Art History Talk | Italian Women Artists as Originators | Glens Falls | Feb. 28, 2026

Saturday, February 28, 2026
11:00 AM 12:30 PM

The Hyde Collection 161 Warren Street Glens Falls, NY, 12801 United States (map)

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Among the First: Italian Women Artists as Originators At The Hyde Collection

Still life painting by woman artist Fede Galizia (Italian, ca. 1578-ca. 1630), Still Life with Apples, Pears, Cucumbers, Figs, and a Melon, ca. 1625-1630 — Fede Galizia (Italian, ca. 1578-ca. 1630), *Still Life with Apples, Pears, Cucumbers, Figs, and a Melon*, ca. 1625-1630, Oil on panel, National Gallery of Art, Washington.

On Saturday, February 28, 2026, from 11 am to 12:30 pm, art lovers in the Adirondacks can experience a compelling deep dive into art history at The Hyde Collection in Glens Falls, NY.

Among the First: Italian Women Artists as Originators, presented by renowned scholar Eve Straussman-Pflanzer, spotlights the groundbreaking achievements of women artists in early modern Italy—artists who did far more than participate in the art world. They shaped it.

Admission is free for Hyde members and included with regular Museum admission, making this a high-value cultural event for anyone interested in art history, women’s studies, or Italian painting.

Reclaiming innovation in Italy.

The lecture begins with an examination of Fede Galizia’s pioneering contributions to the emerging genre of still life painting in early seventeenth-century Italy. At a time when still life had yet to secure its place in the artistic hierarchy, Galizia elevated the genre with luminous precision and compositional clarity. Her works reveal a deliberate and intellectual engagement with realism and symbolism, helping define a new visual language.

Courtyard in Louis and Charlotte Hyde's former home, now a fine arts museum in the southern adirondacks. — Courtyard at The Hyde Collection.

From there, Straussman-Pflanzer expands the conversation to explore how women artists innovated across genres. She examines the bold, psychologically charged compositions of Artemisia Gentileschi, whose dramatic interpretations of biblical and mythological heroines still command global attention. The lecture also highlights the intricate, jewel-like still lifes of Giovanna Garzoni, whose whimsical arrangements of fruit, flowers, and fauna feel strikingly modern.

Against formidable social and institutional barriers, hundreds of women in Renaissance and Baroque Italy carved out professional careers. This lecture reveals how they trained, found patrons, competed in elite circles, and left a lasting imprint on European art. For audiences in the Adirondacks, it offers a rare opportunity to reconsider the canon—and to see familiar masterpieces in a new light.

A leading authority on Italian painting.

Eve Straussman-Pflanzer brings extraordinary credentials to The Hyde Collection stage. She joined the National Gallery of Art in 2020 as curator and head of Italian and Spanish paintings. Previously, she served as head of the European art department and Elizabeth and Allan Shelden Curator of European Paintings at the Detroit Institute of Arts from 2016 to 2020.

Her earlier roles include leadership positions at the Davis Museum at Wellesley College, as well as curatorial and research posts at the Art Institute of Chicago and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. While at the Art Institute, she curated the acclaimed 2013 exhibition Violence and Virtue: Artemisia Gentileschi’s Judith Slaying Holofernes, helping cement Gentileschi’s place in the broader art historical narrative.

Straussman-Pflanzer also curated a groundbreaking exhibition on Renaissance and Baroque Italian women artists that opened at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in 2020 and traveled to Detroit in 2021. Her scholarship continues to shape the field, with current projects on the Spanish sculptor Luisa Roldán and the Italian Mannerist painter Pontormo.

She earned her PhD from the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University and holds a BA from Smith College.

Eve Straussman-Pflanzer, art historian — Eve Straussman-Pflanzer

Why this lecture matters now.

Interest in women artists of the Renaissance and Baroque periods has surged in recent years. Major museums have mounted exhibitions, revised wall texts, and expanded acquisitions to reflect a more inclusive art history. This lecture places that broader cultural conversation in a local, accessible setting.

For visitors searching for the best art history events in the Adirondacks this winter, this program stands out. It combines scholarly rigor with compelling storytelling and situates The Hyde Collection as a hub for serious cultural dialogue in the North Country.

Advance planning is recommended. Learn more about admission, membership, and event details at the Hyde Collection’s official website or Facebook page for current hours, admission information, and related programming.