As the senior lecturer at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., David Gariff knows a thing or two about painters.

Gariff will be discussing a pair of them, Botticelli and Klimt, when he kicks off Flagler College’s “Ideas and Images” series on Sept. 24-25.

“I’m looking forward to my visit to Flagler College and to meeting with the students, faculty and staff,” said Gariff, who also teaches art history as an adjunct professor at The Catholic University of America. “My hope is that through my long experiences as both a university professor and museum educator, I can contribute something meaningful to the ‘Ideas and Images’ program.”

Gariff will be speaking on lecture topics that he says reflect two periods of Western art history in which he is particularly interested: the Italian Renaissance and late 19th-century European art.

On Sept. 24, Gariff will tackle “Sandro Botticelli (1446-1510): An Anniversary Lecture,” marking the 500th anniversary of the Italian painter’s death. Gariff says the artist’s refined and sensual paintings are among the greatest achievements of Florentine painting in the 15th century.

Gariff’s lectures will continue on Sept. 25 with an anniversary of a different kind, this one the birth of Austrian painter Gustav Klimt as he speaks on “Gustav Klimt and the Vienna Secession.” Gariff says the lecture will explore Klimt’s art and career against the richness and intellectual ferment of Viennese life and culture.

And though the two painters were born more than 400 years apart, Gariff says the environment in which the two existed were very similar.

“Both 15th century Florence and fin-de-siècle Vienna are cities and periods characterized by important artistic, intellectual and cultural achievements in all the arts,” said Gariff. “Collaborations and cross-fertilizations among the artists and thinkers in these periods were particularly rich and meaningful.”

In addition to being the senior lecturer at the National Gallery of Art, Gariff has taught art history at the University of Wisconsin, Cleveland State University, Trinity University and the University of Maryland, College Park, where he received his Ph.D. He was a graduate fellow in Italy at the University of Florence and the University of Pisa, and a Fulbright and Kress Foundation fellow at the Institute for the History of Lombard Art in Milan.

Gariff’s presentations will take place on Sept. 24-25 at 7 p.m. in the Flagler Room at Flagler College, 74 King St.

“Ideas and Images: Visiting Scholars and Artists Program” will feature an international composition of artists and authors, introducing a fresh and creative component to the greater St. Augustine community.

Each event is free and open to the public. Call (904) 819-6282 or visit www.flagler.edu/our-community for more information.

Source: Flagler College