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Gallery Talk—Blue Women: To Draw or Not to Draw Dutch Female Nudes from Life?

Drawing of a seated female nude leaning to the right with her head turned upward.
Jacob Adriaensz. Backer, Dutch, Seated Female Nude (Study for Venus), c. 1650. Black and white chalk on blue antique laid paper. The Maida and George Abrams Collection, Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Gift of George S. Abrams in appreciation of William Robinson’s services as curator of drawings, 1988–2013, 2013.170.

Gallery Talk

In-Person
Harvard Art Museums
32 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA

Join curatorial fellow Talitha Maria G. Schepers for an interactive talk that explores why 17th-century Dutch artists decided to draw female nudes from life, the conventions they broke while doing so, and why they used blue paper. The talk will focus on a recent installation of Dutch drawings in the 17th-Century Dutch and Flemish Art Gallery (2300).

Our galleries are full of stories—this series of talks gives visitors a chance to hear the best ones! The talks highlight new works on view, take a fresh look at old favorites, investigate artists’ materials and techniques, and reveal the latest discoveries by curators, conservators, fellows, visiting artists, technologists, and other contributors.

Led by:
Talitha Maria G. Schepers, Stanley H. Durwood Foundation Curatorial Fellow, Division of European and American Art

Gallery talks are limited to 18 people, and it is required that you reserve your place. At 10am the day of the event, reservations will open and may be arranged online through this form. The gallery talk reservation will also serve as your general museum reservation. If required, visitors will pay the museum admission fee upon arrival.

Please meet in the Calderwood Courtyard, in front of the digital screens between the shop and the admissions desk.

Please see the museum visit page to learn about our general policies for visiting the museum.

The Harvard Art Museums are committed to accessibility for all visitors. For anyone requiring accessibility accommodations for our programs, please contact us at am_register@harvard.edu at least 48 hours in advance.