: Friday, April 25, 2025 Time: 10:30 am – 3:00 pm Location: Alumni Reading Room Please RSVP and save the date! The morning session (10:30am –12:45pm) will showcase research presentations by HAD undergraduate students, followed by graduate thesis presentations from 1:45–3:00pm. Lunch will be served during the break--so please be sure to RSVP. Also, please remember that the Keynote Address, delivered by Dare Turner, Curator of Indigenous Art, Brooklyn Museum, will take place the night before on Thursday, April 23rd at 5:30 in the Alumni Reading Room. Family and friends are welcome!

We invite you to “Curation as Care," a keynote address by Dare Turner (Yurok Tribe), Curator of Indigenous Art at the Brooklyn Museum. Date: Thursday, April 23, 2026 Time: 5:30 - 7:00 PM Venue: Alumni Reading Room If you are interested in attending, please RSVP. * This event is open for Pratt community and the general public. In this talk, Dare Turner (Yurok Tribe), Curator of Indigenous Art at the Brooklyn Museum, discusses Indigenous community representation, engagement, and dialogue through the curation of historical and contemporary Native art in encyclopedic museums. Turner will address the concept of "curation as care" as it relates to her recent projects and her role in stewarding the Brooklyn Museum's Indigenous art collection. She will also speak about the exhibition initiative she co-curated with Leila Grothe at the Baltimore Museum of Art entitled “Preoccupied: Indigenizing the Museum,” the reinstallation of the Brooklyn Museum's American Art wing, and her collaboration with museum professionals and Indigenous knowledge keepers alike. Dare Turner is the Curator of Indigenous Art at the Brooklyn Museum and a member of the Yurok Tribe. In 2024, she co-organized Preoccupied: Indigenizing the Museum at the Baltimore Museum of Art, which included nine exhibitions, interpretative interventions across the Museum, and a catalogue. At the Brooklyn Museum, she curated Nico Williams: Aaniin, I See Your Light and co-curated Towards Joy: New Frameworks for American Art, a radical reinstallation of the American Wing guided by Indigenous ways of knowing and Black feminist theory. Her forthcoming exhibition and book, Hopi Kachina Dolls: Blessings for a Balanced World, will debut at the Brooklyn Museum in October 2026. On Friday, April 24th, Turner will return to serve as respondent for the HAD student symposium. We encourage everyone to participate in this two-day celebration of our students' accomplishments. #ArtAndDesign #art #arthistory101 #pratt #pratthad #design #ArtHistory

Art Nouveau (1890–1910) A movement that broke away from historical revival styles and embraced a new, nature-driven modernity. Emerging across Europe at the turn of the century, it sought to unite art, architecture, and everyday life. Key characteristics: organic lines, whiplash curves, botanical motifs, and a deep commitment to craftsmanship across architecture, furniture, and graphic design. Example: the iconic Paris Métro Entrance, where iron and glass twist into vine-like forms, turning a public transit entry into sculptural urban art. A reminder that design can be functional, expressive, and poetic all at once. #pratthad #arthistory101 #ArtAndDesign #pratt #art #design

The evolution of Western art is a story of creativity, innovation, and cultural transformation. From the idealized forms of ancient Greece and Rome to the spiritual intricacies of the Middle Ages, and finally to the humanistic revival of the Renaissance, each era brought new ways of seeing and depicting the world. Join us as we explore key moments and masterpieces that shaped art history, highlighting timeless works and groundbreaking techniques that continue to inspire today. A journey through the foundations of Western art: Classical Era: Idealized beauty & mythological themes. Example: "Laocoön and His Sons" (c. 40-30 BCE) Middle Ages: Art turned spiritual with intricate designs. Example: The Book of Kells (c. 800 CE) Renaissance: A rebirth of humanism, realism, and perspective. Example: "The Birth of Venus" by Botticelli (c. 1485) Innovations: Leonardo da Vinci redefined art with works like Mona Lisa (1503-1506) and The Last Supper (1495-1498). #art #historyofdesign #arthistory101 #ArtAndDesign #arthistory #ArtHistory #pratthad #pratt

“When bicycle handlebars inspired a revolution in furniture.” The 1925 Wassily Chair, designed at the Bauhaus, shows how industrial materials transformed modern living. A milestone in tubular steel design that remains timeless almost a century later. #ArtHistory #historyofdesign #ArtAndDesign #arthistory #art #arthistory101

