We are delighted to host Dr. Rico Franses' Art history classes at the gallery.

Manet’s painting caused a major scandal when it first appeared in public in 1863. In this class, we will examine the painting in detail to uncover the many ways in which it overturned conventions and opened up a new path leading towards Modern art.

This is the first of a planned series of art history classes. The goal of the series is not simply to impart information, but to teach participants the skills of visual literacy: how to analyze the visual cues provided by an artwork to arrive at an understanding of what it is trying to communicate.


Rico Franses was for many years Founding Director of the University Art Galleries at the American University of Beirut. He holds a PhD in Art History from the Courtauld Institute of Art, London. He has held teaching positions at Pratt Institute (New York) and the Australian National University (Canberra), and was awarded a fellowship at Harvard University (Boston). He has published a book on Byzantine Art with Cambridge University Press and has authored articles on a wide variety of art historical subjects.