Art historian and critic to headline Wyman Visiting Professorship in Art

March 20, 2018 – American art historian and critic James Elkins will visit the University of Wisconsin-River Falls as the Spring 2018 Walker D. and Helen Bryant Wyman Visiting Professor in Art March 23-27. He will give a free public lecture “How Animals See the World” on Monday, March 26, at 5 p.m. in 222 North Hall.

Elkins, the E.C. Chadbourne chair of art history, theory and criticism at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, has written nearly 20 publications, most pertaining to art and art history. His most recent book is “What Heaven Looks Like: Comments on a Strange Wordless Book” (Laboratory Books). Other publications include “What Photography Is” (Routledge), “Chinese Landscape Painting as Western Art History” (Hong Kong University Press) and “On Pictures and the Words That Fail Them” (Art Journal). He is currently exploring an experimental writing project that is not related to art.

Elkins earned a bachelor’s degree in English and art history from Cornell University in 1977, followed by a master’s degree in painting, a masters in art history and a Ph.D. with honors, also in art history, all from the University of Chicago.

“We are very happy to welcome Dr. Elkins to campus,” said faculty coordinator and UWRF Assistant Art Professor Kaylee Spencer. “We look forward to the sharing of his considerable knowledge with our students.”

During his visit, Elkins will conduct workshops with UWRF art students addressing the critique strategies explored in his book “Art Critiques: A Guide” (New Academia) and deliver a lecture titled “Inwardness, Immersion, Empathy, Effect” to art students.

For more information, email kaylee.spencer@uwrf.edu or call the Art Department at 715-425-3266.