March 20, 2025 ~ 6 PM
The Italian Cultural Institute of Washington in collaboration with the Luther W. Brady Art Gallery, at George Washington University, presents “Piranesi’s Rome: Views of the Eternal City“, an exhibition curated by Professor Rachel Pollack and Olivia Kohler-Maga, Assistant Director of the Brady Art Gallery, showcasing Giovanni Battista Piranesi‘s 18th century masterful etchings in The George Washington University Collection.
Piranesi was more than a mere printmaker. He was a visionary architect and proto-archaeologist who set the tone for how successive generations comprehend ancient Rome. He was also a visionary artist whose cinemagraphic sensibilities inspired artists such as M.C. Escher (1898-1972), Giorgio de Chirico (1888-1978), and the expressionist filmmaker Fritz Lang (1890-1976). Piranesi’s sphere of influence is far reaching and resonates across time and the boundaries of Italy.
Come take the time to see this exhibition and learn more about Piranesi’s position in the canon of western art, the ways in which his art anticipates nineteenth century Romanticism and even twentieth century Modernism, and how his vast oeuvre of over 1000 individual etchings continue to shape our vision of both ancient and modern Rome. A preview of the printed exhibition catalogue and the permanent online exhibition will also be shared at this event.
Join us for the opening of this exhibition dedicated to such an influential artist.
Dr. Rachel Pollack and John Fine, George Washington University alumnus, will introduce the exhibition and share their insights on Giovanni Battista Piranesi’s works.
Registration required.
LOCATION
Embassy of Italy
3000 Whitehaven Street NW
Washington, DC 20008
Click on button below for availability
REGISTRATION REQUIRED AND ACCEPTED EXCLUSIVELY THROUGH EVENTBRITE
ABOUT DR. RACHEL POLLACK
Dr. Rachel Pollack is a professor at George Washington University’s University Writing Program and has taught courses for the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design and the University Honors Program. She has a PhD in Art History from the University of Maryland where she specialized in Northern Baroque art with a subspecialty in Greco-Roman sculpture. She has authored catalogue entries for exhibitions related to 17th century Dutch masters, as well as for The Leiden Collection in New York and the George and Linda Kaufman Collection. Most recently, she curated two micro-exhibitions at the The Textile Museum and published an article in the Textile Museum Journal on 17th century English embroidery in the museum’s collection. Her most recent exhibition at the Luther W. Brady Gallery, Piranesi’s Rome: Views of the Eternal City, is co-curated by her students at GW and her Summer 2024 GW class ‘Discovering the Romans’. Pollack is also a watercolor artist and is an active contributor to Arte Studio Ginestrelle in Assisi, Italy, where she exhibits her work at their Annual Fall Show (2018-Present).
ABOUT DR. OLIVIA KOHLER-MAGA
Olivia Kohler-Maga is the Assistant Director of the Luther W. Brady Art Gallery at the George Washington University. She organizes exhibitions using and related to the GW Collection with a particular interest in prints and sculpture. She is interested in unexpected juxtapositions between media and collaborators and has recently produced crossover projects between the GW Collection and the Department of Theater and Dance and a local theater company and another with the GW Medical School.
ABOUT JOHN FINE
John Fine is an alumnus of George Washington University, having graduated in May 2023. He currently serves as a contributing editor of the Luther W. Brady Art Gallery’s exhibition catalogue, Piranesi’sRome: Views of the Eternal City. Although not an art historian by profession, John Fine has a passion for art history from his minor in Classical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies at the George Washington University. This evening John will present: Tombs Along the Way: An Exploration of Ancient Roman Tombs As Depicted by Giovanni Battista Piranesi on the Appian and Tiburtina Way. In his talk, he will explore Piranesi’s misattributions of two ancient tombs and the controversies and confusions that surrounded these sites for tourists and antiquarian enthusiasts on the ‘Grand Tour’.
