Talks & Tours

The Dallas Museum of Art presents an array of talks and tours exploring art from around the world and throughout time with distinguished artists, scholars, and artistic leaders.

Until on-site talks and tours return, break for art and find joy in looking in our new series of free virtual talks, each centering around an artwork from our collection. Find the Break for Art Playlist on the DMA's YouTube channel and check back twice a month for new talks.

Missed a talk? Visit the Program Recordings page to listen to selected past lectures, gallery talks, and other events presented by the Dallas Museum of Art.

Coming This Fall

Check back soon for dates and ticketing information.

	Artists Respond Viola Delgado on Flores Mexicanas Dallas-based artist and curator Viola Delgado responds to artworks on view in the exhibition Flores Mexicanas in a virtual talk. Delgado is a painter and sculptor who has been commissioned for public art projects across DFW, including installations at the Latino Cultural Center, Dallas-area schools and libraries, DART, and DFW Airport. Delgado has served as a curator for art and community spaces across DFW, most recently organizing two exhibitions spotlighting Latina artists.
	Virtual Exhibition Talk Dalí’s Divine Comedy Learn more about the new works on paper exhibition Dalí's Divine Comedy with former DMA McDermott Intern and curator of the installation Chasitie Brown. Brown will talk about Salvador Dalí’s treatment of Dante’s famous epic poem in this 100-print series.
	Virtual Exhibition Talk Franz Hals, Style, and Individuality Art historian Dr. Christopher Atkins will talk about the work of Dutch Golden Age painter Frans Hals and two portraits of the same sitter completed 10 years apart. Hals developed a radical new approach to painting based on unblended brushwork and an emphasis on the appearance of spontaneity. This innovative style simultaneously crafted a distinctive artistic identity for Hals and vibrant, current portraits of his sitters. In a series of two short talks, Atkins will explore the artist’s style of painting and how it captured the imagination of Dutch clients who actively sought Hals to portray them. In the case of Pieter Jacobsz Olycan, the client turned to Hals more than once to record his image at different moments in his life.
	Annual Rosenberg Lecture "O you company of all the gods, spare me!" Hubris, Rivalry, and Power in David's "Apollo and Diana Killing the Children of Niobe" Art historian Dr. Mark Ledbury will talk about the DMA's painting Apollo and Diana Attacking the Children of Niobe. It was created by David in 1772, when he was an ambitious student, and its failure in the Prix de Rome competition of that year led to a moment of deep depression and suicidal intentions. Ledbury will explore the choices David made in his version of the painting in the context of what we know of the artist’s very early career, friendships, and rivalries. He will also ask what the painting and its fate tells us of the attitude toward history painting at the time, and where and how we might see the aftereffects of this painting in David’s later paintings, concerns, and career choices on canvas and in life. Images (details): Alfredo Ramos Martínez, Flores Mexicanas, 1914–29, oil on canvas, Missouri Historical Society Collections, © The Alfredo Ramos Martínez Research Project, reproduced by permission; Salvador Dalí, Paradise: Opposition (Canto 11), about 1960, woodcut, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Lois and Howard B. Wolf, 1996.219.78, © 2020 Salvador Dalí, Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; Frans Hals, Portrait of Pieter Jacobsz. Olycan, 1629–30, oil on panel, Private Collection, by Courtesy of David Koetser Gallery, Zurich; Jacques-Louis David, Apollo and Diana Attacking the Children of Niobe, 1772, oil on canvas, Dallas Museum of Art, Foundation for the Arts Collection, Mrs. John B. O'Hara Fund in honor of Dr. Dorothy Kosinski, 2008.6.FA