Humanists study the varied human experiences expressed by “artists” in literature, music, and the visual and performing arts. Each “branch” communicates something of the particular life experiences in the time and place in which the artist lived. Individual works reflect different facets of the tantalizing puzzle cited by the French artist Paul Gauguin in his 1897-98 painting (and its title): “Where Did We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?” This talk is one art historian’s select “tour” of varied “answers” to Gauguin’s questions using visual art works from prehistory to the 
present day.

Professor Kirkpatrick joined the UM faculty in 1968, where she served as professor, 
department chair, and interim director of the Institute of Humanities. Kirkpatrick is currently Professor Emerita of History of Art at UM, where she specialized in contemporary art and using new media to express the richness of the world and our experience of it.

This is the fourth in a six-lecture series. The subject is The Power of the Liberal Arts. The next lecture will be May 5, entitled TO DWELL IN POSSIBILITY: CREATIVITY AS PROCESS AND STASIS