An illustrated Zoom presentation by Tara Gleason Chicrida, Curator of Furniture, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Williamsburg, VA. The games people play! Long before we had technology to entertain us including the phonograph, radio, movies, television, video games, computers, and cell phones, Americans played cards in the parlors, back rooms, and front porches of their homes. Following English and Continental customs, 18th and early 19th century American men and women of all ages at all levels of society played cards in their domestic and public spaces. This had not always been the case; card playing’s links to gambling and drunkenness led to 17th century religious and civil restrictions against it. This is why one never sees 17th century gaming tables.

While the associated vices remained, the 18th century lifting of taboos fueled a growth in card playing. Fashion, conspicuous consumption, and a desire for comfort are not new. Among the upper classes, a new specialized form of furniture evolved for the popular pastime. Card tables reflected both particular games and overall changes in design, form, function, and fashions. Like much 18th century furniture, card tables served multiple functions. Portable and malleable, card tables could be pier tables at rest, breakfast, side, or tea tables when open. Rich families usually owned multiple card tables, often in pairs. Thomas Jefferson’s White House had five in 1809. Early Americans had no idea what the dawn of technology would ultimately bring. Thankfully many card tables survive to remind us of these convivial social interactions. We will explore it all during Tara Gleason’s Zoom-only lecture May 17, 2022, at 6:30 pm, Pacific time.

Renowned for his powerful paintings of American life and scenery, Winslow Homer (1836-1910) remains a consequential figure whose art continues to resonate. This lecture goes behind the scenes of the exhibition Winslow Homer: Crosscurrents now on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, with its co-curator. The show, which has been described by critics as “wondrous,” “spectacular,” and “a knockout,” reconsiders Homer’s work through the lens of conflict, a theme that crosses his prolific career — from emblematic images of the Civil War and Reconstruction showing the effects of the conflict on the landscape, soldiers, and formerly enslaved people to dramatic scenes of rescue and hunting as well as monumental seascapes and dazzling tropical works painted throughout the Atlantic world. The exhibition’s centerpiece is Homer’s iconic The Gulf Stream, a painting from The Met collection that reveals his lifelong engagement with charged subjects of race, geopolitics, and the environment.

As a form of journalistic media, Homer’s pictures captured emotion and humanity far more effectively than the period’s photography. His works convey a poignant reality in an almost radical impressionistic style that still resonates to this day. Join us for this exciting expose and reaffirmation of one of America’s greatest 19th century painters. Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at The Gunn Theater or on Zoom at 6:30 PDT, 9:30 EST. All current ADAF members are invited to a 5:30 pm pre-program reception in the Legion Cafe.