Features

Archaeology is destruction—every turn of the spade destroys layers of earth that preserve moments of the human past. The archaeology archive—the documentation that records excavation—transforms that destructive moment into history. More important than any buried building or fragment of sculpture, this archive preserves the tenuous link between the modern archaeologist and the people of the past.

New Rome Prize Winners and Italian Fellows met and mingled with friends of the American Academy in Rome as the sun set on a warm September evening last week. Members of the community and their families/fellow travelers gathered with staff and supporters of the Academy for the annual Opening Reception amongst the pines and olive trees of the Bass Garden and were welcomed by the Academy’s President Mark Robbins and Director Kimberly Bowes.

The American Academy in Rome constitutes a kind of bridge between the US and Italy. Most often it leads eastwards across the Atlantic, with American Fellows, Residents, and visitors coming to stay on the Janiculum, but sometimes traffic runs the opposite direction.

Ancient Rome was fast-forwarded to the twentieth century at this year’s Jerome lecture series, delivered by the eminent Latin professor Maria Wyke from University College London.

What defines the experience of a city? What codes and idioms—verbal and other—do you need to know to feel truly at home?

In 1949, the French critic André Malraux made an observation that suggested art history has been bound with photography since the mid-nineteenth century.

Over 475 guests recently gathered to honor Carlo Petrini and Paolo Sorrentino at the American Academy in Rome’s 2015 McKim Medal Gala. A wide variety of Italian and American luminaries from the worlds of art, fashion, business, and academia enjoyed cocktails, music and conversation in the candlelit gardens of the Villa Aurelia. The evening was styled in the manner of a modern garden party, as envisioned by filmmaker and philanthropist Ginevra Elkann, who served as Gala Chair.

Despite the fact that the Italian Renaissance painter Giotto is renowned for reintroducing realistic expression into Western art, his life is largely shrouded in mystery.

In this issue of AAR Magazine, we invite you to meet the community of artists, writers, scholars, and composers who are living and working at the American Academy in Rome.

Telling stories across the “table” animates Charles Mayton’s first solo show in Italy at the American Academy in Rome, which runs through May 10.

On April 20, the American Academy in Rome hosted its annual Spring Gala—drawing a sold-out crowd from the art, architecture, and food worlds to a magical evening at the Four Seasons Restaurant.

The American Academy in Rome recently announced the winners of the Rome Prize Fellowship

The American Academy in Rome’s 2015 Spring Gala was held last Wednesday at the Waldorf Astoria in New York. The festive event honored three individuals whose work in the arts and humanities represents the very best of the energetic scholarly and artistic activity that takes place at the American Academy in Rome every day.

While she intended to use her time in Rome to unwind and escape after a grueling series of exhibitions, the artist Amy Sillman instead found herself incredibly productive this past fall. As the Mary Miss Artist in Residence, she produced a significant body of drawings and paintings during her time at the Academy. Sillman was also an active participant in community activities.

We learned with great sadness that a longtime Academy friend, Michael Graves, who was a Fellow in 1962 and a Resident in 1979, has passed away.

An open experimental laboratory is the primary idea driving the American Academy in Rome’s recently opened Cinque Mostre 2015, a vibrant and multilayered exhibition that runs through March 1, 2015.

Though music is their primary medium of expression, David Lang (1991 Fellow) and Nico Muhly both share a deep interest in words—particularly hidden meanings and how they are used. This was evident at a recent program of the Conversations/Conversazioni: From the American Academy in Rome, where the celebrated composers discussed a range of topics related to their creative work, and in a surprising treat, shared brand-new compositions with a packed auditorium at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York.

Temple University Rome and the American Academy have collaborated for many years to establish productive and enduring connections between students and Fellows through studio reviews, lectures and events.

The Academy’s Norton–Van Buren Archaeological Study Collection is comprised of a wide range of artifacts of various styles, materials, and functions from ancient Etruscan, Greek, and Roman civilizations and is currently open by appointment to all interested scholars.

George Perkins Marsh was the first US Minister to the United Republic of Italy and, as an early advocate of sustainable development, is widely considered to be America’s first environmentalist.