Another aspect of the Lawrence art collection's role as a teaching tool is its use in the Freshman Studies program.
In 2000-01 and 2001-02, the freshmen studied a Wriston Art Center Galleries exhibition titled "Transforming Gender/Picturing Difference," comprised entirely of works owned by the college. The students were able to compare, for example, Jan Saenredam's undated work "Judith Holding the Head of Holofernes" with Hendrik Goltzius' 16th-century "Helios," learning that the artists' use of space and line indicates quite a bit about the stature and gender of Judith and Helios.
Similarly, students found comparisons of the 1912 "Nude" by Egon Schiele to be disconcerting and disturbing, as was Heinrich Campendonk's 1916 woodcut titled "Girl with Frogs." In these latter pieces, incomplete or distorted body shapes led students to discuss expected body images and the message that deconstruction of those images might send.
In the coming academic year, students in Freshman Studies will study in depth a set of Japanese prints that will be part of the Wriston Galleries' 2002-03 exhibition series.
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