Welcome to Horizon Studies:
Learning for the Third Stage of Life

Great Cities: Silver Ages
Tuesdays, 10:00 AM – 12:00 noon
April 1 – May 6, 2008
Bruce Elliott

Often the most intriguing cities are not those at the height or center of power, but rather cities that either have passed their prime, or “second cities”, those in the shadow of a greater urban power.  This course highlights six Great Cities in their Silver Age, when the influence they radiated was more cultural than political, when they functioned more as arbiters of taste than as agents of domination. Three of our cities came into cultural prominence after an earlier period of military might: Venice of the Grand Tour, the Venice of Canaletto and Casanova; Vienna, the Waltz Capital, the Vienna of Strauss, Klimt and Freud; and Belle Époque Paris, the Paris that gave birth to Art Nouveau, Impressionism, and later, Surrealism.  Our other great Silver Cities: Lisbon, launching pad for maritime exploration; Enlightenment Edinburgh of Hume, Adam Smith, and Robert Burns; and St. Petersburg, Russia’s “Window on the West”, became cultural capitals as counterpoints to the more powerful cities of Madrid, London and Moscow.

Along with placing our Great Cities in historical context, we will savor choice examples of the artwork, music and literature generated by each of these dynamic Silver Ages.

Bruce Elliott teaches courses in European history at UC Berkeley, Stanford Continuing Studies and Sonoma State OLLI. In his Great Cities series, Dr. Elliott examines ways in which creative individuals, social forces and specific urban environments have combined to give rise to important cultural movements.

12:00 noon – 1:15 PM
Lunch break

Russian Art, Culture and Life: 1860 – 1930
1:15–3:15 PM
April 1 – May 6
Roberta Shaw

The 1860's mark the beginning of a fascinating period in Russian history, one which brought tremendous changes in life and culture. Artists, writers, and composers began to reveal a growing social conscience, an awareness of the need for reforms in Russian society. This outlook found expression in the writings of Dostoevsky and Tolstoy, in evocative paintings by artists almost unknown outside Russia, and in the nationalistic spirit conveyed by the stirring music of Rimsky-Korsakoff, Tchaikovsky and Borodin. From the end of the 19th century up through World War I and the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, Russian visual arts, music, dance, and theater, were exhibiting more vitality and sophistication than ever before. The Revolution itself inspired an artistic movement led by avant garde painters such as Kandinsky, Chagall, and Malevich. Eventually Stalin imposed strict rules for a propagandist "Socialist Realism" in the arts, yet even then, the Russian creative spirit found outlets for expression. In this course, images of painting, sculpture and architecture, plus video excerpts from Russian operas, ballets and early films, will illustrate how these extraordinary and sometimes tragic times were reflected in the arts of the period.

Roberta Shaw has taught Art History at several major universities and now locally for UC Berkeley Extension, Fromm Institute in San Francisco, and Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes at UC Berkeley and Sonoma State. In her courses she is especially interested in exploring how the visual arts relate to their historical and cultural context.

Horizon Studies Lifelong Learning courses are presented at the following location:

Berkeley City Club
2315 Durant Ave.
Berkeley, California

Ample parking nearby. Discount vouchers are available for the Sather Gate Parking Garage,
2450 Durant Avenue (one block up from the Berkeley City Club).

Class size is limited — sign up soon to reserve your space!

If you have questions, please e-mail us:

info@horizonstudies.org