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The Vertical: From Nelson's Column to the Ruthwell Monument (YCL Extended Network)

When
19 Jan 2015
6:30 PM - 7:30 PM
Location
Sainsbury Wing Theatre, The National Gallery, London WC2N 5DN

The Paul Mellon Lecture Series 2015
presents
The Vertical From Nelson's Column to the Ruthwell Monument

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Monday 19 January 2015

6:30 - 7:30 pm

Sainsbury Wing Theatre

The National Gallery

Trafalgar Square

London WC2N 5DN

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About the Event:

The first lecture of a series of five begins in Trafalgar Square, with Nelson's Column and Charing Cross. Focusing on the verticality of sculptures in many forms - including columns, crosses, milestones, markers, sundials and beacons - the lecture concludes with an examination of the way in which the Ruthwell Monument combines these various attributes.

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About the Lecture Series:

The Yale Club of London is proud to announce the Paul Mellon Lecture Series 2015: Sculpture on the Threshold - An enquiry into the underlying forms of sculpture, by Penelope Curtis, Director of Tate Britain

The lecture series will take place between Monday 19 January and 16 February and consists of five lectures sponsored by the Paul Mellon Centre. These lectures will take a wide-ranging look at the underlying forms of sculpture. Focusing on four key aspects - the vertical, the horizontal, the closed and the open - the lectures explore sculptural forms across time, and suggest fundamental continuities. Taking examples from the early medieval to the present, and looking at utilitarian as well as idealising formulae, the series suggests that we bring a deep subliminal understanding to our experience of sculpture, and that sculpture occupies a position on the physical and conceptual threshold of our familiar world.

This year, the lectures will be delivered by Penelope Curtis, Director of Tate Britain. Curtis has principally published on sculpture after Rodin, but as curator of the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds she also developed a wide-ranging programme examining the materials and meanings of sculpture across time and place. She has written for and about many contemporary artists, and her most recent book is 'Patio and Pavilion: The Place of Sculpture in Modern Architecture' (Ridinghouse/Getty, 2007/8).

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Registration:

Tickets are £6/£4 concessions for each lecture and you can purchase tickets online through The National Gallery website (click here).

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About the Paul Mellon Lectures:
The Paul Mellon Lectures, which are named in honour of the philanthropist and collector of British art, Paul Mellon (1907–1999), were inaugurated in 1994 when Professor Francis Haskell delivered the first series at the National Gallery in London. The model for the series was the Andrew W. Mellon lectures, established in 1949 in honour of Paul Mellon’s father, the founder of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. The lectures are given biennially by a distinguished historian of British art.