Videos

Verdi and the Ricordi Archive: An Evening with Pierluigi Ledda and Gabriele Dotto

In this conversation, Pierluigi Ledda, Managing Director of the Ricordi Archive, and Gabriele Dotto, Ricordi Archive Scientific Director and exhibition curator, discuss the history and resources of the Archive in general, and specifically the creation of Verdi’s operas Otello and Falstaff. Held Wednesday, October 2, 2019.

John Singer Sargent: Portraits in Charcoal

The first major exhibition to explore the artist’s expressive portraits in charcoal, John Singer Sargent: Portraits in Charcoal will recognize the sheer scale of Sargent’s achievement as a portrait draftsman. Important international loans, from both public and private collections, will showcase Sargent’s sitters, many of them famous for their roles in politics, society, and the arts.

Restoration of J. Pierpont Morgan's Library: Overview

This is the first comprehensive exterior restoration in the landmark building’s 112-year history and will help to preserve the building for generations to come.

Crafting Cruelty: Hogarth’s Innovative Drawing Methods

Laurel Peterson, Moore Curatorial Fellow in the Department of Drawings and Prints, will offer new insights into Hogarth’s practice as a draftsman, shedding light on the evolution of his drawing style and the role played by drawings in the development of his most iconic satirical prints. Held Tuesday, June 18, 2019.

Carel van Tuyll: Annibale Carracci at the Morgan: Drawings from the Artist's Final Period

Carel van Tuyll, former director of the Department of Graphic Arts at the Musée du Louvre and the Drawing Institute’s 2019 Senior Fellow, gives the annual Thaw Lecture. Sponsored by the Morgan Drawing Institute, the annual Thaw Lecture aims to address critical topics in the study of drawings. Held Tuesday, June 11, 2019

Drawing the Curtain: Maurice Sendak’s Designs for Opera and Ballet

Renowned for his beloved and acclaimed children’s books, Maurice Sendak (1928–2012) was also an avid music and opera lover. In the late 1970s, he embarked on a successful second career as a designer of sets and costumes for the stage. Drawing the Curtain: Maurice Sendak’s Designs for Opera and Ballet will be the first museum exhibition dedicated to this aspect of his career.

Walt Whitman: Bard of Democracy

The exhibition explores Whitman’s process of self-invention, from his early years as a journalist, through the early 1850s when Whitman began to write more privately and poetically, to his final years.

Early Italian Drawings at the Morgan

In this lecture, Rhoda Eitel-Porter, Editor of Print Quarterly and former Charles W. Engelhard Curator of Drawings at the Morgan, discusses Early Italian drawings at the Morgan. Held Friday, February 15, 2019.

Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth

Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth celebrates the man and his creation. The exhibition will be the most extensive public display of original Tolkien material for several generations.

Pontormo from Drawing to Painting

Join Davide Gasparotto, Senior Curator of Paintings, J. Paul Getty Museum, for a discussion on works by Jacopo da Pontormo (1494–1557), executed between 1528 and 1530.

An Impetuous Genius: Drawings by Jacopo Tintoretto

Celebrating the opening of Drawing in Tintoretto’s Venice, John Marciari, Charles W. Engelhard Curator of Drawings and Prints—and the curator of the exhibition—presents a new overview of Tintoretto’s work as a draftsman.

It's Alive!: A Visual History of Frankenstein

Commemorating the two hundredth anniversary of Frankenstein—a classic of world literature and a masterpiece of horror—a new exhibition at the Morgan shows how Mary Shelley created a monster.

Nicholas Penny: The Zoomorphic Mask

Sir Nicholas Penny, former director of the National Gallery, London, and the Thaw Senior Fellow at the Morgan Drawing Institute for 2018, gave the annual Thaw Lecture on "The Zoomorphic Mask." Held Tuesday, June 12, 2018.

The Monstrous Other in Medieval Art

Co-curators of the exhibition Medieval Monsters: Terrors, Aliens, Wonders, Sherry C.M. Lindquist, Associate Professor, Western Illinois University and Asa Simon Mittman, Professor, California State University, Chico, will discuss the ways that medieval artists and writers demonized cultural outsiders, transforming religious and racial others into monsters, framing poverty and impairment as sin, and characterizing women as inherently deviant and dangerous. Held Friday, June 8, 2018.

The Magic of Handwriting: The Pedro Corrêa do Lago Collection

For nearly half a century, Brazilian author and publisher Pedro Corrêa do Lago has been assembling one of the most comprehensive autograph collections of our age, acquiring thousands of handwritten letters, manuscripts, and musical compositions as well as inscribed photographs, drawings, and documents.

