In The Farrell Auditorium

Join Amy Torbert, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Associate Curator of American Art, for a riveting look at one of the most explosive moments in art criticism—and the painting that set it off.

Inspired by the book The Falling Rocket: James Whistler, John Ruskin, and the Battle for Modern Art, this lecture delves into the scandal that erupted when critic John Ruskin accused Whistler of “flinging a pot of paint in the public’s face.” Torbert unpacks the lawsuit that followed, the painting at its center, and what it all reveals about the shifting meanings of art, beauty, and value in the modern age. Explore how a single brushstroke sparked a cultural firestorm—and changed the course of art history.