A founder of Christian monasticism in fourth-century Egypt, Anthony Abbot experienced legendary battles with demons, which gave rise to extraordinarily imaginative representations of the monstrous and frightening temptations he combated. He also was a healer of infectious diseases, especially ergotism (or Saint Anthony's Fire). The discussion will explore Anthony's extensive cult and accounts of his life, followed by a gallery examination of art in the National Gallery's collection depicting multiple aspects of his legend.

Read in advance:
Before the discussion, read about Anthony Abbot on the Internet, as well as the "Life of Anthony, of Egypt" in an online version of The Golden Legend by Jacobus de Voragine

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Surrealism—an international intellectual, literary, and artistic movement that gained considerable currency in the 1920s—attracted such artists as Jean Arp, Max Ernst, André Masson, René Magritte, Yves Tanguy, Salvador Dalí, and Joan Miró, who found that the worlds of fantasy and reality could merge in their creative work. The art they produced was experimental, provocative, and often paradoxical. These artists moved to invent new visual practices, to embrace the marvelous, and to accord overwhelming power to the unconscious and dream imagery as rooted in the psychoanalytical discoveries of Freud and in the political ideology of Marxism.

Read in advance:
Chipp, Herschel B. Theories of Modern Art: A Source Book by Artists and Critics. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1968 (397–445). Available for purchase through online booksellers.

Online registration begins February 8 at noon.