Meet Leslie
“Twenty percent of you are going to fail, and if you don’t like those odds, get out!”
And so began my career in art history. It was Western Art History 1, ancient through Medieval, at the University of Vermont, I was in an auditorium with 150 other students and a fair number did, indeed, walk out. I was already a declared art history major, with a thing for the expressionists and didn’t expect to get anything other than a requirement out of the survey class. Who knew that the intimidating professor would ultimately change the course of my career? That those lectures of Greece and Rome would give me goose bumps? I was fascinated by the integration of socio-political and art history, so I changed my minor from studio art to archaeology and the rest, as we say, is art history.
I got my maters in art history and archaeology last year from NYU where I focused on the cultures and traditions of Ancient Greece and Rome. I’ve spent the last two summers in Turkey excavating at the ancient Roman city of Aphrodisias, and have taught that very class that got me started so long ago. Nothing tops a good discussion about an object in my book. The provenance, finish, function…these are the clues history has left for us to solve the mysteries of ancient culture, and it’s an approach I take to the study of all art, not only ancient. I look forward to bringing some of that discussion here and welcome questions, thoughts and comments.
Leslie
If you have a specific art question or favorite piece you’d like us to talk about, please let us know. We will answer them here in our blog.
