The "Golden Age of Athens" is closely associated with the statesman Pericles, who led the city during a period of unprecedented political, artistic, intellectual, and literary revolution. Loren J. Samons II, professor and chair of classical studies at Boston University, questions how much praise Pericles himself and Athenian democracy deserve for Athens' achievements in the second half of the fifth century B.C., and how much blame they must assume for the Peloponnesian War, which devastated Greece and mortally wounded the independent Hellenic city-state.

Free; a ticket is required. Call (310) 440-7300 or get tickets online.

Color was used extensively in sculpture from antiquity through the Renaissance. But the leading art historian of the 19th century, Jakob Burckhardt, despised color in sculpture and the excessive realism it created. "True" sculpture, he argued, was colorless. Bruce Boucher, curator of European sculpture at the Art Institute of Chicago, explores this debate and further explains Burckhardt's antipathy towards polychromed sculpture.

This program complements the exhibition The Color of Life: Polychromy in Sculpture from Antiquity to the Present, on view through June 23.

Free; a ticket is required. Call (310) 440-7300 or get tickets online.

Against a backdrop of earlier monochrome works, 20th-century sculpture erupted with bold chromatic variety. From Pablo Picasso to James Turrell, color became a ubiquitous element of sculptural expression. Steven Nash, executive director of the Palm Springs Art Museum, examines this development, tracing it from statues that emulate paintings to works incorporating colored light.

This program complements the exhibition The Color of Life: Polychromy in Sculpture from Antiquity to the Present, on view through June 23.

Free; a ticket is required. Call (310) 440-7300 or get tickets online.

This two-day symposium, presented in conjunction with the exhibition The Color of Life: Polychromy in Sculpture from Antiquity to the Present (on view through June 23), brings together an international group of scholars and conservators to explore conceptual and technical issues associated with polychrome sculpture. Topics to be explored include historiography, conservation, iconography, and artistic collaboration, as well as issues related to diverse materials and techniques.

Free; advance registration is required.

Learn more and register online.

RELATED LECTURE
Color in Classical Sculpture: A Challenge to Western Ideals
Jan Stubbe Østergaard
Thursday, May 1, 8:00 p.m.
Getty Villa, Auditorium

The idea that ancient Greek and Roman statuary was conceived in white marble remains pervasive. This has influenced not only our understanding of sculpture in antiquity but also the aesthetic ideals of later Western art and architecture—ideals that are part of our cultural identity. But interdisciplinary research demonstrates that color was inherent to ancient statuary. Jan Stubbe Østergaard, curator of ancient art at the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen, surveys our knowledge of ancient sculptural polychromy and discusses its repercussions.

Free; a ticket is required and can be requested as part of symposium registration. To obtain a ticket for the lecture only, call (310) 440-7300 or get tickets online.