FREE with MFA admission, open to the public.

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Dr. Amanda C. Burdan, Associate Curator at the Brandywine River Museum of Art (BRMA), will examine “Wyeth & Nureyev, a Grande Révérence.” In his portraits of Rudolf Nureyev, Jamie Wyeth created a painted version of a ballet révérence, the sequence of steps performed at the end of every class to demonstrate the dancers’ esteem for their instructor. Dr. Burdan will look at Jamie Wyeth’s methods and interpretive choices as he attempted to capture the essence of Nureyev and his artistry.

A specialist in American art, Dr. Burdan joined the BRMA in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, the home of the Wyeth family, in 2012. She expanded the Farnsworth Art Museum’s Jamie Wyeth, Rockwell Kent, and Monhegan exhibition in 2013, doubling the size of the presentation at the BRMA. The Brandywine and the Farnsworth have the most significant collections of art by members of the Wyeth family. Also at her museum in January 2015, she will oversee the installation of the major Jamie Wyeth retrospective, currently on view at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Presently, Dr. Burdan is conducting research for two exhibitions at the BRMA. Things Beyond Resemblance: James Welling Photographs, slated for the fall of 2015, will explore his “Wyeth portfolio,” which reflects the strong influence of Andrew Wyeth across his career. Rural Modernism, planned for 2016, will look at the spread of modernist styles from New York City to other American regions and areas.

Prior to coming to the BRMA, Dr. Burdan was the Assistant Curator at the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme, Connecticut, and worked in the curatorial departments of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Rhode Island School of Design Museum of Art. She has taught courses at a number of universities, colleges, and art museums. She holds both her MA and PhD in art history from Brown University.