On Oct. 4, Hans Guggenheim spoke to a crowd of community members, curious students, and faculty at the Silver Center.
President Steen was in attendance and introduced Guggenheim, praising his insight and teaching backgrounds, saying that, “a discussion of war and peace could never be a more important topic.”
Guggenheim took the stage, and in his thick German accent, gave the warning that, “this talk is going to be serious and about horrific events.”
Guggenheim then took the crowd through a series of paintings and photographs ranging from 1633 to present day. Guggenheim concentrated on the use of repeated imagery throughout the centuries, analyzing each picture and what he believes the artist stood for. The artist ranged from Francisco Goya, Jean Jacques David, to Jacques Callot. Each artist lived and worked in a time of war.
And, as Guggenheim, the founder of the Guggenheim project, predicted, his presentation did get horrific. Guggenheim compared images of recently killed children in Gaza to paintings of the past during similar times of tragedy. “How far have we come? Have we changed?-No,” Guggenheim told the crowd.
“You have to have hope… you have to believe in reason. We have to believe that reason in man can carry us forward,” Guggenheim continued, “if man does not act reasonably, tragedy will follow.”
After his speech, Guggenheim was joined on stage by three PSU faculty members: Terry Downs, Kate Donahue, and Dick Hunnewell. They all took questions on the aesthetics and significance of the paintings presented during the lecture.
Before the night concluded, Guggenheim attempted to inspire faculty in the room, “so many of you are professors, change lives! Light the fire and they will carry on the inspiration. This is our hope, this is why we teach.”