The Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum will host Dr. Richard Brettell next month for its John Bienvenu Lecture Series.
Brettell, an internationally-renowned scholar of impressionism and French painting from 1830 to 1930, will discuss 鈥淚mpressionist Gardens Beyond Giverny: Pissarro鈥檚 House and Garden in Eragny.鈥
The lecture will be held at 7 p.m. on Friday, March 11, at Hilliard University Art Museum. It will center on painter Camille Pissaro鈥檚 farm in Eragny, France, in comparison to the home and garden of another impressionist master, Claude Monet, in nearby Giverny.
In 1884, both Pissarro and Monet moved to the small farms that became their homes until their deaths, in 1903 and 1926, respectively. The residences of the two painters, on the small Creuse River in the Normandy region, are separated by a relatively short distance.
Despite the proximity, a vast gulf exists today in the number of visitors to each location. Pissarro鈥檚 home and studio, which are privately owned, are seldom visited. Monet鈥檚 home and garden, on the other hand, attract hundreds of thousands of tourists each year.
Brettell鈥檚 talk, which will include photos of each residence and of paintings by each man, will explore the disparity in a cultural, moral and political context.
Brettell is founding director of The Edith O鈥橠onnell Institute of Art History, and the Margaret McDermott Distinguished Chair of Art and Aesthetic Studies, at the University of Texas at Dallas. He has worked as a museum consultant for projects in Europe, Asia and the United States. Brettell was awarded the title of commander in the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, or Order of Arts and Letters.
The annual lecture series was established by Gloria Callais in honor of her late brother, John Bartholomew Bienvenu. Each year, the University Art Museum hosts a lecture, symposium or panel discussion related to art.
Bienvenu died in 2012 at the age of 62. The University alum was a psychologist who also taught courses at his alma mater, in subjects like horticulture and art.
Hilliard University Art Museum features 11,000 square feet of gallery space and is the largest exhibition space between Houston and New Orleans.
It houses a collection of 18th- through 21st-century European, Asian and American art. In addition to its permanent collection, it offers changing exhibitions of regional, national and international art.
To learn more, visit or call (337) 482-2278.