Asia and European Art (Orientalism)
6-weeks | Available (Membership Required)
Europeans have long been fascinated by Asia, "the Mysterious East”. This class will examine the vision of Asia as imagined and/or misunderstood by Western minds from the Crusades and the Rococo fantasies of Chinoiserie and Turquerie to the important 19th century art movement, Orientalism, and the craze for Japonisme after Japan was opened to international trade in 1858.
David Roberts
David Roberts is a graduate of SUNY New Paltz. He has lectured at Vassar LLI, Marist CLS, Poughkeepsie Library, and other venues. He currently is an adjunct at FIT. He has also taught at SUNY New Paltz, Marist University, and Montclair State University.
Gala Leganof
Gala Leganof is a scholar and artist whose work bridges politics and the arts. She holds a B.A. cum laude in International Politics from Marist University and an M.A. from McGill University, and continued her studies in United Nations governance at Columbia University. She has taught and lectured on international affairs and is a recognized commentator on LinkedIn.
A lifelong artist, Gala trained in Russia, Ukraine, Canada, and the United States and founded the Leganof Gallery. Her multilingual background led her to explore Fabergé art through Russian-language archival sources, inspiring her ongoing research and classes on Fabergé’s connection to the final years of the Romanov dynasty.