Announcements

CLASSES, TALKS, and PROGRAMS

Profiles in Creative Aging
Art for Personal Reflection
Looking at art and artist lives to spark personal reflection – a fresh approach on the “Life Review” process. Check it out and contact Rena!

 

New York Adventure Club
Thank you for sponsoring 10 ninety-minute sessions sweeping across American art. If you missed any of the sessions, contact NYAC for a recording.

Fidelia Bridges. Birds by the Shore. 1873.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Classi LearningRegistration is open!

John Singer Sargent, Madame X, 1883-84

Ex-Pat Artists Rock the Modern Art World:
James McNeill Whistler and John Singer Sargent

James Abbott McNeill Whistler and John Singer Sargent may have never met, but their art careers took similar trajectories. Both left the U.S. to make their work overseas, and both shocked their contemporary art worlds with their paintings and oversized personalities. But how exactly did the beauty of their works break through traditional conventions to invent the modern art language? This is the story of two visionary artists who put American art on the international map and helped invent art of the 20th century.

Tuesday, April 9, 2024, 4 – 5 p.m. ET
James McNeill Whistler
Information and registration here!

Tuesday, April 16, 2024, 4 – 5 p.m. ET
John Singer Sargent
Information and registration here!

The 60-minute sessions will be recorded. Join us!

James McNeill Whistler. Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1. 1871.

 

 

 

 

Catalog of Talks and Classes perfect for public groups!

Catalog of Talks and Keynotes. Check out these talks for your next corporate event!

Eating, Drinking, Shopping in the Big City: American Artists on the Town

John Sloan. Chinese Restaurant. 1909.                                                                                                       What does this painting tell us about a pivotal moment for eating out in New York City?

Perfect for:
Speaking engagements (45 minutes to 1 hour)
  • Keynotes
  • New Employee Orientations
  • Retreats and Strategic Planning
  • Diversity, Equity, Inclusion
  • Brainstorming and Creativity sessions
  • Organizational Culture
  • and more
What does this mean for you and your employees?
  • Increase productivity
  • Boost creativity
  • Release stress
  • Spark inspiration
  • Refresh and recharge
Here’s a minute-long taste from a 90-minute class.
 
Contact Rena to learn more!
 
 
 
 

Kehinde Wiley. Alios Itzhak. 2011.

TOURS
 
Exhibition and Permanent Collection Tours
Zoom tours of special exhibitions past and present and highlights from the stunning permanent collection of the Jewish Museum. Explore the intersection of art with Jewish history and culture.

For a digital tour with Rena, please contact Frazier at the museum.

Tours include:
  • Scenes: Highlights of the Permanent Collection
  • The Sassoons, global empire and art collections to match
  • Chagall: Love, War, and Exile about his exile in New York
  • Edith Halpert, about a New York art dealer who shaped the modern art world
  • Hare with Amber Eyes, about the Ephrussi family and their art collections and diaspora
  • Afterlives: Recovering the Lost Stories of Looted Art
  • Florine Stettheimer: Painting Poetry, unique, delightful voice in American art
  • Tissot and the Bible
  • New York, 1962-64
  • Marta Minujín and Arte! Arte! Arte!
1109 5th Ave, enter on 92nd St
New York, NY 10128
212-423-3200
 
 
 
Plus – Now Digital! Tours of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
 
 

Thomas Cole, The Oxbow, 1836

Private Tours, American Wing, Metropolitan Museum of Art:
 
Tour #1
Shaping the American Identity
Paintings often tell more complex stories than we see at first glance. This tour takes a deep dive with works that portray who we were and have become as Americans.
 
 
  • Discover what clothing in Colonial portraits says about the sitter and the formation of a new nation
  • Read landscapes to explore what they reveal about the future of America
  • Pull apart American myths
  • Uncover the signs of trouble around the Civil War
  • Laugh over coded paintings about the changing roles of men and women in the 19th century

Tour #2
American Women’s Lives

John Singleton Copley, Mrs. John Winthrop, 1773

What was daily life like for American women during the Colonial period? How did that change with the growth of the marketplace economy? How did roles evolve, so that women’s artists voices were added to American painting?

By exploring the paintings in the American Wing and the Modern and Contemporary galleries, we learn how women navigated societal expectations with their own passions and drives. The results are surprising, delightful, and insightful. Come explore the stories told and learn whether you, too, are a New Woman.

 

“This was the best tour—Rena is a lot of fun; great stories, terrific knowledge, never a dull moment. I’ll never look at this art the same way again. People all over the museum wanted to listen in. Highly recommend.” Nora M., February 2019

Contact Rena for more information and scheduled tour dates today!

 
 
Lively Mind: Home Edition – Now offered on Zoom!
Gather a group and bring Rena Tobey to your home! Offering the following multi-session courses and more:
 
  • Shaping the American Identity
  • Many Voices of American Art
  • Land-People-City
  • The Modern City: New York City Art 1900-1945
  • Giving Voice to American Women Artists
  • Women Artists from the Renaissance to the U.S.
  • American Artist Families
  • Books and Storytelling in American Art
  • Secular Baroque

“Your presentations are superb, and if I can remember even half of all the new names and works of art we saw, I will consider myself well ahead of the game. What a glorious world of women’s art.” Dorothy D, February 2019

Contact Rena to learn more!

 
INTRODUCING!
 
artful insights
Artful Insights
Reading masterpieces of art for your well-being.  Learn more here!