Talks & Conversations

Finding Awe: Billy Morrow Jackson’s Eve 

Part of Finding Awe
This painting shows a side view of a two-story house with a wrap-around porch. The house occupies most of the frame, with a faint, blurred horizon at the bottom left. The siding of the house is in shades of white and gray, and the roof is a slightly darker blue-gray color. Many windows are visible, partially or entirely covered by window shades in pale yellow, light green, and light blue. Near the center of the image, a large American flag is hung on the side of the building under the porch. It ripples slightly in the wind. On the left, by the red door of the house, an indistinct person sits on a bench or swing on the porch, wearing a teal jacket. The sky is white, and the ground beneath the house is a pale yellowish-green color.
Billy Morrow Jackson, Eve, 1967, oil on hardboard, Gift of the Artist, 1970.15.1

Explore how awe propels creativity and learn how Billy Morrow Jackson packed a complex array of emotions into scenes of everyday life.

During this 90-minute pause from your daily route, we’ll look slowly and mindfully at Billy Morrow Jackson’s Eve. You’ll be invited to look closely, wonder, and share your insights with the group. Together, we’ll learn “awe practices” that you can bring to your everyday life.

When the workshop is full, the registration button will stop working. Due to last-minute cancellations, check back on the morning of the April 17th or April 18th workshop for available tickets. Questions? Email us at [email protected].

"Finding Awe" is grounded in the National Gallery’s mission to welcome all people to explore and experience art, creativity, and our shared humanity. It offers new “awe practices” drawn from the research of Dacher Keltner, professor of psychology at the University of California-Berkeley, director of The Greater Good Science Center, and author of Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life (2023). Research shows that experiences of awe help support mental and physical wellbeing and open us up to greater creativity and deeper empathy. Explore awe at the National Gallery of Art.

Awe at the National Gallery of Art

Find ways to nurture an awe mindset—both at the museum and at home.

Explore more

You may also like

This painting shows a woman sitting with her body turned to the right, her hands clasped around her knees and her head tilted up to the ceiling. Her eyes are closed, and her long, wavy hair flows over her shoulders and down her back. She has pale skin, and her face is illuminated by dramatic lighting, highlighting her round cheeks and small nose. She is wearing a white blouse with ruffled sleeves that drapes off of her right shoulder, exposing her neck, sternum, and part of her shoulder. Over this shirt she seems to be wearing a draped purple garment with a yellow border that covers her other shoulder and her legs. The background is dark.

virtual

Talks & Conversations:  The Art of Looking: Artemisia Gentileschi, Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy 

–
Registration Required
A sky streaked with azure blue stretches over a gray landscape in this surreal, vertical painting. The sky and land meet halfway up the canvas at a series of short, sharp, charcoal-gray peaks, like canine teeth. Small, diffuse, butter-yellow ovals waft above the peaks. Nine fluffy, cotton-ball like shapes cast narrow shadows across the gray-streaked plane. Three amorphous shapes float over the land closer to us. A ginger-brown, drippy form is to our left, a teal-green, bean-shaped object surrounded with fuzzy white tentacles is to our right, and a peacock-blue, L-shaped drip floats in the distance near the horizon. Thinly painted white and gray lines squiggle or sweep onto the canvas from the left edge. The artist signed and dated the painting in the lower right, “Yves Tanguy 29.”

virtual

Talks & Conversations:  The Art of Looking: Yves Tanguy, The Look of Amber

–
Registration Required
The image shows a woman seated on a chair in a luxurious environment. She has fair skin, delicate features, and wavy light brown hair styled in a partial updo. She wears an elegant cream gown with a red overcoat lined in white fur. A maid holds a tray with a glass, a small loaf, and a gold pitcher, while the woman holds a silver platter. Next to the woman, there are ornate armor and weapons on the floor. A painting of a man in historical attire hangs on the wall. The room features wooden paneling and elegant furnishings.

virtual

Talks & Conversations:  The Art of Looking: Marguerite Gérard, Deserved Sorrows

–
Registration Required