The Written World: The Power of Stories to Shape People, History, Civilization

Martin Puchner, Byron and Anita Wien Professor of Drama and of English and Comparative Literature at Harvard University (author of The Written World), leads us on a journey through time and around the globe to reveal the powerful role stories and literature have played in creating the world we have today. Held Tuesday, May 22, 2018.

Wayne Thiebaud: Draftsman

Best known for his luscious paintings of pies and ice-cream cones, California artist Wayne Thiebaud (born 1920) has been an avid and prolific draftsman since he began his career as an illustrator and cartoonist.

Artist Talk: A Conversation with Wayne Thiebaud

In conjunction with the exhibition Wayne Thiebaud, Draftsman, the artist discusses the role of drawing in his practice, his beginnings as a cartoonist, his sketching habits, his love of the Old Masters, and his fondness for classic American food. Held Friday, May 18, 2018.

Handwriting Is Not Dead: A Conversation with Collector Pedro Corrêa do Lago

Corrêa do Lago joins Christine Nelson, Drue Heinz Curator of Literary and Historical Manuscripts, for a lively discussion about the lure of handwriting and the joy of collecting.

Gainsborough Experiments: Cork, Broccoli, Milk, and Drawing the Landscape

In this lecture, Marco Simone Bolzoni, Moore Curatorial Fellow and curator of the exhibition Thomas Gainsborough: Experiments in Drawing, will investigate the unorthodox means and materials used by the artist in his quest to capture the beauty of the English countryside.
Held on Wednesday, May 16, 2018.

Collecting the Past: Pierpont Morgan and Ancient Mesopotamia

The ancient Mesopotamian cylinder seals in the collection of the Morgan are amongst the finest in the world. Sidney Babcock, Jeannette and Jonathan Rosen Curator and Department Head, discusses cylinder seals. Held Monday, April 9, 2018.

Tennessee Williams and James Laughlin: Selected Letters

Join us for a conversation about the letters compiled for a new publication The Luck of Friendship: The Letters of Tennessee Williams and James Laughlin.
Held on Wednesday, April 11, 2018.

Power and Grace: Ecumenical Rubens

In this lecture, David Freedberg, Pierre Matisse Professor of the History of Art at Columbia University and Director of the Italian Academy for Advanced Studies in America, will demonstrate how the drawings in the exhibition Power and Grace: Drawings by Rubens, Van Dyck, and Jordaens reveal not just his artistic virtuosity, but his efforts to seek peace in his time.
Held on Wednesday, April 11, 2018.

An Evening with Fran Lebowitz: On Peter Hujar

Fran Lebowitz speaks with Joel Smith, Richard L. Menschel Curator and Department Head of Photography. Held on Thursday, February 8, 2018.

Whatever Happened to the Ides of March?

Roger S. Wieck, Melvin R. Seiden Curator and Department Head of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts and curator of Now and Forever: The Art of Medieval Time, and Alexander Jones, Leon Levy Director of the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, discuss and illustrate Roman time and how it evolved in the medieval era. Held on Thursday, March 29, 2018.

CelloX4—The Art of Fugue

Rush Hour Concert, Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Celebrated artists perform chamber music from Baroque to contemporary in the intimate and sumptuous surroundings of J. Pierpont Morgan's Library.

Power and Grace: Drawings by Rubens, Van Dyck, and Jordeans

Join Ilona van Tuinen, curator of the exhibition Power and Grace: Drawings by Rubens, Van Dyck, and Jordaens, for a discussion of the spectacular works on display and the story behind the show. Held on Friday, January 19, 2018.

Tennessee Williams: No Refuge but Writing

Opening February 2 and continuing through May 13, Tennessee Williams: No Refuge but Writing highlights the playwright’s creative process and his close involvement with the theatrical production of his works, as well as their reception and lasting impact.

Peter Hujar: Speed of Life

The life and art of Peter Hujar (1934–1987) were rooted in downtown New York. Private by nature, combative in manner, well-read, and widely connected, Hujar inhabited a world of avant-garde dance, music, art, and drag performance.

Noël Annesley: Collecting Drawings in the Twentieth Century: An Insider's Diary

Noël Annesley, Honorary Chairman, Christie’s Fine Art, London, began his career at Christie’s auction house in London in 1964 and has followed the market in old master drawings for over half a century, witnessing its highs and lows and once-in-a-lifetime opportunities.