The Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum will host a discussion about World War II on the Eastern front this month, and the first John Bartholomew Bienvenu Lecture.
Paul Hilliard, a veteran of World War II, and Keith Huxen, director of research and history at the National World War II museum in New Orleans, will speak from 2-4 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 9. Hilliard is also a Lafayette philanthropist for whom the University Art Museum is named.
The discussion dovetails with two current museum exhibitions of Russian art and photography during and after World War II.
The exhibit “Through Soviet Jewish Eyes: Photography, War, and the Holocaust” opened on Sept. 20 and will be displayed until Dec. 13.
It features arresting war images of 20th-century Soviet photojournalists who were the first to document the liberation of prisoners from Nazi concentration camps.
Another exhibit, “Finding Freedom in Russian Art, 1961-2014,” presents pieces from the Kolodzei Art Foundation, and from the collection of Dr. Wayne F. Yates. It opened Sept. 20 and will be displayed until Dec. 6.
The exhibit includes Russian paintings, several pieces of sculpture, and photographs. The art illustrates the challenges and changes faced by many Russian artists during periods of government censorship and during periods of democratic reform.
The first John Bartholomew Bienvenu Lecture will be held from 6-8 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 14.
"Black Belt and Red Clay: Landscape Painting in the Deep South, 1920-1950,” will be presented by Bill Eiland, director of the Georgia Museum of Art.
The lecture series was established by Gloria Callais in honor of her late brother, John Bartholomew Bienvenu. Each year, the University Art Museum will host a lecture, symposium or panel discussion related to art.
Bienvenu, of St. Martinville, La., died in 2012 at the age of 62. The University alum was a psychologist who also taught courses at his alma mater, in subjects like horticulture and art.
The Hilliard University Art Museum features 11,000 square feet of gallery space and is the largest exhibition space between Houston and New Orleans.
It houses a collection of 18th- through 21st-century European, Asian and American art. In addition to its permanent collection, it offers changing exhibitions of regional, national and international art.
To learn more, visit hilliardmuseum.org or call (337) 482-2278.