Art History

Considered the premier American art museum in the South.

Displays Italian, Spanish, French, English, Flemish, Dutch, and German sacred art from the 14th through the 19th centuries in over 25 galleries.

Celebrates outstanding artistic creativity through its collection, exhibitions and programs, interacting in ways that engage the mind and enrich the spirit.

Shines a light on the groundbreaking Two Centuries of Black American Art exhibition's extraordinary impact on generations of African American artists who have staked a claim on their rightful place within the 21st-century art world.

This documentary by filmmaker Elliot Caplan examines the paintings of American artist Robert Zakanitch and the 1981 exhibition of his work at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia.

The ruins of the stone temple Angkor Wat, and the royal city Angkor Thom, are the largest in scale and are the most valuable in terms of artistic merit. The construction of the Mogao Caves- the world’s largest cave-temple complex- began in the 4th Century BC, and continued on for a further 1000 years.

In this program, art historian Gus Casely-Hayford tours the ruins of Kerma and Meroe, two of Nubia’s great capitals, to examine some of the cultural treasures these complex civilizations left behind.

This program takes a deep look into Hokusai’s The Great Wave, interpreting the story it tells and scrutinizing formal aspects.

Roman, Gothic, Baroque, and Rococo religious art, along with Christian iconography, are examined as reflections of the religious and political attitudes of the periods in which they were created.

This program goes to Mexico to unravel the enigmatic history of Teotihuacán, a 2,000-year-old urban wonder and one of the largest settlements of the ancient world.