This month's art term: Vorticism Definition: A short-lived British avant-garde movement, formed in London in 1914, with the aim of creating art that expressed the dynamism of the modern world. Visually, it may be thought of as the British equivalent to Italian Futurism. Vorticist art features Cubist fragmentation combined with hard-edged imagery inspired by machines and the urban environment. #historyofart #historyofdesign #pratt #ArtAndDesign #ArtHistory #pratthad #art #arthistory101 #arthistory

Professor Eana Kim and students from “Art Since the Sixties”visited the New Museum during its reopening week to experience the newly renovated building and the exhibition “New Humans: Memories of the Future.” The visit extended classroom discussions on curatorial practice, art and technology, and posthumanist discourse, with a focus on how contemporary exhibitions frame evolving definitions of the human.

You are invited to "Art Within Reach," by Ezra Shales. * This event is for Pratt community only. Date: Monday, March 30th Time: 6:00–8:00 pm Venue: Alumni Reading Room About the Project: Pitchers of American Life: Art Within Reach (Bloomsbury 2026) discusses vessels preserved from ancient indigenous American cultures, those caught in the spiderwebs of antique shops, and common tools used for drinks lurking in modern kitchens. Might a history of art extracted from the cupboard liberate us from usual cultural hierarchies of the Grand Tour—and make the idea of art more accessible and relevant? A vision of design/craft/art intersecting at our fingertips provides a deliberately provocative strategy to move beyond inherited limitations and prejudices. The presentation will include 'show-and-touch' engagement with a selection from mass-produced goods. How does a design once on display at the London Crystal Palace in 1851 compare to one from our Plasticene era? About the Speaker: Professor in the History of Art department at Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Ezra Shales, Ph.D., is the author of The Shape of Craft (Reaktion, 2017) and Made in Newark: Cultivating Industrial Arts and Civic Identity in the Progressive Era (Rutgers University Press, 2010). He has contributed to exhibition catalogs for artists Polly Apfelbaum, Neil Brownsword, Kim Dickey, Shari Mendelson, and Dan Walsh and published in the Journal of Modern Craft and Journal of Design History.

You are invited to "Robin Tewes: Painting, Activism, and the Politics of Visibility,"by Robin Tewes. * This event is for Pratt community only. Date: Wednesday, April 1st Time: 5:00–7:00 pm Venue: Alumni Reading Room About the Project: In this lecture, Robin Tewes reflects on the intersection of her painting practice and her engagement with feminist institutional critique. Moving between the studio and collective action, she will discuss how figurative painting can register lived experience, labor, and structures of power, while also participating in broader conversations about visibility and equity in the art world. Drawing on her involvement with the Guerrilla Girls and her long history in artist-run spaces, Tewes considers how sustained studio practice and activism inform one another across decades of work. About the Speaker: Robin Tewes is a New York–based painter and educator whose work has been widely exhibited nationally and internationally, including at MoMA, P.S.1, the Whitney Museum, the Drawing Center, and is in the Smithsonian Archives of American Art. A founding member of P.S.122 Painting Space in 1975, she has been active in artist-run initiatives throughout her career. Tewes was also a member of the Guerrilla Girls, the feminist collective known for exposing gender and racial inequities in the art world. Her work has been reviewed in The New York Times, Artforum, Art in America, and numerous other publications.

You are invited to "The Fragile, the Flammable, and the Forbidden: Books in the Art of Xie Xiaoze," by Xiaoze Xie. Date: Thursday, March 5th Time: 5:30–7:00 pm Venue: Main 212 If you are interested in attending, please RSVP. * This event is for Pratt community only. About the Project: Renowned artist Xiaoze Xie will discuss his exploration of the theme of the library spanning three decades, along with his ambitious project engaging the history of banned books in China. He will share his concepts, research, and creative processes through photographs, videos, and captivating images of paintings, sculptures and installations. About the Speaker: Xiaoze Xie is an internationally recognized artist and the Paul L. & Phyllis Wattis Professor of Art at Stanford University. Xie has exhibited extensively in the U.S. and internationally. His recent solo exhibitions include "Amber of History: Reimagining the Library Cave at Dunhuang" at the Tsinghua University Art Museum in Beijing (2025), “Objects of Evidence” at the Asia Society Museum in New York City (2019-20) and “Eyes On” at the Denver Art Museum (2017-18). His work is in the permanent collection of such institutions as the Denver Art Museum, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Oakland Museum of California, San Francisco Asian Art Museum, San Jose Museum of Art, among others.