Dr. Faries to speak on ‘The Power of Oil Painting’

During the Renaissance and Baroque periods, oil painting was considered one of society’s technological assets, much like today’s computer technology. Dr. Molly Faries will speak from this point of view in her free public presentation, “The Power of Oil Painting,” on Tuesday, Nov. 16, at 7 p.m. in ETSU’s Ball Hall auditorium.

Faries will also discuss the Hockney/Falco-Stork debate, a controversy concerning whether the Old Masters relied on optical aids such as the camera obscura and curved mirrors to create their paintings rather than using only artistic technique and skill.

Faries holds the ETSU Wayne G. Basler Chair of Excellence for the Integration of the Arts, Rhetoric and Science for the fall semester.

The Chair of Excellence strives to “bridge the gap that exists in academia between the sciences and the arts and humanities disciplines.”

An art historian, Faries is a pioneer in the scientific and technical analysis of art, specifically in the area of Infrared Reflectography (IRR).

IRR displays what is beneath the surface of a painting to reveal the artist’s preliminary sketches and changes hidden under the paint layers.

Faries was one of the first Americans to study and use IRR. Trained at the Art History Institute of the State University of Amsterdam (1966-68) and at the Central Research Laboratory for Works of Art and Science in Amsterdam (1973-74), she received her Ph.D. from Bryn Mawr College in 1972. She was a professor at Indiana University (1975-2005) and professor and chair of Technical Studies in Art History at the University of Groningen in The Netherlands (1998-2005), and is now professor emerita with both universities.

The recipient of national awards in scholarship and education, she has presented IRR workshops in the United States, Germany and The Netherlands. She is one of a few professors to incorporate IRR training in university teaching, rather than only in museum practice.

For more information or special assistance for those with disabilities, contact Catherine Murray of the ETSU Department of Art and Design at 423-439-4247 or murrayc@etsu.edu.