Friends of Te Papa, in association with Arts Society Wellington, is delighted to bring you this very special lecture from accomplished Chair of the History Council of Victoria and Order of Australia recipient Peter McPhee.
In the 150 years after 1770, France produced some of the most famous Rococo, Neo-Classical, Realist and Impressionist artists in history.
This lecture surveys the artistic transitions of these decades and shows how great painters, including David, Millet, Courbet and Monet responded to a whirlpool of political and social upheaval through their paintings.
A glass of wine is included with your ticket.
Peter McPhee was appointed to a Personal Chair in History at the University of Melbourne in 1993. He had previously taught at the Victoria University of Wellington in 1980-87. He has published widely on the history of modern France, most recently Liberty or Death: the French Revolution (2016); and An Environmental History of France: Making the Landscape 1770-2020 (2024). He was appointed as the University of Melbourne’s first Provost in 2007-09. He was awarded a Centenary Medal for services to education in 2003 and became a Member of the Order of Australia in 2012. He is currently the Chair of the History Council of Victoria, the state’s peak body for history.
Image credit: Jean-François Millet, Gleaners (1857)