Great Courses: The World’s Greatest Paintings

The Pound Ridge Library is pleased to announce the continuation of a series of lectures which mark the eleventh year of courses which are part of the library’s continuing presentation of a new educational concept in life-long learning: a series of DVD seminars from The Teaching Company/The Great Courses encompassing a wide variety of subjects, given by outstanding scholars from major colleges and universities throughout the United States. This program, the first of its kind in the country, is designed to provide collegial, small group-setting for courses “you didn’t get to take at college, but wanted to.” The seminars, developed by the late Lawrence Brotmann of Pound Ridge, NY are held at the library on Thursdays at 12:30 pm and consist of four 30-minute (closed-captioned) lectures per session, most from 3 to 6 weeks per course.

Registration is not necessary but parking is limited. The library encourage carpooling or being dropped off.

Course Overview

Great paintings challenge us to understand them, to penetrate their mysteries, and to appreciate their riches. But within the vast history of art, there exist only a small number of paintings that transcend the traditional role of art to become cultural signifiers—works that allow us to comprehend more deeply the world and our place within it.

So what distinguishes one of these select masterworks? Dazzling in their visual impact and their grip on the imagination, the world’s greatest paintings

challenge the conventions of the art of their times, extending or transforming the painter’s visual language and broadening the impact of art in Western societies;
serve as visual anchors of faith, politics, philosophy, mythology, literature, and every phase and aspect of social history; and
depict human life in visions of enduring power, reflecting and affecting the times and cultures in which they were created.
Now, in 24 illuminating lectures, The World’s Greatest Paintings leads you in a compelling discovery of some of the most significant paintings in Western art. Taking you from the 14th century to the 20th, distinguished art historian and veteran Great Courses Professor William Kloss reveals a group of works that, in his expert judgment, rank among the greatest paintings ever made.

The World’s Greatest Paintings explores one of the supreme legacies of human life, opening rich perspectives on Western civilization through your encounter with these daring and sublime works of art.