Discovering American Art Annual Lectures: The Birth of Revolutionary Spirit

The Hammond-Harwood House Museum, an 18th-century Anglo-Palladian house with a collection of American paintings and furniture, is hosting its annual Discovering American Art lecture this year on the build-up to the American Revolution. Portraits of revolution-minded colonists and historic accounts of protest against taxation and other forms of oppression tell the story of events in the colonies. Many in America still saw themselves as British citizens and tried to maintain that lifestyle, while others were beginning to resist the Crown and demand independence. A newly displayed portrait featuring Governor Horatio Sharpe provides a fascinating back story to the British point of view.

Pricing for this event includes both lectures as well as food and drink at the reception after.

Schedule:

1:30 p.m. Door open
2:00 p.m. Sons of Liberty: The Conversation Begins, presented by Lucinda Dukes Edinberg
3:00 -3:15 p.m. Break
3:15-4:15 p.m. The Art of Conversation: British and American Painting in the 18th Century, presented by David Gariff
4:15 p.m. Reception

Meet the Lecturers:

David Gariff, Ph.D

Gariff is an art historian and curator specializing in modern art, the history of film, and the art of the Italian Renaissance. Formerly senior lecturer at the National Gallery of Art (retired), he has taught art history at The Catholic University of America, the University of Wisconsin, Cleveland State University, Trinity Washington University, and the University of Maryland. In 2025, Gariff curated and authored the catalogue for the first retrospective exhibition on the Washington Color School painter Paul Reed, held at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. He is also the author of The World’s Most Influential Painters and the Artists They Inspired (2008).

Lucinda Dukes Edinberg, M.A.,

Edinberg is the curator for the Hammond-Harwood House. She was formerly the art educator and interim director of the Mitchell Gallery, St. John’s College and oversaw the college’s collection of paintings and decorative arts. She has taught art history at Notre Dame, University of Maryland, and currently teaches art and architectural history at Anne Arundel Community College. Edinberg has curated and designed many exhibitions and recently served as the co-curator of Silver in the Golden Age of Annapolis, the first exhibition of Annapolis silver makers in Annapolis.