top of page

Try the Great Works Academy

We offer a small taste of how we work with the great works. Experience individual works and their stories, reflect on them either alone, in pairs or in a group with the help of prepared questions. You are encouraged to create your own questions that the work has raised in you.

This is really just a taste. Each seminar of the Academy has 90 minutes, it will meet

on it 7 to 15 students with a teacher who moderates the discussion and brings many other questions related to the work. Some seminars require longer preparation that takes place at home (e.g. reading a short story, watching a feature film).

Obraz

A Girl Reading a Letter

The author: Johannes Vermeer

Painted: 1657 -  1659

Period: The golden age of Dutch painting

Image A Girl Reading a Letter belongs to the most famous paintings belonging to the period of the so-called golden era of Dutch painting. We see a young girl in profile, reading a letter by an open window. We can see the reflection of a face in the window glass. A large space on the right side of the picture is occupied by a green curtain, hung through eyelets on a pole. In the left part of the picture we see a smaller red curtain hanging on the window. To the girl's left lies a crumpled ornamental tablecloth, scattered fruit in a bowl, and a chair on which something is lying or sitting.

​

Today, the painting is in the Dresden Gallery of Old Masters. Since 2017, intensive work has been going on to restore the image. And in September 2021, they revealed that the original Vermeer painting looked different than we thought until now.It was repainted even after Vermeer's death. Before the restoration, there was only a white wall in the background of the painting. This allowed the image to be read in some way. Today, however, we already know that there was originally a picture hanging on the picture wall (picture in picture). On it we see Cupid, the Roman god of love, depicted as a small chubby child with wings and a bow with which he shoots his arrows of love. The image thus offers new interpretations. Try to compare both versions.

vermeer.png

Questions for reflection and discussion:

  • Which version of the image is better? Remodeled with a white wall or the completely original one, with Cupid on the wall?

  • However, Johannes Vermeer wanted to paint the god of love there. Why did he paint it there? And why would someone paint the god of love white?

  • What did the girl read from the letter? How does he feel? What is he thinking about? Does it have anything to do with the painting on the wall?

  • Can you empathize with the girl's situation and feelings? What would you hold in your hand?

  • Why do you think the tablecloth next to the girl is crumpled and the fruit is scattered? Why is the open window wide open? And why is there a huge green curtain in the picture?

Hudba

Recomposed vs. Four seasons

The author: Antonio Vivaldi/Max Richter

Composed by: 1717 - 1718/2012

Period: Baroque

In 2012, the British composer with German roots, Max Richter, recomposed an almost 300-year-old musical work by the Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi. Specifically, it was Vivaldi's Four Seasons. He called his new work Recomposed by Max Richter. Richter decided to rework Vivaldi's work not because he had a problem with the original, but because he wanted to look at the work from a distance and bring it closer to the contemporary listener. Did he succeed? Listen to a classic piece Four seasons and following Recomposed version.

vivaldi.jpg
richter.png

Questions for reflection and discussion:

  • Which version do you like more and why? 

  • What percentage do you think Richter removed from Vivaldi's original? 

  • Is Richter's version of the work original? 

  • What is originality in art?

  • Does Richter's new version of Vivaldi give you a different perspective on this classic work? In which yes, in which no?

Poézia

Song of Myself

The author: Walt Whitman

Issued by: 1855

Period: cursed poets, American modernity

Walt Whitman published (at his own expense and anonymously) a collection of poems Leaves of Grass, in 1855. The poems were only numbered and there were 52 of them - one for each week of the year. The third poem became the most famous, Song of Myself and is considered one of the most important poems in American literature.

Questions for reflection and discussion:

  • Which verse caught your attention the most? Why?

  • How does he speak to you? How did he manage to reach you?

  • Would you even learn it by heart? Why yes/no?

  • What is the whole poem about? 

  • Why is this particular poem from the entire collection considered one of the most important poems of American culture? 

  • How is American culture similar and how is it different from Slovakian culture?

Som tu

Film

Režisér: Spike Jonze

Nahraný: 2010

Americký režisér Spike Jonze, ktorý ešte v minulom tisícročí začínal videoklipmi pre Beastie Boys, Daft Punk alebo Björk v roku 2010 rozpovedal príbeh lásky dvoch robotov žijúcich v Los Angeles. Dej tohto polhodinového filmu vychádza z knihy The Giving Tree z roku 1964 a hlavná postava je pomenovaná po jej autorovi Shelovi Silversteinovi. Jonze film situoval do blízkej budúcnosti, v ktorej roboti vybavení vlastným vedomím a vôľou žijú s ľuďmi bok po boku.

 

Podobne ako v najoriginálnejšom romantickom filme (mimochodom, Jonzovho vrstovníka Michela Gondryho) tých rokov nultých Večný svit nepoškvrnenej mysle je on plachý introvert a ona pochabá extrovertka. Stretnú sa, najprv spolu flirtujú, potom sa zblížia. V tomto bode vzťahu by väčšina filmov skončila, Jonze však chce ísť ďalej, či skôr bližšie do ľudskej skúsenosti, až sa napokon dostane tam, kde sa film zmení na alegóriu. Keby boli všetky romantické filmy takéto dobré, boli by sme o čosi šťastnejší.      

Questions for reflection and discussion:

  • Which version of the image is better? Remodeled with a white wall or the completely original one, with Cupid on the wall?

  • However, Johannes Vermeer wanted to paint the god of love there. Why did he paint it there? And why would someone paint the god of love white?

  • What did the girl read from the letter? How does he feel? What is he thinking about? Does it have anything to do with the painting on the wall?

  • Can you empathize with the girl's situation and feelings? What would you hold in your hand?

  • Why do you think the tablecloth next to the girl is crumpled and the fruit is scattered? Why is the open window wide open? And why is there a huge green curtain in the picture?

bottom of page