Finding Awe: Claude-Joseph Vernet's Moonlight
Reflect on the complexity of awe, an emotion that can be intensely pleasurable or imbued with fear depending on the context. Compare Vernet’s pendant paintings and consider how notions of the Sublime influence thought today. Friday at 2:15 p.m. or Saturday at 10:30 a.m.
We all could use a little more awe in our lives, and art is the perfect place to start. In this series of interactive workshops, explore where artists have found awe, how it has inspired their work, and meditate on awe in your own life.
Join us for a 90-minute pause from your daily routine to breathe deeply and look mindfully at a single work of art. You’ll be invited to look closely, wonder, and share your insights with the group. Together, we’ll learn “awe practices” that you can bring to your everyday life.
This workshop includes optional surveys to help us improve the program. Three workshops will be offered on each work of art. We encourage you to register for one workshop per topic and to join us for as many topics as you’d like.
Ages 18 and up. Questions? Email us at talks@nga.gov. Can't make it to a program? Find more ways to cultivate awe.
This program is grounded in the National Gallery’s mission to welcome all people to explore and experience art, creativity, and our shared humanity. It offers new “awe practices” drawn from the research of Dacher Keltner, professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, director of The Greater Good Science Center, and author of Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life (2023). Research shows that experiences of awe help support mental and physical wellbeing and open us up to greater creativity and deeper empathy.
