UCSC Emeriti Lecture, Apr 21, 2011
Music Recital Hall, UCSC, 7pm
"Caterpillage: Small-scale Violence in 17th Century Dutch Still-Life
Painting."
Harry Berger, Jr. ,
Research Professor, Literature, UC Santa Cruz
This talk is about the strange accent on disorder in 17th century Dutch
paintings of still life. The still-life genre includes pictures of
flowers and food in domestic and outdoor settings. Its focus is on the
conflict between an emphasis on order, harmony, and formal beauty, and an
emphasis on disorder, damage, and death. I'll view still life through
the lens provided by Stephen Colbert's idea of "truthiness" and devote
special attention to the way still life painters delight in depicting the
depredations inflicted by such tiny terrorists as snails and
caterpillars.
About Professor Berger