Transatlantic Perspectives in American and German Art History: The Darmstadt Mastodon, 1800-present day

The symposium organized by the Architecture and Art History department at the Technical University of Darmstadt celebrates the current special exhibition at the Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt, “American Heiner: A Mammut is making history” (open until June 19). With loans of paintings, prints and drawings from American art museums that rarely travel abroad, this is an extraordinary opportunity to see how the discovery of the Mastodon skeleton, discovered in 1801 by American artist and museum director, Charles Willson Peale, influenced art, science, and culture in the United States. The Mastodon has been a key object in the collection of the Hessisches Landesmuseum since the late 19th century.

Speakers include Dr. Anna O. Marley, Curator of Historical American Art at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts; Dr. Eleanor Jones Harvey, Senior Curator at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C.; Dr. Oliver Sandrock, Curator of Earth and Life History at the Hessisches Landesmuseum; Dr. Allison M. Stagg, Researcher in Art History at the Technical University of Darmstadt; and Dr. Martin Faass, Director of the Hessisches Landesmuseum.

In addition to afternoon lectures, speakers will give focused object-based tours of the exhibition in a special morning session.

Booking is essential: please email Dr. Allison Stagg (Stagg@kunst.tu-darmstadt.de) to register by June 7th.

There is no fee to attend the event.

Travel stipends

Through the generosity of the Terra Foundation for American Art, a limited number of travel stipends are available for attendees located outside the Rhein Main area. When registering, please comment if you would like to be considered.

Program and downloads