“Martin Johnson Heade: A Strange Art Life Brought Up To Date” with Dr. Theodore E. Stebbins

October 19, 2021

Join us in welcoming Dr. Theodore E. Stebbins, former curator at the Museum of Fine Arts and Harvard’s Fogg Museum for a virtual lecture on what he calls Martin Johnson Heade’s “topsy-turvy career.” During this virtual presentation, Dr. Stebbins will provide a glimpse at some of his own changing thoughts on the painter, the circumstances of Heade’s rediscovery in 1943, and the way Heade’s reputation has continued to grow. He will also focus on Heade’s special relationship with Frederic E. Church and the various ways that Heade’s work has been interpreted by scholars in recent years. Dr. Stebbins has been studying Martin Johnson Heade’s work since 1965 and organized the landmark exhibition of Heade’s work at the MFA in 1999. In 2000, he published Heade’s catalogue raisonne, listing his 621 authentic paintings.

This virtual lecture is presented by The Thomas Cole National Historic Site and The Olana Partnership at Olana State Historic Site in conjunction with “Cross Pollination: Heade, Cole, Church, and Our Contemporary Moment,” a joint exhibition created by Thomas Cole National Historical Site, The Olana Partnership at Olana State Historic Site, and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas.