Friday, August 16
10:00 a.m.
By Gregorio Luke
Noted scholar Gregorio Luke will offer a fully illustrated presentation on this fascinating individual: “One of the major attractions of Art and Empire: The Golden Age of Spain is the portrait by Miguel Cabrera of Juana Inés de la Cruz, rarely seen outside of México. Sor Juana has been called the ‘first feminist,’ the first to defend women from the oppression of men. She is also the first in our hemisphere to defend women’s right to knowledge. Gifted with intelligence, grace and beauty, she so passionately sought knowledge, that she asked her mother to dress her as a man so that she could attend the university, which at the time was closed to women. Sor Juana continued her studies independently and was so brilliant, that she caught the attention of the Viceroy. She went to live in the Royal Court of the New Spain and became a sensation for her knowledge and beauty. To pursue a literary career, she became a nun and went on to write numerous plays and exceptionally beautiful poems. Towards the end of her life, she affirmed, that God’s greatest gift to humanity was free will, idea that angered the ecclesiastical hierarchy, who silenced her and forced her to relinquish her library. Sor Juana died in obscurity during the great plague in México City, but her work lives on as an inspiration to women and freedom lovers everywhere.” – Gregorio Luke
Gregorio Luke is an internationally acclaimed lecturer and curator. Mr. Luke has given over 1,000 lectures in México, Europe, Asia and the United States in institutions such as The Library of Congress, The Smithsonian Institution, The San Diego Museum of Art, the Detroit Institute of Art, México’s Palacio de Bellas Artes, Argentina’s Centro Borges and The Florence Biennale, as well as universities such as Harvard, Columbia, UNAM and Georgetown among others. Mr. Luke has been Director of the Museum of Latin American Art MoLAA, Cultural Attaché of México in Los Angeles and First Secretary of the embassy of México in Washington D.C. In 1995 he was conferred the Irving Leonard Award by the Hispanic Society of the Library of Congress. He is the author of over twenty publications.
Tickets to the lecture include same-day admission to the featured exhibition Art and Empire: The Golden Age of Spain.
$7.50 members and students | $12.50 seniors and military | $15 nonmembers
