The Arts & History   

A second Mona Lisa painted at a younger age is authenticated as a Leonardo; the $450 million Salvador Mundi reveals its secrets; an outrageous portrait of an aristocrat turns out to be a Rembrandt self-portrait many times painted over. Looking under the paint surface with the aid of new technologies, enduring mysteries of the art world are being solved, and masterpieces of art are revealing their long-held secrets. This new installment of important discoveries and mysteries in the art world features vividly detailed images and captivating scholarly and forensic work.

Please be sure to register by the day before the class at the latest. You will receive an invitation email with a link to join the Zoom meeting. Click here for a tutorial on how to join a Zoom meeting.

No director in the history of film has been more influential than Steven Spielberg. A figure of the New Hollywood era, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. We will explore his influences, his style, and his filmography including Jaws (1975), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), E.T.  (1982), Schindler's List (1993), and Saving Private Ryan (1998). We will also discuss Spielberg's new semi-autobiographical film The Fablemans (2022) which explores the origins of his passion for filmmaking.

Please be sure to register by the day before the class at the latest. You will receive an invitation email with a link to join the Zoom meeting. Click here for a tutorial on how to join a Zoom meeting.

Considered the Last Golden Age of American Cinema, or “The American New Wave,” the 1970s brought some of the most momentous films and filmmakers of all time. Influenced by Asian cinema and European film movements like The French New Wave of the late ’50s and early ‘60s, films like Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather (1972), William Friedkin’s The Exorcist (1973), Steven Spielberg’s Jaws (1975) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), and George Lucas’s Star Wars (1977) ushered in an era of the most commercially successful period in Hollywood’s history, and a generation of auteurs and "film school brats" who changed the world of filmmaking as well as American culture forever. Filmmaker and film historian Greg Blank breaks down the influences and relationships of these film directors, discusses the important films of the era, and shows clips from the documentaries A Decade Under The Influence (2003) and Easy Riders, Raging Bulls (2003).

Please be sure to register by the day before the class at the latest. You will receive an invitation email with a link to join the Zoom meeting. Click here for a tutorial on how to join a Zoom meeting.

Join us as we explore the “Nickel Empire," aka Coney Island. Its history as a resort starts in 1829 when it became home to hotels, bathhouses, and amusements. Once the capital of thrills and entertainment, sideshows, roller coasters, fun houses, and more, today it is also home to the Mermaid Parade, the Coney Island Museum, NY Aquarium, the Brooklyn Cyclones, and much more! Susan Birnbaum teaches you all about the history as well as all Coney Island has to offer in this eye-opening virtual tour.

Straight off the screen of the Julian Fellowes's drama, The Gilded Age on HBO, this webinar will cover some of the most magnificent mansions built (and still standing!) in Westchester County, many of which you can visit today. We’ll cover the history and development of Westchester County; the division with Connecticut’s Fairfield County; and “visit” the Gould mansion, Lyndhurst; Rockefeller’s Kykuit; and the gilded age home of the Hudson River Museum, Glenview; as well as others!

Please be sure to register by the day before the class at the latest. You will receive an invitation email with a link to join the Zoom meeting. Click here for a tutorial on how to join a Zoom meeting.

 

Get ready for HBO’s, The Gilded Age Season 2 this March 2023 with recap of Season 1. With historical perspective and vintage photographs, Ginny will place you in 1880s New York, reviewing the historical events, fashion, locations, and the real people that surrounded the fictional old-money Van Rhijns and the new-money Russells. You’ll see how the show’s production recreated 1882 New York; the fashion inspiration behind the opulent 19th-century costumes; and the backstories of New York’s elite featured in the show, like Mrs. Astor and Stanford White.

Please be sure to register by the day before the class at the latest. You will receive an invitation email with a link to join the Zoom meeting. Click here for a tutorial on how to join a Zoom meeting.

Get ready for HBO’s, The Gilded Age Season 2 this March 2023 with recap of Season 1. With historical perspective and vintage photographs, Ginny will place you in 1880s New York, reviewing the historical events, fashion, locations, and the real people that surrounded the fictional old-money Van Rhijns and the new-money Russells. You’ll see how the show’s production recreated 1882 New York; the fashion inspiration behind the opulent 19th-century costumes; and the backstories of New York’s elite featured in the show, like Mrs. Astor and Stanford White.

Please be sure to register by the day before the class at the latest. You will receive an invitation email with a link to join the Zoom meeting. Click here for a tutorial on how to join a Zoom meeting.

For students who want to register for all four Februrary History Happy Hour classes at the same time for a combined discounted rate. Series includes:

Medieval Heraldry - Wednesday, February 1

Normandy -- the Desired Duchy - Wednesday, February 8

Medieval Jerusalem - Wednesday, February 15

The Mayhem of the Merovingians - Wednesday, February 22

To register for individual classes of the series, please click on the class titles above.

Please be sure to register by the day before the class at the latest. You will receive an invitation email with a link to join the Zoom meeting. Click here for a tutorial on how to join a Zoom meeting.

What on earth is meant by “gules, three lions passant guardant in pale or armed and langued azure”? One of the most iconic elements of medieval life, heraldry and coats of arms evoke courtly romances as much as battlefield clashes. Join us as we learn heraldic origins, terminology, and uses from the Middle Ages.

Please be sure to register by the day before the class at the latest. You will receive an invitation email with a link to join the Zoom meeting. Click here for a tutorial on how to join a Zoom meeting.

Perched beside Brittany on France’s Channel coast, the duchy of Normandy has a colorful history of changing hands in the Middle Ages.  Occupied since prehistory, it was the province of Celtic tribes in Roman times, became a tenth-century Norse outpost, launched a party that conquered Sicily, and spent time connected to the English crown.  This lecture will take us through archeological evidence, narratives of exploits, and the evocative coastlines of this much-desired region.

Please be sure to register by the day before the class at the latest. You will receive an invitation email with a link to join the Zoom meeting. Click here for a tutorial on how to join a Zoom meeting.

The central city of three monotheisms and the site of cultural diversity, Jerusalem also plays many symbolic and mystical roles in medieval hearts. This lecture will traverse major landmarks like the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the Temple Mount, peruse medieval maps depicting the holy city, and hear from chroniclers and crusaders who luckily visited it.

Please be sure to register by the day before the class at the latest. You will receive an invitation email with a link to join the Zoom meeting. Click here for a tutorial on how to join a Zoom meeting.

Bishop Gregory of Tours left us ten volumes of history right up to his own sixth-century days, when the Merovingian dynasty ruled the Franco-German region. Except the picture isn’t exactly flattering: full of court intrigue, violence, vendetta, and (perhaps unintended) humor, Gregory introduces us to a whole host of characters with outlandish names. Join us as we meet some of the Theudebalds, Chariberts, and Brunhildas that populate his pages and give us a glimpse into the Frankish world.

Please be sure to register by the day before the class at the latest. You will receive an invitation email with a link to join the Zoom meeting. Click here for a tutorial on how to join a Zoom meeting.

The old Farley Post Office is one of the last vestiges of McKim, Mead, & White’s architectural designs in the old Penn Station neighborhood. See how this Beaux Arts beauty is being painstakingly conserved to its former glory, and how the rest of the building was repurposed as the new, modern train hall, honoring the original Penn Station.