Hollis Clayson, professor emerita of art history at Northwestern University, hosts “The Dark Side of the Eiffel Tower,” an event where she talks about the observation that sparked her project on world fairs: how familiarity with the Tower impedes rather than fosters curiosity about its history, and contemporary identity, in an event on Wednesday, Nov. 9, starting at 7:30 p.m.
The Tower’s past includes a stint as the prime focus of French industry anxiety, service as the tallest symbol on earth of triumphant French colonialism, a proposed function as an instrument of brightly illuminated surveillance, and the experience of a ruthless stripping away of much of its original iron ornament in the early 20th century.
Clayson will also discuss the unease instated by the present-day Tower when acknowledged to be an impertinent urban stalker, one that jars into view when least expected, disturbing plenty of other onlookers day and night.
Hollis Clayson is a historian of modern art who specializes in 19th-century Europe, especially France, and transatlantic exchanges between France and the U.S. Her first book, “Painted Love: Prostitution in French Art of the Impressionist Era,” appeared in 1991.
The lecture will be held at The Huntington’s Rothenberg Hall. Attendance is free with registration.
For more information, call (626) 405-2100 or visit www.huntington.org/event/dark-side-eiffel-tower.
The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens is at 1151 Oxford Road in San Marino.
