17 — 25 January

Professor Brigid Doherty, from the faculty of German art and archaeology at Princeton, led a highly successful series of seminars from the 17 — 25 January, covering a fascinating range of research stretching from the late-nineteenth century to the contemporary German artist Hanna Darboven. En route, aspects of Berlin Dada, the early work of Bertolt Brecht, and many other questions of the art and politics of the Weimar Republic were raised, the whole series ending with a highly memorable exposition of the 1920 painting/collage by George Grosz, Daum marries her pedantic automaton George in May 1920, John Heartfield is very glad of it. Dr Briony Fer and Dr Fred Schwartz from University College acted as respondents to two of the papers, all of which led to discussions that inevitably continued down to the refectory, and beyond. The series was organised by Dr Mignon Nixon and Dr Shulamith Behr, and set a high standard for short, highly engaging and intellectually broad-ranging visits by scholars to the Courtauld Institute, part of the evolving program of the Research Forum. Staff and students are now looking forward greatly to the visit of Hans Belting to the Institute in May, and the opportunity for rich cross-faculty discussion that this will provide.

John Paul Stonard PhD 2004