The talk by Dr. Leonhard Emmerling, Director of the Goethe-Institut Chicago, will use selected works from the Haggerty’s collection to retell the history of German Art from the Dadaist moment of 1916 through the beginning of the global catastrophe with the usurpation of power by the Nazis in 1933. It is a convoluted story of antagonisms and parallels: The antagonism between Dadaism and Expressionism and the antagonism between Expressionism and the Neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity) on one hand; the parallelism of Expressionism and the search for “Germanness” in the arts by the Nazis on the other hand. And we will try to understand the disturbing fact, that some strands of New Objectivity were denounced as “degenerate”, while other strands transitioned into the official style of Nazi art. By recounting this convoluted and complicated story, the talk aims to argue for attention to details and nuances in research and current discourse.

Leonhard Emmerling is an art historian, curator and writer, currently serving as the director of Goethe-Institut Chicago. Leonhard has authored several books, among others on Jackson Pollock and Jean-Michel Basquiat. His recent publications are entitled Idiots. A History of the Homo Nullus (2022) and Aesthetics – what for? (2025).

Supported by Goethe House Wisconsin. In partnership with German Program, Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures at Marquette University.

Please join us for this engaging 20-minute Lunchtime Talk featuring the work of Salvador Dalí. Dalí is known for painting logic-defying imagery with meticulous skill, such as his famous melting pocket watches, but Dali’s Surrealism took many forms during his long career. This month’s Art Talk will focus on his Madonna of Port Lligat, painted in 1949 and currently on view in the Haggerty’s anniversary exhibition, The Big 4-0 Vol. 2: New Views of the Collection. Rendered with Dali’s characteristically immaculate brushwork, this stunning portrayal of the Virgin Mary and Christ Child brings Italian Renaissance art into dialogue with the Atomic Age. After the discussion, you can stay to continue the conversation or explore the Haggerty's current exhibitions.

In partnership with Marquette University’s GROW program. Free and open to the public.

Please join your fellow Friends of the Haggerty Museum of Art for the 2025 Annual Meeting!

Please join us for this conversation with Drs. Saundra Murray Nettles and Nakia Gordon about seven types of everyday resilience practices that foster self-efficacy, community building, and resistance to oppression.

Dr. Saundra Murray Nettles is a writer and scholar of environmental and educational psychology and grandniece of Ellie Lee Weems. Dr. Nakia Gordon is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Marquette University.

This event is presented in conjunction with the exhibition Visual Legacies: Photographs by Ellie Lee Weems

Free and open to the public.

This special anniversary fundraiser will honor all past recipients of the Patricia B. Apple and Kairos Awards along with Founding Director Dr. Curtis Carter for their service and support of the Museum. Individual tickets start at $275, tables are available. Click here for more information.