Great Barrington — On Sunday, Jan. 28, at 1 p.m., the last Sunday afternoon of the month, the Housatonic Valley Art League will present the second in its curated series of conversations and movies at the Thornewood Inn on Route 7 just north of Great Barrington’s center.
The group started meeting as a casual way over a glass of wine to discuss current art events with those who might be interested in what’s happening in the world of art, both politically and personally. With the Berkshires’ easy access to major museums in Boston and New York as well as a host of museums in the region, a chance to get together and have some fun talking about shows just seen or coming up and the artists that produced them has proven to be a great success.
Susan Bachelder, a member of the HVAL and whose background before retiring to the Berkshires was in international film, has selected a series of rare and old films on or about art as a point of departure. Starting in November, the group heard from Harvey Kimmelman on Michelangelo’s show of drawings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, then watched the movie based on the book “The Agony and the Ecstasy” with the Sistine Chapel in glorious Technicolor.
On Sunday, Jan. 28, the second in the series will start at 1 p.m. with the theme of 17th-century Dutch art. The Berkshire Eagle recently cited two donations of 17th-century Dutch masterpieces to Harvard and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston that has set Boston as a major global hub for the study of Dutch, Flemish and Netherlandish art. With a new collection and several shows just winding down, Rembrandt, one of the most famous of these artists, will be discussed, as well as the colors of the 17th-century Dutch palette.
The 1936 movie “Rembrandt,” produced by Alexander Korda with Charles Laughton, Elsa Lanchester and Roger Livesy, a jewel of cinematography and acting, will remind us of how the light of the silver screen is still used to create art.
There will be a $5 cover charge for the Thornewood’s hosting of coffee, tea and a light snack and a cash bar available.
