January 17 » Portrait of Wally
(2012, dir. Andrew Shea, 90 mins., NR)

In 1939, Austrian art dealer Lea Bondi Jaray’s gallery and personal collection was emptied by Nazis. Among the items taken from her personal collection was Egon Schiele’s Portrait of Wally. So begins Shea’s film, documenting the 70 year struggle of the Jaray family to have the portrait returned. When the painting resurfaced at a Manhattan museum in 1997, a New York Times article revealed the painting’s provenance and sparked a 13 year legal battle over the painting’s ownership.

"Portrait of Wally makes the disheartening case that rarely is the act of restitution so straightforward.” – Lavanya Ramanathan, The Washington Post

Film provided by Seventh Art Releasing

January 24 » The Mill and the Cross
(2011, dir. Lech Majewski, 92 mins., NR)
Step inside Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s painting The Way to Calvary. A mixture of the painting itself, digital effects and live action, Majewski creates a beautiful dreamscape as we follow Bruegel (Rutger Hauer) through his canvas and explore 16^th century Belgium. Adapted from the book Le Portement de croix de Pierre Bruegel l'Aîné by Michael Francis Gibson. Film introduced by Rebecca Long, assistant curator, european painting and sculpture.

February 7 » Views on Vermeer
(2010, dir. Hans Pool and Koos de Wilt, 52 mins., NR)

Travel the globe to learn how after 350 years, writers, painters, photographers and architects are still being inspired by Johannes Vermeer. Though the number of painting attributed to Vermeer is under contention (36 paintings or less), his work still evokes inspiration through his representation of stillness, calm and use of light.

“Part critique and part historical investigation, Views on Vermeer is an engaging conversation about a master and his legacy.” - Myrocia Watamaniuk

Before the film, join a docent tour of works related to Vermeer at 6 pm.